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Sulphur-crested CockatooAlternative name: "White Cockatoo" Aboriginal names: "kaneky", "mooyi" |
Sightings
Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are found in large numbers in north-western New South Wales, where we see them on an almost daily basis. Often found in large flocks around reliable food sources, such as grain storage facilities or olive groves, often in conjunction with Little Corellas.
Also sighted on a trip to the east of the dividing range, in the area from Armidale to Dorrigo, New South Wales.
On a trip to outback NSW and South Australia we found only a few birds.
Photos
Lateral view of a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (click on image for larger version)
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo picking up food from a lawn 20 km south of Narrabri, New South Wales (click on image for larger version)
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo displaying its crest (click on image for larger version)
Here one in flight, just after takeoff from a treetop (click on image for larger version)
This one is doing its usual thing, screaming its head off; in this photo one can clearly see the sulphur-yellow underwings (click on image for larger version)
This is "Baldy", not a Sulphur-crested, but a Bald-headed Cockatoo who visited our garden in October 2008 (click on image for larger version)
Nest
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo sitting in the opening of its nesting hollow in an dead eucalypt tree on the bank of the Namoi River near Boggabri, NSW
Habits
In (semi-)arid environments such as inland New South Wales, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos stay close to waterways, even if they have dried up. When flying across arid land, it is normally on their way from one waterway to the next, where food is more abundant.
Often seen by us together with Little Corellas and/or Galahs in flocks of up to hundreds, especially where there is plenty of food (e.g. near Olive groves or grain storage facilities).
They are quite destructive, often nibbling on or chopping off the young shoots of trees just for fun, or performing acrobatics.
Nope, this is not an albino fruit bat... (click on image for larger version)
Here some TLC the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo way (click on image for larger version)