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Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo

(Calyptorhynchus funereus)
Alternative names: "Funereal Black Cockatoo", "Black Cockatoo"
Size: 58-65 cm

Habitat
(for details refer to a field guide)

The distribution of Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos ranges along the south and east coast of Australia, from about the tip of the Eyre peninsula, SA, to about the tropic of Capricorn in QLD. Especially in QLD, but also in other areas, they are also found in parts of the Great Dividing Range, up to a few hundred km from the coastline. They are also found all over Tasmania.

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos can be found in various types of forest, from open to dense, often with Cypress and/or Black Pine. They also go into areas with human activity (farms, parks) to feed on other seedcones, such as e.g. those of the White Cedar tree.

Sightings

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos are not as common as other cockatoo species west of the Great Dividing Range. The first time we spotted one bird was 25 km west of Narrabri in 2003. Then we have seen a pair twice, on the northern edge of Jack's Creek State Forest, following Bohena Creek upstream, into the Pilliga scrub (July 2005), followed within weeks by two sightings 25 km west of Narrabri. Another sighting followed in August 2006, 20 km south-west of Narrabri.

Spotted in Coolah Tops National Park, 30 km east of Coolah, NSW, in May 2009.

Also spotted by us in Royal National Park, 20 km south of Sydney, in April 2006 and 30 km north of Sydney in July 2007. Next seen in Bald Rock National Park, northern NSW, in October 2007. Subsequently found in many locations along the eastern coast of NSW, including urban environments.

Next seen in September 2011, both 50 km south-east of Tamworth, NSW, and 25 km north-west of Gloucester, NSW.

Photos

Lateral view of a male Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo; note the skin-coloured eye ring, which distinguishes it from a female

Dorsal view of a male Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Near-frontal view of a female Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Lateral view of a female Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Dorsal view of a female Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Frontal view of a pair of Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos - male above, female below; note that the female's tail spots are not solid yellow, but narrowly barred

Dorsal view of the same pair as shown above

Ever the practical joker... male Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo having fun chewing on the bark of a eucalypt tree

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo in flight

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal Mobility: Sedentary Elementary unit: Pair/small flock

Food

Like basically all cockatoos, Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos are seed-eaters, where seeds include those in cones and nut-like fruit. The pair shown above showed a strong interest in the cones of a casuarina tree on which they were found sitting; if that is the case, it indicates that their bills are strong enough to crack those cones.