Sulphur-crested cockatoo
Cacatua galerita
— Where the name comes from
Cockatoo comes from the Malay kakatua, perhaps from kakak, “elder sister”, or from the bird’s screeching call. Galerita is Latin, “helmeted or crested”, from the yellow tuft it raises like a plume. It is one of the most intelligent and long-lived parrots, familiar across Australia.
— Facts
- Group
- Birds · Aves
- Order
- Parrots
- Habitat
- Woodland, wooded savannah, farmland, city parks
- Range
- Australia, New Guinea, eastern Indonesia
- Size
- 44–55 cm, 0.8–0.9 kg
- Diet
- Omnivore — seeds, berries, roots, grubs
- Lifespan
- 40–70 years
— Characteristics
- 01
The yellow crest rises like a fan in moments of alarm or excitement.
- 02
It lives in extremely noisy flocks that can number hundreds of birds.
- 03
It is among the longest-lived birds: in captivity it sometimes passes eighty.
— What sets it apart
In Sydney cockatoos have learnt to open wheelie bins: they lift the lid with the beak, walk it sideways and flip it over to reach the food. The remarkable part is that the technique spreads by imitation from one suburb to another, with different local “styles” depending on the area. It is a genuine animal cultural tradition, born and documented in the city, spreading like a fashion among birds who watch one another.
