Just about every morning, I have the pleasure of listening to various cockatoo species flying over my house enroute to the city parks where they can find gum nuts and other delicacies. The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) is one of Australia‘s most famous birds and very easy to see in the wild…………and sometimes you don’t have to get any more “wild” than your backyard!
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita)
In Australia, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos can be found widely in the north and east, ranging as far south as Tasmania, but avoiding arid inland areas with few trees. They are numerous in suburban habitats in cities such as Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane. Except for highland areas, they occur throughout most of New Guinea and on nearby smaller islands such as Waigeo, Misool and Aru, and various islands in the Cenderawasih Bay and Milne Bay. Why not plan a trip to Australia and see them for yourself?
There are four recognised subspecies;
- C. g. triton (Temminck, 1849) is found in New Guinea and the surrounding islands,
- C. g. elenora (Finsch, 1867) is restricted to the Aru Islands between Australia and New Guinea,
- C. g. fitzroyi (Mathews, 1912) in northern Australia from West Australia to the Gulf of Carpentaria
- and the nominate subspecies C. g. galerita which is found from Cape York to Tasmania.
C. g. fitzroyi (Mathews, 1912) in northern Australia from West Australia to the Gulf of Carpentaria
and the nominate subspecies C. g. galerita which is found from Cape York to Tasmania.
Here, a flock of wild Sulphur-crested Cockatoos forages in a park, unafraid of the filming humans!
Let’s just say that some of them like to live dangerously!