Sulphur-crested cockatoo

Cacatua galerita

One of Australia's most well-known birds. Sulphur crested Cockatoos are large white parrots. They have dark grey-black bills, distinctive sulphur-

yellow crests and yellow wash on the underside of the wings. The feet are dark grey with black claws. In the north, Sulphur crested Cockatoos live in pairs or small groups. In the south, the birds live in large flocks. Sulphur crested Cockatoos eat the seeds of grasses and herbaceous plants, grains, bulbous roots, berries, nuts and leaf buds. They also take handouts from humans.

They are often kept as pets, as they are extremely intelligent and very good at learning to talk. They warn of intruders, and also have an extremely loud raucous screech. They often out live their owner, with the longest living cockatoo recorded at over 80 years of age.

Red-tailed black cockatoo

Calyptorhynchus banksii

The Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo is a big black parrot with a short crest, a stubby beak and a long tail. The tail has big red patches in it. The tail of the female Red-tailed Black Cockatoo has black bars on the red patches and the head has yellow spots.

The Red-tailed Black Cockatoo is a seed-eater and feeds on native plants including marri, Eucalyptus calophylla, proteas, casuarinas, and stringy-bark Eucalyptus baxteri. Red-tailed Black Cockatoos are diurnal, raucous and noisy, and are often seen flying high overhead in small flocks, sometimes mixed with other cockatoos. Flocks of up to 500 birds are generally only seen in the north or when the birds are concentrated at some food source. Otherwise, they are generally rather shy of humans.