Western and Long-billed Corellas have longer bills to dig out tubers and roots. Galahs, corellas and some of the black cockatoos mostly feed on the ground, and ground feeders tend to forage in larger flocks. In times of plenty flock sizes are smaller, while in droughts some species can gather in flocks numbering thousands of birds. Cockatoo diet Cockatoos eat seeds, tubers, corns, fruit, flowers and insects. Cockatiels will incubate eggs for around 20 days with larger species such as Glossy Black Cockatoos and Red-tailed Black Cockatoos taking roughly four weeks for incubation and nine weeks until fledgling (around 12 weeks total). Black cockatoo females care for their eggs and nestlings alone, while the work is shared between sexes in other species. Palm Cockatoos and some of the other large species lay a single egg, while smaller species lay between two and eight. Some like Gang Gang Cockatoos are relatively quiet, while the Palm Cockatoos will also drum on dead branches with sticks to communicate over distances. Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo has up to 15 different calls, whereas others have less. Their harsh squawking vocals and the number of different calls varies by species. These noisy birds often feed in large flocks, making their unmistakable presence known (except for glossies – they tend to feed in pairs, trios of mum, dad and fledgling, or small family units). They are diurnal (active in the day), need light to find their food and aren’t early risers, tending to wait until there’s warmth in the sun before feeding. Their movable headcrest is raised when the birds are landing from flight or aroused.2 Like other parrots, cockatoos also have short legs and a waddling gait. They also share with us a tendency to have a preferred foot (most will use their left foot to grip food when they eat). Cockatoo behaviour In captivity cockatoos can live as long as humans.

Gang gang cockatoo male