(Calyptorynchus banksii)
Length: 55-60 cmLocally uncommon
This superb large noisy cockatoo has become a recent visitor to Lake Karrinyup. A pair have been observed by a member, Roy William, on three occasions in Marri and Pine trees. Their seed is a favoured food of the South-Western race. Black cockatoos are distributed across Australia. The first illustration of an Australian parrot was of a Red-tailed Black Cockatoo. It was made by Sydney Parkinson in 1770. He was Joseph Bank’s draughtsman on the Endeavour. The male cockatoo has a prominent black crest overhanging its bill, plus scarlet panels in its tail. The female is spotted with yellow tail panels. The call is a grating “Karraak”. The flight is languid with glides, and the bird spreads its tail on landing. It nests in tree hollows and chews wood to make a layer of wood chips on which one oval white egg is laid. The female incubates the egg and is fed by the male. Black cockatoos enter the next tail first.
