Glossy black cockatoo. Credit: Richard Fisher

This is the smallest of the black-cockatoos, growing up to 50 centimetres, and is identifiable by its red or orange-red under-tail feathers. Male birds are a dark glossy black and females are usually softer in colour with yellow patches on their heads.

Where

In Booderee you are most likely to see glossy black-cockatoos feeding in small groups or pairs in clumps of the black she-oak Allocasuarina littoralis. Look for falling twigs and chewed seed pods at the base of the tree and listen for the clicking of their beaks as they snap off food.

Feeding

These cockatoos are unusual – they feed almost exclusively on she-oak seeds, occasionally eating wood-boring larvae. This dependence has lead to their decline in many built-up and farmed areas where their habitats have been destroyed.

Breeding

The glossy black-cockatoo mates for life, with pairs maintaining their bond all year round. The female prepares the nest in a dead tree hollow and incubates the eggs, with the male bringing her and then her hatchlings food until the end of the brooding period. Once fledged, the young bird is fed by both parents for up to four months and remains with them until the next breeding season.

Sounds

A relatively soft call compared with other cockatoos - a soft ‘tarred’ grating call is its mark.