Yellow tailed black cockatoo

Yellow-tailed black cockatoo – garad

What is a yellow-tailed black cockatoo?

Yellow-tailed black cockatoos are one of Australia’s largest parrots. Their scientific name is Calyptorhynchus funereus. Black cockatoos are called garad by Darug Peoples of the Sydney Basin. 

The loud screech of these cockatoos indicates their presence in the tree-tops of native and pine forests in south-eastern Australia. They are usually in small family groups. On Darug Country they are most often heard after yuruka – the hot time.

What do yellow-tailed black cockatoos look like?

Mainly black in colour, yellow-tailed black-cockatoos are 55 to 65 centimetres long. They have a wide mottled yellow stripe across their tail feathers. 

Yellow-tailed black cockatoos have yellow cheek patches and yellow edges on their chest feathers.

The male has a pink ring around its eyes and grey-black upper beak. Females have a pale grey eye ring and a white upper beak. 

What do yellow-tailed black cockatoos sound like?

Yellow-tailed black cockatoos have a loud high ‘kee-ow, kee-ow’ call.

Where do yellow-tailed black cockatoos live?

Eucalypt forests, heathland and non-native pine plantations of south-eastern Australia are the preferred habitat of yellow-tailed black cockatoos.

What do yellow-tailed black cockatoos eat?

Yellow-tailed black cockatoos feed mainly on the seeds of shrubs and trees and, sometimes, ground plants. Native seed plants include casuarinas, banksias and hakeas. Pine cones from exotic pine plantations are also a food source. They also eat the larvae of some wood-boring insects. 

Yellow-tailed black cockatoos usually feed in groups, screeching as they travel between sites.

How are yellow-tailed black cockatoos adapted to their environment?

The large strong wings of yellow-tailed black cockatoos enable them to travel large distances to their food sources. 

Yellow-tailed black cockatoos have a strong curved beak designed for cracking open hard-cased seeds. Their thick rounded tongue helps to move a seed in the cockatoo’s beak. 

Yellow-tailed black cockatoos also use their hooked beak as an anchor when moving through tree branches to get to their food. The strong beak is also used for preparing their nesting hollows in the trunks of old eucalypt trees. 

Yellow-tailed black cockatoos use their strong feet with curved claws as a ‘hand’ to hold seeds and for grasping onto branches when feeding and roosting during the day and overnight.

How do yellow-tailed black cockatoos reproduce and what is their life-cycle?

The breeding season for yellow-tailed black cockatoos varies according to the area in which they live. During their breeding season they tend to fly and feed in large flocks. 

Yellow-tailed black cockatoos nest in a large tree hollow. Both males and females prepare the nest by chipping out the hollow with their strong beaks and lining it with the chipped wood.

The female usually lays one or two eggs. She incubates them in the hollow. The male regurgitates food to feed her at the entrance to the hollow. Usually just one hatched chick survives. After about three months it leaves the next but stays with its parents for several months.

What threats do yellow-tailed black cockatoos face and how can we help?

Habitat loss is the main threat to yellow-tailed black cockatoos. The clearing of native forests results in loss of nesting hollows and food sources. 

Protecting native forests, particularly old growth forests, and planting food plants and vegetation corridors can help ensure the future survival of yellow-tailed black cockatoos.

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