Phil Bendle Collection:Cockatoo (Sulphur-crested) Cacatua galerita

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Cacatuidae
Genus: Cacatua
Subgenus: Cacatua
Species: C. galerita
Binomial name: Cacatua galerita
Common name: Sulphur-crested cockatoo

Cacatua galerita (Sulphur-crested cockatoo) is a relatively large, stocky, white cockatoo with the length of 48 - 55 cm and a weight of 815 - 975 g. It is native to wooded habitats in Australia and New Guinea and some of the islands of Indonesia.

It was introduced to New Zealand and is now naturalised. In New Zealand, most populations are on the west coast of the North Island, though some are spreading east into the Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa. The largest populations are south of Port Waikato, and the Turakina and Pohangina Valleys. There are also small populations in the Waitakere ranges and at Wainuiomata, and on the Banks Peninsula and the south of Dunedin in the South Island. They are wide-ranging and may be seen outside these core areas, though isolated birds may be free-ranging pets or cage-escapes.

It is a large stocky cockatoo that is mainly white, but it has pale yellow on its crest, under-wing and under-tail feathers. It has a large hooked black bill, red-brown eyes, short broad wings and a forward-curving yellow crest that fans out when aroused.
Females are slightly larger than males and juveniles have a paler eye and some grey in the plumage. They use their heavy parrot bill to break open large nuts and seeds. They also eat fruit and berries, bulbous roots, grains, flowers, leaf buds and insect larvae. They roost and nest in the bush. They usually build their nests high up in tree hollows which are lined with wood chips, where they lay two or three white eggs.
The penetrating screech of a sulphur-crested cockatoo means it is often heard before it is seen.

[[uploads/images/Te Henui/Fauna/Cacatua galerita JJ Harrison.jpg|]]

[[uploads/images/Te Henui/Fauna/Cacatua galerita .jpg|]] Blue dots show the distrubution of the Sulphur-crested cockatoo

Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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