Overview

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo: Large white parrot with white-yellow feathers in long crest, white-yellow at base of flight feathers in wings, and yellow-white at base of the feathers in the tail. Black-brown eye. Strongly-downcurved black bill. Fairly long, broad wings. Medium-length, rectangular tail. Female has more red-brown eye. Juvenile like adult.

Voice Text

"scraw-leek"

• Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are highly intelligent and naturally curious. This makes them very popular, but demanding, pets.
• These birds tend to be quite numerous in localized areas and can be considered pests in such regions.
• This cockatoo has evolved protective behavior adaptations in which one individual will keep guard high in a tree while the rest of the flock is on the ground. This behavior has influenced Australian slang - a person watching out for police gambling raids is called a cockatoo or 'cocky.'
• A group of cockatoos is collectively known as a "crackle" and a "family" of cockatoos.

Cockatoos (Cacatuidae)

ORDER

The parrots, Kakapo, and cockatoos are three of the four families found in the PSITTACIFORMES (pronounced si-tas-i-FOR-meez).

FAMILY TAXONOMY

The cockatoos are placed in the cacatuidae (pronounced ka-ka-TU-i-dee), a group of twenty-one species in seven genera found in eastern Indonesia, the Philippines, Australasia, and as introduced species in some parts of the world, including Palau.

SOUTH PACIFIC-PALAU

Three species of cockatoo in one genus live in the South Pacific. One species in one genus lives in Palau, the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.

KNOWN FOR

Cockatoos are known for white fluffy plumage, prominent crests, loud screeching calls, and intelligence.

PHYSICAL

Members of the cacatuidae are small to large birds with sharply down-curved beaks. They have long wings, long tails, and medium legs.

COLORATION

Most cockatoos are plumaged in white or gray with pink, red, or yellow highlights. The Palm Cockatoo and the five species in the Calyptorhynchus genus are mostly black.

GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT

Members of this family live in savannahs, grasslands, urban areas, and tropical forests.

MIGRATION

Although a few cockatoo species in Australia make short movements in search of food, none of the cockatoos are migratory.

HABITS

Cockatoos are very social and most species form large flocks. They forage for fruits, seeds, and nuts by using their beaks to pick them off of trees and from the ground.

CONSERVATION

Although the introduced Sulphur-crested Cockatoo on Palau is common throughout its range, eight other cockatoos are species of conservation concern. Two of these species, the Red-vented Cockatoo of the Philippines and the Yellow-crested Cockatoo of eastern Indonesia, are Critically Endangered. Both are threatened by habitat loss and capture for the pet trade.

INTERESTING FACTS

The word “cockatoo” may comes from “kaka(k)tua”, the Malay word for “parrot” and “older sibling”, or a similar Indonesian word for these birds. Members of this family keep their bills sharp by scraping the two mandibles together. Like parrots, cockatoos have feet with the two middle toes forward and the two outer toes backward. The Palm Cockatoo of the Cape York Peninsula in Australia and New Guinea communicates by using a stick to drum on a dead branch.

Artist

Michael Oberhofer