Carnaby’s black cockatoo

Scientific Name: Calyptorhynchus latirostris

Did You Know?

Carnaby’s mate for life and the female will often return to the same nesting area – and even the same tree hollow– year after year. The birds can live up to 50 years.

The charismatic Carnaby’s black cockatoo is sometimes called the white-tailed black cockatoo. A large cockatoo growing to 58 centimetres long and weighing up to 790 grams, its feathers are black to grey-black with a white or cream edge. It has white patches on its ears and tail. Once common in south-west Western Australia, its population has decreased by 50 per cent in the last 50 years due to habitat clearing and it is now listed as endangered.

Habitat:

Carnaby’s black cockatoo is only found in south-west Western Australia, in eucalypt woodlands. They sometimes migrate between the inland and the coast.

Diet:

Flowers, seeds and gum nuts of native species such as the Marri tree. With habitat clearing they have also started to feed on introduced species such as canola and pine nuts.

Reproduction:

Birds are mature at 4-7 years. One or two eggs are laid in wood-chip lined tree hollows in July to October. It takes 29 days for the eggs to hatch and during this time the female doesn’t leave them, relying on the male to bring her food. Often only one chick will hatch and the female stays with it for the next 10 days, still reliant on the male for food. After this, both parents bring back food for the chick until it is old enough to look after itself.

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