Every year I get three black cockatoos visiting my garden. Today for the first time in 25 years there were five. My book suggests only one chick usually survives out of 1 - 2 eggs which is consistent with the usual three so is my sighting of five all together significant? If they return tomorrow I'll try and get a photo of the group.
Are these Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, supersinc?
If so, it's quite common for me in SA to see three - 2 adults & a youngster - at the end of breeding season. It's also fairly common to see 5. I suspect they consist of 4 adults & 1 youngster but I've never looked closely enough to tell.
Thanks Woko. I'll have to have a closer look but pretty sure they're the yellow tailed black cockatoos (very big noisy birds) sans red markings. I have no idea how to distinguish an adult from a youngster (size?) so maybe there are two adult pairs, hadn't thought of that.
Sinclair
The youngster has a slightly brownish tinge about it but the size approximates that of the adult. Youngsters sometimes squawk repeatedly to attract the attention of the adults & the food they might bring. Females have a pale bill & grey eye-ring. Males have a dark grey bill & red eye-ring.
Six Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos flew into my backyard a few days ago and I too was surprised at the number.
Does six in one group sighting constitute a flock or simply a family? I'm still waiting for the five I saw to return so I can photograph the group, assuming of course it wasn't just a one-off.
Sinclair