Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos

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Wollemi
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Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos

I was very pleased to see a flock of 10 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos feeding in our Scribbly Gum and Grevillea Robusta (Yep I know a nuisance tree but better than no tree!)

The largest flock of these I have seen here! I only managed to snap pics of a few of them but it was a delight to see them all.

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

HelloBirdy
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They are a great bird to have around- when they aren't destroying trees, that is!

Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera

Wollemi
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They are lovely! They can destroy the grevillea robusta!

WhistlingDuck

Wonderful bird, great to see them and hear them. I heard then saw a couple of them near Pughs Lagoon Richmond last week. 

Woko
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Hi Ryu. I'm not sure what you mean by "destroying trees". I would have thought that if Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos destroyed trees then there'd be a significant decline in the number of trees available for them & other wildlife. Is there something that Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos are doing in your neck of the woods that means trees are being destroyed? Or are you using the word "destroyed" to mean damaging? Or that the word means the birds are simply exploiting the trees for their own ecological purposes? I'm keen to learn your thoughts on this.

HelloBirdy
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Not really an issue in the big scheme of things, probably better worded damaging. They do, from time to time, gather on a tree and chew on branches- and when they chew, they chew. They will often chew off over half the thickness of mid-sized (probably soft-drink can diameter) branches somewhere in the middle, leaving just a small bit of wood remaining that is exposed to the elements to hold up what is attached. I suspect that this would have an impact on the branches that grow off the chewed branch, and when they do this in large flocks, possibly a negative impact on the whole tree. Why they do this I do not know. There does not seem to be an apparent purpose, and they do not appear to be feeding. I think they just do it for fun. 

We definately don't have enough of them though, so I don't mind it if they want to chew from time to time :)

Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera

Woko
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Interesting, Ryu. I understand Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos chew on branches to extract larvae to eat. However, I believe that there are bird species such as Little Corellas which chew on branches because they seem to enjoy it. Perhaps Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos do likewise. Another reason for chewing might be to keep their bills trimmed to a particular size so that they're not disadvantaged by a long bill when foraging.

Wollemi
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I have been watching parrots of all sizes in our yard almost daily for a couple of years now and I am dang sure they purposely chew around branches to ringbark them so as to create a future hollow. I have observed this behaviour over and over and have even seen parrots of various species each take turns chewing away at a branch.

I might be wrong, but I think they create hollows for their own and future generations use. They work long and hard at it and once there is a hollow of any size and a bird takes it for breeding the chewing and scratching at the hollow by all birds stops, once the young have fledged, parrots return to work on the hollow.

laza
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Thanks for the sharing.

Once of these days I have to come over to the east and see this version of the wonderful black cockatoos

Dont take life too seriously, it never ends well

timrp
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Nice shot and an awesome bird to have around. There has definetely been a decline in there numbers recently.

Wollemi
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Hi Timrp

Yes, I rarely saw these birds, perhaps once or twice a year and rarely more than four at a time, though last year I did see a group of six, so to see 10 of them together was really pleasing.

Woko
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That's interesting, too, Wollemi. There's a purpose behind most, if not all, behavior, I suspect.

brian63
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laza wrote:

Thanks for the sharing.

Once of these days I have to come over to the east and see this version of the wonderful black cockatoos

They have been flying over home in the last few weeks but haven't seen them in any of the trees as yet. Let me know if you are ever coming over, always a spare bed for a fellow birder.

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