Major Mitchell's Cockatoo

Major Mitchell's Cockatoo, also widely known as Leadbeater's Cockatoo or the Pink Cockatoo, is regarded as one of the most beautiful of all cockatoos. Its body plumage is a delicate white washed with salmon-pink on the head, neck, and underparts, giving it a soft, blushing appearance quite unlike the stark white of many related species.

Appearance

• Medium-sized cockatoo with white and dusky-pink plumage, deepest pink on the face and breast
• Spectacular forward-curling crest banded with red and yellow at the base, tipped in white
• Pale bill and dark eye-ring; sexes are similar, though females often have a slightly duller eye or crest

Key field marks

• Pale pinkish-white body plumage, unlike the pure white of the Sulphur-crested and Little Corella
• Large recurved crest that flares open to reveal bands of red, yellow, and white — one of the most colorful crests of any parrot
• Salmon-pink flush strongest on the face and underwing coverts, visible in flight

Similar species

Galahs also show pink plumage but have grey backs and wings and lack the elaborate banded crest. Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are much larger, purely white, with a simple yellow crest rather than the layered red-yellow-white fan of Major Mitchell's Cockatoo.

Range

Endemic to inland Australia, occurring across the arid and semi-arid interior from central Queensland and New South Wales through South Australia to the interior of Western Australia.

Habitat

Favors dry woodland, mallee, mulga scrub, and timbered watercourses on the inland plains, generally avoiding wetter coastal regions. It is nomadic in response to seed and water availability rather than a strict migrant.

Behavior

Usually encountered in pairs or small family groups rather than the large flocks typical of other cockatoos, reflecting the sparse resources of its arid habitat.

Voice

Gives a quavering, drawn-out 'cree-ab' or 'wee-la' contact call, softer and less harsh than the screech of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos.

Feeding

Forages on the ground and in low vegetation for seeds of native shrubs, grasses, and fallen fruit, and will also dig for roots and tubers.

Nesting and breeding

Nests in large tree hollows, typically in old eucalypts along watercourses; both parents share incubation and chick-rearing duties, and pairs tend to mate for life.