Long-billed Corella
Cacatua tenuirostris
Medium-sized white cockatoo with a small crest and an extremely long, pointed upper mandible. Body entirely white with pink patches around eye and chin. Typically occurs in grassy habitat, and is often seen feeding in parks or sporting grounds. It uses its long upper mandible to dig for roots and seeds. Its call is more clipped and staccato than Little Corella. Native to southeastern Australia but numerous feral populations exist elsewhere, typically in suburban areas.
Identification
The adult long-billed corella measures from 38 to 41 cm in length, has a wingspan around 80–90 cm, and averages 567 g in weight. It has a long, bone-coloured beak, and a rim of featherless, bluish skin around the eyes. The plumage is predominantly white with reddish feathers around the eyes and lores. The underside of the wings and tail feathers are tinged with yellow.
Taxonomy
The long-billed corella does not have any recognized subspecies. The first formal written description was by German naturalist Heinrich Kuhl in 1820. It is one of several related species of cockatoos called corellas and classified in the subgenus Licmetis within the genus Cacatua, members of which are known as "white cockatoos".
- Scientific name
- Cacatua tenuirostris
- Authority
- (Kuhl, 1820)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Cacatuidae
- Genus
- Cacatua
Range and habitat
The long-billed corella can be found in the wild in Victoria and southeastern New South Wales. It has extended its range since the 1970s into Melbourne, Victoria and can now be found in Tasmania, South Australia and southeast Queensland. A feral population resides in Perth, Western Australia as of the mid-1980s, which has conservation implications as this species may hybridize with the endangered western corella. <p>The long-billed corella is found in grassy woodlands and grasslands, including pasture, fields of agricultural crop, and urban parks.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The call of the long-billed corella is a quick, quavering, falsetto currup!, wulluk-wulluk, or cadillac-cadillac combined with harsh screeches.<p>Breeding generally takes place in Austral winter to spring (from July to November). Long-billed corellas form monogamous pairs and both sexes share the task of building the nest, incubating the eggs, and caring for the young. Nests are made in decayed debris, the hollows of large old eucalypts, and occasionally in the cavities of loose gravely cliffs. 2–3 dull white, oval eggs are laid on a lining of decayed wood. The incubation period is around 24 days and chicks spend about 56 days in the nest.<p>The long-billed corella typically digs for roots, seeds, corms, and bulbs, especially from the weed onion grass. Native plants eaten include murnong Microseris lanceolata, but a substantial portion of the bird's diet now includes introduced plants.
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Black-and-yellow Broadbill
Eurylaimus ochromalus
Utterly unmistakable in its costume of black, white, yellow, and pink. Wide, deep-based bill, typical of the broadbills, is bright blue. Forages at middle to high levels in lowland and hill forests, frequently moving with mixed-species flocks and sallying out from a perch. Song is disproportionately loud, a series of high-pitched coos that increases in pitch and speed, turning into a maddened series of loud whistles. Frequently gives a jay-like “jeer!” call.
Black-banded Owl
Strix huhula
Distinctive black-and-white banded owl with black eyes, a yellow bill, and yellow legs. Found in humid forests including Araucaria forests and occasionally in plantations and urban parks. The voice is a low, deep series of “uou” notes.
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