Palm Cockatoo

During our stay near the Tip of Cape York we stayed in a free camp right on the beach named Mutee Head and we were lucky enough to our first wild Palm Cockatoo. With their crest on the head they look majestic and are fascinating so here is a bit more about them.

Description:

The Palm Cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus), also known as the Goliath Cockatoo or great Black Cockatoo, is a large smoky-grey or black parrot. The palm cockatoo is 55 to 60 cm in length and weighs 910–1,200 g.

It is a striking bird with one of the biggest bills of any parrot and a noticeable enormous crest. With their strong bills, palm cockatoos can break off thick branches from living trees to serve as drumsticks during performances.

They can also consume very hard nuts and seeds. The male's beak is bigger than the female's. The unique beak allows the tongue to hold a nut against the top jaw as the lower mandible tries to open it since the lower and upper mandibles do not touch for a significant portion of the length of the beak. The red cheek patch on the palm cockatoo is also recognisable and changes colour when the bird is startled or excited.

The vocal repertoire of the palm cockatoo is extensive and intricate, and it includes numerous whistles as well as an unexpectedly human-sounding "hello" call. Various dialects are heard across the range of the species.

Distribution:

Palm Cockatoos are a rainforest dwelling parrot native to Cape York Peninsula in north Queensland, Aru Island, West Papuan and lowland New Guinea.

Behaviour:

Feeding:

The pandanus palm fruit and kanari tree nuts make up the majority of the food of the palm cockatoo, which frequently feeds in the morning hours. Additionally, they have been observed consuming seeds from the cocky apple tree, beach almond, and black bean trees as well as fruit from the Darwin stringy bark Eucalyptus tetradonta and nonda trees.

Breeding

Palm cockatoos only lay one egg every second year and have one of the lowest breeding success rates reported for any species of parrot.

Flocking :

This species rarely shows up in great numbers. They don't typically forage in flocks like many cockatoo species do. Typically, only one to six animals are seen feeding simultaneously. As with other large birds, breeding pairs are common because both parents take care of the young. If these birds do gather, it typically takes place in open woodland shortly after sunrise or around the border of the rainforest before the birds disperse to their different roosts for the night.

Vocalisation:

The vocalisations of palm cockatoos are comparable to those of the majority of wild parrots, but it has been demonstrated that they additionally emit a range of extra syllables during displays and interactions with nearby individuals. Males mostly produce these extra syllables, which are frequently coupled to create lengthy, complicated sequences.