The Galah is an unmistakable bird with its beautiful pink and grey colours, and playful nature.
The voice is a distinctive high-pitched screech, ‘chi-chi’. Bird call recorded by: Marc Anderson
The Galah can be easily identified by its rose-pink head, neck and underparts, with paler pink crown, and grey back, wings and undertail. Birds from the west of Australia have comparatively paler plumage. Galahs have a bouncing acrobatic flight, but spend much of the day sheltering from heat in the foliage of trees and shrubs. Huge noisy flocks of birds congregate and roost together at night.
The Galah is one of the most abundant and familiar of the Australian parrots, occurring over most of Australia, including some offshore islands.
Galahs were once confined to the open plains that occur beyond the inland slopes of the Great Divide in eastern Australia, north of the Flinders Ranges in South Australia, and north of the Mulga–Eucalypt line in Western Australia.
However, following the clearing of subcoastal woodlands for farming, Galahs began to flood in, taking advantage of the new habitat and its abundant supply of food.
They even spread to the coasts, where they are now a familiar sight in the cities.
Habitat: Woodland, Forest, Wetland, Coastal, Urban
The Galah is found in large flocks in a variety of timbered habitats, usually near water.
Galahs form huge, noisy flocks but form permanent partner bonds.
They are becoming more abundant around areas of human habitation, with the growth in population largely a result of increasing availability of food and water. Escaped aviary birds have also contributed to these numbers.
Galahs form huge, noisy flocks which feed on seeds, mostly from the ground. Seeds of grasses and cultivated crops are eaten, making these birds agricultural pests in some areas. Birds may travel large distances in search of favourable feeding grounds.
Galahs form permanent pair bonds, although a bird will take a new partner if the other one dies. The nest is a tree hollow or similar location, lined with leaves. Both sexes incubate the eggs and care for the young.
There is high chick mortality in Galahs, with up to 50% of chicks dying in the first six months. Galahs have been recorded breeding with other members of the cockatoo family, both in the wild and captivity. These include the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, C. galerita.
Breeding season is from February – July, in the north and from July – December, in the south.
