A gregarious species, the Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo is often seen in large flocks, though it also occurs in pairs and trios. It is an active, noisy and conspicuous species that is mainly arboreal, spending much of the day feeding, sometimes in a loose association with other black-cockatoos. At sunset, flocks of this species are often seen flying high, returning from feeding areas to roosts in large trees along the banks of rivers or streams. While the overall threatened status of the Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo is listed as “Least Concern” in the EPBC act, the South-eastern Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo is listed as ‘Endangered’ and the ‘Forest Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo’ of WA is listed as ‘Vulnerable’.
As its name suggests, the Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo is a cockatoo with largely black plumage and scarlet panels in the tail, at least in the males. Females have yellow spots on the head, neck and wings, and orange-yellow barring on the breast and undertail. Both sexes have dark brown eyes and brown-grey legs and feet; males have a dark grey bill, while the bill of the female is off-white.
Usual contact call loud rolling kree or krurr-rr, uttered in flight or when perched; also sharp krur-rak in alarm; all calls loud, harsh and far-carrying. Bird call recorded by: Fred Van Gessel
Endemic to mainland Australia, Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos are found in all mainland states, with five distinct subspecies occurring in eight discrete populations across the continent.
Habitat: Forest, Woodland, Urban
Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos inhabit a wide variety of habitats, especially forests and woodlands dominated by eucalypts or casuarinas. Some subspecies prefer specific vegetation assemblages, such as Brown Stringybark forests in south-western Victoria and south-eastern SA, or Marri, Jarrah and Karri forests in south-western Australia, but others are less restricted in the habitats they occupy. They also occur in some regional towns and cities.
The Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo is widely considered to be dispersive, with seasonal movements related to food availability in different areas. It is an active, noisy and conspicuous species that is mainly arboreal. They may be less wary while feeding than at other times, and generally do not allow a close approach by an observer, readily taking flight and screeching loudly.
Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos mainly eat seeds, which are usually extracted from the hard seed pods of eucalypts, casuarinas and banksias, using its robust bill to tear them open. They sometimes also eat insect larvae, which are revealed by tearing open the branches of trees. In some regions, they forage on the ground, eating the seeds of various weeds, and in other places they are quite picky, preferring the seeds of particular species of trees.
Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos lay one white egg (or sometimes two) in a tree hollow lined with wood dust, woodchips or splinters. Nesting hollows are usually situated in mature or dead eucalypts. Only the female incubates and feeds the young nestlings, but as the chicks grow older, both sexes feed them.
South-eastern Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo: Endangered (EN)
Forest Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo of WA: Vulnerable (VU)
