Call a worried-sounding, wavering cry, slightly lower in pitch than Little Corella’s and less clipped than Long-billed Corella’s.
At a glance
Sounds
Range map
Range map
Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.
Species notes
Overview
Small cockatoo with long pointed bill and a solid, short crest, typically found in farmland. This species is restricted to southwestern Australia, though not usually in the Perth area. Entirely white with pink patch in front of the eye, which has pale blue skin around it. Compare Little Corella (with much shorter bill and crest) and Long-billed Corella (introduced to Perth area from eastern Australia, with red patch on chest and much shorter crest).
Behavior
Cockatoos are distinguished from other parrots by five main morphological features – a crest, lack of "green" dyck-texture in the plumage, yellow natal down, a gall bladder, and bridge temporal fossa The western corella (also known as the western long-billed corella) Cacatua pastinator consists of two geographically isolated sub-species, Butler's corella ( Cacatua pastinator butleri ) and Muir's corella ( Cacatua pastinator pastinator ) One of these two isolated populations occurs in the northern wheat-belt region of Southwest Australia , the other, consisting of larger birds occurs in the far south west of Western Australia. Determination of the sex of Cacatua pastinator cannot be determined on the basis of eye colour or plumage, observations of pairs have revealed that the males are larger than the females and have a deeper alarm call. The underparts are often stained or dirty as a result of feeding on the ground and digging.
Gallery