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Baudin’s Black Cockatoo

 (Zanda baudinii)

Also known as: Black Cockatoo, White-tailed Black Cockatoo, White-tailed Cockatoo, Long-billed Black Cockatoo, Long-billed White-tailed Black Cockatoo

Click photo to visit gallery

Wild Baudin's Black Cockatoo feeding
© Ian Montgomery

Did You Know?

There are only 10,000-15,000 Baudin's Black Cockatoos. Surveys completed between 1995 and 2004 suggested that only 10% of those birds make up the breeding population.

Academic Research

Related publications: Zanda baudinii

Species Profile

Genus: Zanda | Species: baudinii

Size:

56cm (21.8 in)

Weight:

630-750g (22-26.25 oz)

Subspecies including nominate:

one

Colour Adult:

Male-in general grey/black plumage, feathers finely margined with dusty white; ear-coverts dusty white; side tail feathers with broad white band near end.  Bill dark grey and narrow with elongated tip. Eye ring pink, eye dark brown. Female-ear-coverts brighter, clearer white; bill horn in colour and narrow with elongated tip. Eye ring grey.

Colour Juvenile:

Ear-coverts dull white, sometimes yellowish; narrower tail band with irregular spotting. Bill horn coloured, narrow and elongated, washed with grey.  Eye ring grey.

Call:

Contact call while in flight is unusual, high-pitched wailing note.  Also same sometimes while perching. Also described as sad and plaintive.  Grating or croaking while feeding and harsh screech in alarm.

Listen Now

Video Links:

Video 1 | Video 2

More Information:

Avibase
BirdLife Australia: Identify your Black Cockatoo

Content Sources:

CITES
BirdLife International
Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Birds of the World
A Guide to Parrots of the World, Juniper and Parr, 1998
xeno-canto Baudin's Black Cockatoo, Benesh, Chris, XC42657
Parrots: Status Survey and Conservation Plan 2000-2004, Snyder, McGowan, Gilardi and Grajal, 2000
Parrots of the World, Forshaw and Cooper, 1977, 1989. 2010 edition
Vanished and Vanishing Parrots, Forshaw, 2017.
Parrots of the World, Forshaw, 2006.
Parrots in Aviculture, Low, 1992.
Guide to Incubation and Handraising Parrots, Digney, 1998.

Click photo to visit gallery

Wild Baudin's Black Cockatoo feeding
© Ian Montgomery

Did You Know?

There are only 10,000-15,000 Baudin's Black Cockatoos. Surveys completed between 1995 and 2004 suggested that only 10% of those birds make up the breeding population.

Academic Research

Related publications: Zanda baudinii

Species Care

Captive Status:

Uncommon in Australia, very rare outside Australia.

Longevity:

50 or more years.

Housing:

Walk-in enclosure, minimum length 7m (23 ft).

Diet:

Nuts including: walnuts, almonds and pine nuts; sunflower seed, wheat, maize and fresh corn; green leaves and food and fruit may be accepted. Vegetables such as peas in the pod and, in Australia, banksia and hakia nuts. Complete kibble. Mealworms while rearing young.

Enrichment:

Are avid chewers so provide lots of bird-safe branches and wood blocks (pine, fir, etc), vegetable tanned leather toys.

Nest Box Size:

Not recorded.

Clutch Size:

1 or 2

Incubation Time:

29 days

Fledging Age:

11 weeks

Hatch Weight:

18g (0.6 oz)

Peak Weight:

700g (24.5 oz)

Weaning Weight:

650g (22.75 oz)

Click photo to visit gallery

Wild Baudin's Black Cockatoo feeding
© Ian Montgomery

Did You Know?

There are only 10,000-15,000 Baudin's Black Cockatoos. Surveys completed between 1995 and 2004 suggested that only 10% of those birds make up the breeding population.

Academic Research

Related publications: Zanda baudinii

Species Wild Status

World Population:

10,000-15,000, decreasing.

IUCN Red List Status:

Critically Endangered

CITES Listing:

Appendix II

Threat Summary:

A quarter of this species' habitat has been cleared for agriculture, logging and mining. The loss of old-growth trees is causing a severe shortage of nest sites. Is illegally shot by farmers, but an examination of the problem suggests that protective netting their trees would provide a better result. There is also a threat from non-native bees in nest cavities.

Range:

SW Australia, north to Darling Range, east to longitude 117E.

Habitat:

Found in wet sclerophyll forests during breeding season, favouring Karri. Outside breeding season may range to farmland, orchards and open woodland.

Wild Diet:

Feeds on seeds from the large fruit of marri Eucalyptus calophylla and the seeds of a variety of native plants including Banksia and Dryandra. Also takes insect larvae and visits orchards for fruit and seeds both in trees or dropped on the ground.

Ecology and Behaviour:

Is wary and difficult to approach. Sentinels alert groups of 50 or more birds that congregate to feed. Pair bond is permanent. Flocks in winter seen in parties of three with two adults and an immature.

Clutch and Egg Size:

1 or 2 ovate eggs, 50 x 34.5mm (2 x 1.3 in)

Breeding Season:

August-January. Nest is in large tree hollow.

Related Links:

Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre
Western Australian Museum - Cockatoo Care
Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities

Click photo to visit gallery

Wild Baudin's Black Cockatoo feeding
© Ian Montgomery

Did You Know?

There are only 10,000-15,000 Baudin's Black Cockatoos. Surveys completed between 1995 and 2004 suggested that only 10% of those birds make up the breeding population.

Academic Research

Related publications: Zanda baudinii

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