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Glossy Black-cockatoo
Calyptohynchus lathami
Conservation Status
Vulnerable species in New South Wales (Threatened Species Conservation Act). At a national level, the subspecies lathami is classified as rare.
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What does it look like?It is a dusky brown to black cockatoo with a massive, bulbous bill and a broad, red band through the tail. The red in the tail is barred black and edged with yellow. They are smaller than other black-cockatoos (about 50 cm in length), with a smaller crest. (from DEC- NSW Threatened Species Profile) |
Where does it live?
They prefer Eucalypt forest and woodland. They have two major habitat requirements: she-oaks (trees and shrubs of the genera Allocasuarina and Casuarina), the seeds of which are almost their only food source; and old eucalypts (live or dead) with large hollows for nesting. They are endemic to Australia and consist of two subspecies. The subspecies lathami occurs in NSW from the coast to the tablelands. They have been widely recorded in the Pittwater Council area including Barrenjoey Peninsula. Records also exist for Ku-ring-gai Chase and Garigal National Parks. At Browns Bay, Glossy Black-cockatoos are seen several times a year and this seems to be typical of the pattern of sightings in the bushier residential areas of Pittwater. The birds are locally nomadic and wander widely over their local district in search of food plants. Subspecies halmaturinus is restricted to Kangaroo Island and the nearby mainland in South Australia.
What do they eat?
They extract she-oak seeds from unopened, young but mature, cones with their powerful bills. The birds prefer she-oak trees with greater numbers of seed cones which are mostly mature sparse trees 2 to 10 m tall. Dense she-oak appears to be unsuitable. In Pittwater, as elsewhere in coastal New South Wales, the main food species are Forest Oak Allocasuarina torulosa and Black She-oak A. littoralis. Both of these are common in Pittwater and one of them, the A. littoralis, appears to be increasing in numbers in the absence of major wildfires in isolated reserves such as Angophora Reserve and McKay Reserve.
What is their life cycle?
Eggs are laid in New South Wales between March and June. A single egg is laid on decayed debris within a hollow limb or hole, either in a live old eucalypt or in a large dead tree. Hollows large enough for nesting by species such as the Glossy Black-cockatoo usually do not form in eucalypt trees less than about 200 years old. Glossy Black-cockatoos roost in the canopy of live leafy trees with a preference for eucalypts.
There have been no confirmed breeding records in the Pittwater area however adults accompanied by a single young bird have been reported at Deep Creek in 1989 and 1997. This could indicate that the birds probably bred nearby, either in Garigal National Parl or in the Pittwater or Warringah Council areas.Updated: 22 Jun 2011
Related Links
- Glossy Black-cockatoo - DEC-NSW Threatened Species Profile