Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos are one of the my favourite birds. I know, I know, I have a lot of favourites. But let me convince you that black cockies are the coolest birds.
Black cockies are big. They're 20% bigger than a normal cockatoo. Everything they do seems to be slow, heavy, but graceful. They have beautiful yellow ear patches and tail panels. Their scientific name, Calyptorhynchus funereus, refers to their sombre, black plumage, as if they were dressed for a funeral.
Other adjectives to use when referring to black cockies: dopey, determined, playful. Usually when I see them, it is in the distance, flying past with their slow, exaggerated, laboured wing beats, wailing softly to each other.
In the last couple of weeks, we've noticed a group of 8 to 10 black cockies hanging around our bush block. One morning last week I noticed them fly in and settle near the house, so I grabbed my camera and went out to join them. They were all hanging out in the Eucalyptus melliodora (Yellow Box) trees, ripping apart the tree branches with their massive bills.
Tearing apart a branch. You can see the dark line where the grub had bored through the wood.
Why? Well for black cockies, the larvae of wood-boring beetles and moths is a favourite delicacy. They look for holes in the branches or listen for the sound of boring grubs; when they've found one they rip apart the branch until they find the juicy grub they're after. You might have come across ripped up saplings before - it was probably the work of the black cockies. Apparently they can also cause significant damage in eucalypt plantations looking for grubs.
I spent 20 minutes watching this girl tear apart this branch until she finally got her lunch.
