Red-tailed Black Cockatoo’s (Calyptorhynchus banksii)
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii)
The Red tail is a large cockatoo native to Australia. Adult Red-tails are around 60 centimetres in length and sexually dimorphic. Males are completely black in colour, except for their prominent red tail bands; the slightly smaller females are brownish-black with yellow barring and spotting and have yellow-orange tail stripes. The species is usually found in eucalyptus woodlands, or along water courses and they are more common in the drier parts of the continent. In the more northerly parts of the country, these cockatoos are commonly seen in large flocks.
I photographed these birds near the Walsh river on an inland road heading towards Chilagoe, FNQ. There were between 75 and a hundred birds flying between three big gum trees. The audio recording was done at the same time by Tai, a friend of mine specialising in native bird recordings here in Australia.