Black Cockies

Calyptorhynchus funereus

I used to think that a black cockie was a black cockie, it turns out that the name is a general descriptive term for several species of cockatoos with black colouring. The cockies that visit my yard are Yellow tailed black cockatoos. For the last few years they’ve been turning up for just 1 day, chowing down on Banksia flowers, gnawing off many small branches, and then flying out not to be seen for another year. Yellow tailed black cockatoos are big, noticeably bigger than the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos that are here year round. They have black feathers all over with a yellow patch on the cheek and the tail.

A Yellow tailed black cockie on the clothes line. They visit once a year to attack the Banksia trees, this year it was August 5th

Black cockie eating a Banksia flower

Resources and references

• Birds in Backyards
• Wikipedia
• Altas of Living Australia

• Bird
• Black Cockie
• Calyptorhynchus Funereus
• Native
• Yard
• Yellow Tailed Black Cockie