Red-Tailed Black-Cockatoo
Calyptorhynchus banksii
Family: Cacatuidae (Cockatoos, 14 species in Australia)
Size: 63 cm
Distribution: Most of Northern and Western Australia to about 1000-2000 km from the coasts, except within about 50-100 km of the coast of West coast of WA. Small distributions in Southwestern VIC. Occasionally seen as south as Sydney on the East coast.
Status: Common
Habitat: Open forests, farms, pines
References: Simpson and Day, Reader's Digest
Not generally seen in the Blue Mountains or Sydney, though I have seen two of them once in the Kuring-Gai Chase National Park in Northern Sydney.
It has red markings under its tail. It does not have a coloured patch on the side of its head like the Yellow-Tailed Black-Cockatoo. However the female (shown below) has small yellow spots on her.
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Photo: Featherdale Wildlife Park, Sydney NSW. High Resolution (1499 x 1487)
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Photo: Featherdale Wildlife Park, Sydney NSW. High Resolution (2588 x 1654)
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Artwork: John Gould, 'The Birds of Australia', 1848. Original Scanned Image.
Some Birdwatching Resources
NEW: Birds of Australia: A Photographic Guide, by Iain Campbell, Sam Woods, Nick Leseberg, Geoff Jones (Photographer). I bought this field guide recently (June 2020). As the name suggests, it's got photographs rather than line drawings. They are very high quality, clear photos. I've got so many field guides now, they have to be really good before I buy them (I got it from a physical book shop, so I was able to look through it thoroughly before deciding whether or not to get it).
From the publisher:
Australia is home to a spectacular diversity of birdlife, from parrots and penguins to emus and vibrant passerines. Birds of Australia covers all 714 species of resident birds and regularly occurring migrants and features more than 1,100 stunning color photographs, including many photos of subspecies and plumage variations never before seen in a field guide. Detailed facing-page species accounts describe key identification features such as size, plumage, distribution, behavior, and voice. This one-of-a-kind guide also provides extensive habitat descriptions with a large number of accompanying photos. The text relies on the very latest IOC taxonomy and the distribution maps incorporate the most current mapping data, making this the most up-to-date guide to Australian birds.
- Covers all 714 species of resident birds and regularly occurring migrants
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Features more than 1,100 stunning color photos
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Includes facing-page species accounts, habitat descriptions, and distribution maps
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The ideal photographic guide for beginners and seasoned birders alike
NOTE: This is the only field guide for Australian birds that I've seen which lists the size of each bird in both centimetres and inches. So if you're much more familiar with inches than centimetres, this would be the best Australian bird field guide to get just for that reason.
Purchase from Australia (The Nile)
Purchase from Australia (Fishpond)
Purchase from Amazon.com (USA Site)
Purchase from Amazon.com.au (Australian Site)
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