the 16 -17 types of the cockatoos puts one into an independent subfamily of the parrots. The systematic assignment of the nymph-parakeet to this group is somewhat controversial.
Spread The cockatoos live together sociably in smaller until moderate-sized troops. they populate the tree-existed areas in Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, New Guinea and many island-groups of the Malay area.
Shape All types distinguish themselves through a quite considerable height (particularly the males) of 33-80 cm. The animals possess a powerful beak. its top, that is sub-beak more narrowly than this, has proceeding notches at the palate-roof crosswise to the clamping hard seeds.
Food The cockatoos live mainly from plants, with what they can break also very hard nuts and seeds with the powerful beaks open. Some types look for roots, onions and tubers, on the ground lives Z others. B. almost exclusively from the seed of the eucalyptus-trees. Insects and its larvae are liked to take from some types as Zukost to its plant-food.
Reproduction Both sexes erbrüten in tree-caves the 2 - 4 white eggs; after approximately 20-30 days, the boys slip and remain in the brood-cave as nestlings 6-10 weeks.
Caught-attitude Cockatoos are held gladly in captivity and gain also a high age there. they usually are very curious birds, who also become quite tame. With its powerful beaks, however, they have tools not to be underestimated for injuries, damages and destructions of all the type.
Arakakadu As biggest type, the Arakakadu (Probosciger aterrimus) becomes long until 80 cm. The females remain smaller than the male birds. By the way, both sexes resemble from. The plumage is gray-black. The head-sides ("cheeks") are ungefiedert and, according to arousal, colored whitish red until shining. Long, far to the back bent head-feathers form a big black bonnet. The black, strongly bent beak is the biggest parrot-beak at all with 10 cm of length.
Way of life Arakakadus live in individually or to second rain-wood in North-Australia (Cape York), New Guinea as well as on the Aru-Inseln and some wide smaller neighboring islands. The fruits of the screw-palms - trees (panda-no time -) belongs to its preferred food. But also big, hard-shell nuts open Arakakadus by in-filing a hole only with the beak-crusts, divide with the fine top of the long beak the soft kernel thereupon and finally out-fish the fragments with its tongue. The nest consists 3,6 cm of one single egg of 5 x.
Endangering Arakakadus are regarded as endangered and are been subject to the protection through the Washingtoner Artenschutzübereinkommen.
Helmet-cockatoo To the 33-35 cm big helmet-cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum) shows a clear Geschlechtsdimorphismus: The males have a red head, also the "zerschlissen" of working feather-bonnet is red, the females are colored quite simply gray on the other hand.
Helmet-cockatoos live in southeast-Australia (occasionally also Tasmania) in very different timberland-ships, also gardens and parks like to look for it.
Way of life its food consists mainly of small eucalyptus-seeds. A very more characteristically protracted reputation helped ("walk-walk cockatoo") the helmet-cockatoo to get its English name.
Type Calyptorhynchus This type includes four types, under it as biggest type the 55-68 cm big soot-cockatoo or yellow-ear-raven-cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus) from the east and south of Australia and Tasmania. It is big, brown-black or black colored parrots, across whose tail a wide white, red or yellow bond runs. The females have unterseits yellow stains or strips in the plumage.
Nutrition The food of the black cockatoos consists of insects, who "dig out" it under the bark of perished trees with its powerful beak, beside the usual plants also to a certain part.
Type Kakatoe The type Kakatoe includes 10-12 types. The plumage of these 32-50 cm big parrots usually is white with sallow or red touch. The big feather-bonnets of these sociably living animals have shining colors, according to Z. B. yellow-bonnet-cockatoo (Kakatoe galerita) big with the 48-50 cm. it lives on New Guinea and the neighboring islands as well as in north and East-Australia until Tasmania.
Yellow-bonnet-cockatoos were quite frequent in the zoological trade until they turned into rare and dearly dealt rarities through the general export-prohibition of Australian animals - also like the 32-38 cm big pink-cockatoos (Kakatoe roseicapilla) -.
Way of life In its home, pink-cockatoos often turn into the plague since they are adaptable at many different habitats and even human settlements quite don't avoid. Big swarms of hundred these most frequent Australian parrots prepare considerable damage in plantations from time to time and are therefore also pursued strongly.
Further types Another, purely Australian type is the 32-38 cm big Inca-cockatoo (Kakatoe leadbeateri). its feather-bonnet is multicolored (red with yellow bond and white tops) in contrast to those of the other types. Inca-cockatoos are quite rare, they live in open dry-landscapes.
While the feather-mops of hair of the until now mentioned cockatoos have a narrow basis, the 50 cm long, white Molukkenkakadu or red-bonnet-cockatoo (Kakatoe moluccensis) wear a wide feather-bonnet on the head.
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