At the other extreme of the range a smaller form in central Queensland has recently been recorded as far north as near Paluma west of Townsville. One is restricted to Kangaroo Island in South Australia and has been the subject of an intense research programme. Glossy Black Cockatoos are currently divided into three subspecies. Socially, it is not cohesive, just a large gathering of separate families. Note that an aggregation attracted to a common source, in this case water, is not a flock. The largest number recorded together that I know of was an aggregation of 200 birds seen on 19th October 1994 by David Johnston at a dam in the Pilliga Forest, NSW during a very dry period. They don't form flocks like Red-tails but travel mainly in twos or threes, maybe up to a dozen birds. This they do soon after daybreak or very late in the afternoon. They mostly call in flight when travelling to and fro from food or water. A sure sign of their presence is a mass of chewed cones on the ground beneath a casuarina - if you are lucky the birds may still be up in the tree, chewing away (it makes quite a bit of noise) and dropping the detritus on you! When feeding they are usually quite easy to approach but not easy to locate from a distance because most of the day is spent chewing with little calling.īecause they are so quiet for much of the day and keep a low profile, they are probably not as rare as most people think. Not just any old casuarina is suitable - they do seem to have favourite trees which offer the most suitable fruits. They have been known to fly up to 14 km from their roost/nest to a feeding area. The calls are similar but to me Glossies sound softer and a bit more plaintive.Īdult Glossies are generally regarded as resident but do travel quite widely in search of suitable food trees. Even so, in flight they are often confused with Red-tailed Black Cockatoos. Glossy Black Cockatoo is a bit of a misnomer - not only are they the smallest but also the brownest looking of all the Black Cockatoos.
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