Blue Mountains National Park Australia Birds

A large black cockatoo with yellow panels in the tail and bright yellow cheek patches that feeds largely on seeds from eucalypts and casuarinas. In the Blue Mountains it is often seen in feeding flocks around old-growth forest edges and sandstone heath, particularly where stringybark and she-oak seed crops are good.

Large (about 55–65 cm), mostly black with yellow panels in the tail and yellow cheek patches; heavy curved bill; slower, deeper wing beats and a distinctive piping call. In flight look for yellow tail edges and a stocky silhouette.

Common Confusions

• Red-tailed Black Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus banksii Red-tailed shows reddish tail panels and different bill shape; yellow-tailed has yellow tail panels and yellow cheek crescents.
• Galah Eolophus roseicapilla Galah is much smaller, pink and grey, and lacks the large black body and yellow tail panels of the yellow-tailed cockatoo.
• Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita Sulphur-crested is white with a yellow crest, while yellow-tailed is dark with distinct yellow tail edges and cheek patches.
• Carnaby's Black Cockatoo Zanda latirostris Carnaby's is mainly a south-west species with broader white cheek patches; local separation is usually by range and tail-color pattern.
• Cockatiel Nymphicus hollandicus Cockatiel is much smaller, slender with a pointed crest and long tail; not easily confused at close range.