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Gang Gang Cockatoo

 
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Gang-gang Cockatoo
 
 
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The Gang-gang Cockatoo, Callocephalon fimbriatum, is found in the cooler and wetter forests and woodlands of Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, particularly alpine bushland
Bushland

The term bushland usually refers to an area that has only a sparse Flora and Fauna . This term was first used to describe the harsh Australian Outback, the red semi-desert that covers a significant part of the inner continent....
. Mostly mild grey in colour with some lighter scalloping (more pronounced and buffish in females) the male has a red head and crest
Crest (bird)

The crest is a prominent feature exhibited by several bird and dinosaur species on their heads. Fleshy crests are called cockscombs; this article discusses feather crests....
, while the female has a small fluffy grey crest. It ranges throughout south-eastern Australia and Tasmania
Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and States and territories of Australia of the same name. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait....
. The Gang-gang Cockatoo is the faunal emblem of the Australian Capital Territory
Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory is the Capital districts and territories of the Australia and its smallest States and territories of Australia....
.






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The Gang-gang Cockatoo, Callocephalon fimbriatum, is found in the cooler and wetter forests and woodlands of Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, particularly alpine bushland
Bushland

The term bushland usually refers to an area that has only a sparse Flora and Fauna . This term was first used to describe the harsh Australian Outback, the red semi-desert that covers a significant part of the inner continent....
. Mostly mild grey in colour with some lighter scalloping (more pronounced and buffish in females) the male has a red head and crest
Crest (bird)

The crest is a prominent feature exhibited by several bird and dinosaur species on their heads. Fleshy crests are called cockscombs; this article discusses feather crests....
, while the female has a small fluffy grey crest. It ranges throughout south-eastern Australia and Tasmania
Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and States and territories of Australia of the same name. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait....
. The Gang-gang Cockatoo is the faunal emblem of the Australian Capital Territory
Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory is the Capital districts and territories of the Australia and its smallest States and territories of Australia....
. It is easily identified by its distinctive call, which is described as resembling a creaky gate, or the sound of a cork being pulled from a wine bottle.

The name Gang-gang comes from a New South Wales
New South Wales

New South Wales is Australia's oldest and most populous States and territories of Australia, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria and south of Queensland....
 Aboriginal language, either Ngunnawal
Ngunnawal

Ngunnawal or Ngunawal may refer to:* The Ngunnawal people, the indigenous people of the Canberra region of Australia.* The Ngunnawal language, their traditional language....
 or Wiradjuri
Wiradjuri

The Wiradjuri are an Indigenous Australian group of central New South Wales.In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in Condobolin, New South Wales, Peak Hill, New South Wales, Narrandera, New South Wales and Griffith, New South Wales....
. It is possible both language groups called it gang gang.

Breeding

Unlike most other cockatoo
Cockatoo

A cockatoo is any of the 21 bird species belonging to the family Cacatuidae. Along with the Psittacidae family and the Nestoridae family, they make up the order Psittaciformes....
s, Gang-gangs nest in young, solid trees, the females using their strong bills/beaks to excavate nesting cavities.

Status

Lots of older, hollow trees and loss of feeding habitat across south-eastern Australia through land clearing has led to a significant reduction in the numbers of this cockatoo in recent years. As a result, the Gang-Gang is now listed as vulnerable.

Taxonomy

The Gang-gang Cockatoo was most often allied with the white cockatoos of the genus Cacatua. This has always been controversial due to the unusual appearance and coloration of the bird, especially its sexual dichromatism
Sexual dichromatism

Sexual dichromatism is a form of sexual dimorphism in which the males and the females of the same species have different marking patterns or different color fur or feathering....
. New research has finally resolved the matter, with the Gang-gang Cockatoo being recognized as a distinctive early offshoot of the calyptorhynchine (dark) cockatoos (Brown & Toft, 1999). Considering the robust phylogeny of the cockatoos now established, a comparison of characters gained and lost during the evolution of cockatoos suggests that the Gang-gang Cockatoo - while of course much changed and adapted during the maybe 20 million years since its last common ancestor with any other living species lived - is probably still very similar in overall appearance to how the earliest cockatoos would have looked, and certainly the most primitive-looking of the species alive today.

Gallery


External links

  • Parrot Encyclopedia - Species Profiles