Little Corella

Cacatua sanguinea

Photo by IanC
Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia

Identification

36 to 39 cm

• Plumage mostly white
• Fleshy blue eye-ring
• Pale rose-pink patch between the eye and bill
• Sulphur-yellow wash on the underwing and under tail
  

Adults and young birds look alike

Distribution

Australasia, Indonesia
Papua New Guinea Australia: New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Melanesia

Photo by fthsm
Mason Park, Sydney, Australia, October 2008

Introduced to South-east Asia and escaped pets can be found virtually anywhere in the world.

Taxonomy

Subspecies^[1]

There are 5 subspecies:

• C. s. transfreta:

• Lowlands of southern New Guinea

• C. s. sanguinea:

• North-western Western Australia and Northern Territory

• C. s. westralensis:

• Western Australia (Murchison River region)

• C. s. gymnopis:

• Inland central and eastern Australia

• C. s. normantoni:

• North-eastern Australia (western Cape York Peninsula)

Habitat

Open land, timbered watercourses, grassland, crops, bushes and scrub of all descriptions, including mangroves, native cypress, cliffs; urban and suburban areas. Always near water.

Behaviour

Highly gregarious and can form very large flocks.

Diet

A ground seed-eater.

Breeding

Monogomous
A nest is built in a tree hollow, lined with wood shavings. The clutch consists of 2-4 eggs which are incubated by both adults for about 25 days.

Breeding pairs nest in large colonies, and several nests may be found in the same tree.

Vocalisation

Very noisy. No song as such. <flashmp3> Little Corella.mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
Social calls and squawks
Recorded by Azzy Gladstone, South Australia. March 2010

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Wikipedia
4. Birds in Backyards
5. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Little Corella. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 24 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Little_Corella

External Links

Search for photos of Little Corella in the gallery

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