Difference between revisions of "Palm Cockatoo" - BirdForum Opus

Probosciger aterrimus

Alternative names: Black Macaw; Goliath Aratoo; Goliath Cockatoo; Great Black Cockatoo; Great Palm Cockatoo;

Photo by Mehd Halaouate
Geniyem, Papua New Guinea

Identification

51-64 cm 21.6-23.6 inches. 550-1,000 g.

Male

Red facial skin on a large black parrot with characteristric large crest.
Very large grey black beak with upper mandible 94 mm long in male, 74 mm in female
Red gape
Red tongue with black tip
Eye dark brown
Legs grey to black with bare grey tibia

Female

Smaller cheek patch than male

Immature

Feathers of underparts and underwing coverts have pale yellow edges
White tip to beak for about the first 18 months
White eyering
Pink facial skin.

Distribution

New Guinea and northern Queensland, Australia. This species is threatened by capture for the pet trade, especially in New Guinea.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 3 subspecies^[1]

P. a stenolophus Larger than nominate with narrower crest feathers

Yapen Island and northwest New Guinea

P. a. goliath Larger than nominate

West Papuan islands and west and central New Guinea

P. a. aterrimus

Aru Island, Misool Island, southern New Guinea and northeast Australia (Cape York)

and three more that are only recognized by some authorities: macgillivrayi, intermedius, and salvadorii.
It is the only member in subfamily Microglossinae and monotypic genus Probosciger.
It's unique position within the cockatoo family has been confirmed by molecular studies.

Habitat

New Guinea: Rainforest, gallery forest, monsoon woodland, forest edges, tall newgrowth forest and partly deforested areas. Usually below 750 m but can occur up to 1350 m.
Cape York Peninsula: Areas between lowland moonsoon and bordering Eucalyptus woods, thick savannah and paperbark forest.
Australia: Prefers woodland to rainforest.

Behaviour

Diet

Woodland feeder, eating seeds, fruits, nuts, berries and buds from a large choice of plants, mainly Pandan and Blackbean sometimes eats dropped ripe seeds such as Okari nuts and Canarium nuts. Nuts are cut in half using the massive bill.

Breeding

Nests are built in the hollow of a tree and 1 egg is laid. Both parents incubate for 30 days.

These birds do not form large flocks, preferring to stay in pairs or very small groups.

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved October 2015)
Brown, D.M. and C.A. Toft. 1999. Molecular systematics and biogeography of the cockatoos (Psittaciformes: Cacatuidae). Auk 116(1):141-157.
Astuti D., Azuma N., Suzuki H., Higashi S. "Phylogenetic relationships within parrots (Psittacidae) inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene sequences." Zool. Sci. 23:191-198(2006).

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Palm Cockatoo. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Palm_Cockatoo

External Links

Search for photos of Palm Cockatoo in the gallery

View more images of this species on the ABID

@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 [[Australia]]: Prefers woodland to rainforest.
 ==Behaviour==
+====Diet====
+Woodland feeder, eating seeds, fruits, nuts, berries and buds from a large choice of plants, mainly Pandan and Blackbean sometimes eats dropped ripe seeds  such as Okari nuts and Canarium nuts. Nuts are cut in half using the massive bill.
+====Breeding====
 Nests are built in the hollow of a tree and 1 egg is laid.  Both parents incubate for 30 days.
 These birds do not form large flocks, preferring to stay in pairs or very small groups.
-Diet includes fruit, nuts, berries, as well as seeds and buds of leaves.
 ====References====
 #{{Ref-Clements6thAug15}}#Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved October 2015)