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12

Gang-gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum) Alternate name(s): "Red-headed Cockatoo", "Red-headed Parrot", "Red-crowned Cockatoo", "Red-crowned Parrot"; MISNOMER: "Galah*" Aboriginal name(s): "gang gang"; "miRan" [tjapwurrung] Size: 33-36 cm Weight: 230-335 g

Australia: Family Group 12 Family Group 12 Table Palm Cockatoo Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo Glossy Black-Cockatoo Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Short-billed Black-Cockatoo Long-billed Black-Cockatoo Gang-gang Cockatoo Long-billed Corella Western Corella Little Corella Cockatiel Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Major Mitchell's Cockatoo Galah Eclectus Parrot Rainbow Lorikeet Red-collared Lorikeet Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Purple-crowned Lorikeet Varied Lorikeet Musk Lorikeet Little Lorikeet Double-eyed Fig-Parrot Australian King-Parrot Red-winged Parrot Princess Parrot Superb Parrot Regent Parrot Green Rosella Crimson Rosella Western Rosella Eastern Rosella Pale-headed Rosella Northern Rosella Red-capped Parrot Australian Ringneck Red-rumped Parrot Mulga Parrot Golden-shouldered Parrot Hooded Parrot Blue Bonnet Bourke's Parrot Budgerigar Swift Parrot Eastern Ground Parrot Night Parrot Blue-winged Parrot Scarlet-chested Parrot Rock Parrot Turquoise Parrot Elegant Parrot Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Thumbnails page Birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Gang-gang Cockatoos are small cockatoos. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are slightly different. Male Gang-gang Cockatoos' heads, including crest, are scarlet. The feathers have more pronounced grey edge lining than females'. Female Gang-gang Cockatoos have all slate-grey feathers with light edging (salmon-brownish at the front, lemon-grey on vent and back) and a grey head (including the small, tufty crest). The tails of both sexes are grey. The irises are dark, the bill is light-grey and legs and feet are also grey. Immature males gradually start growing scarlet feathers on their heads. Juveniles resemble females.

Taxonomy, classification See Gang-gang Cockatoo at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Gang-gang Cockatoo is available HERE . Gang-gang Cockatoos are endemic to south-eastern Australia (and there is an introduced population on Kangaroo Island, South-west of Adelaide, SA). Their range on the continent extends from the south-eastern tip of SA, through the coastal fringe of VIC, into south-eastern NSW. Towards the North-West, their range extends to a line connecting roughly Melbourne, VIC, with Newcastle, NSW. In the northern-most part of their range (anywhere North and North-West of Canberra, ACT, and Sydney, NSW) they are only found outside their breeding season. Gang-gang Cockatoos have a preference for open forest. However, in autumn and winter they frequently move into denser woodland and also into urban parks and farms.

Sightings Click here for sighting information R. Plumtree reports spotting Gang-gang Cockatoos occasionally in East Gippsland, VIC, e.g. in April 2013, March 2014 and in October 2017. In January 2016, R. Plumtree spotted Gang-gang Cockatoos along Diggers Hole Road, Snowy River NP, VIC. C. Lawrence reports finding Gang-gang Cockatoos semi-regularly in a garden in Canberra, ACT. M. Eaton reports spotting Gang-gang Cockatoos at Point Addis, VIC, in April 2022.

Photos

MALE

Frontal portrait of an adult male Gang-gang Cockatoo (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Cassilis Road, Swifts Creek, East Gippsland, VIC, October 2017]

Frontal view of a male Gang-gang Cockatoo high up in a eucalypt (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Cassilis Road, Swifts Creek, East Gippsland, VIC, October 2017]

Frontal view of a male Gang-gang Cockatoo high up in a eucalypt (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Diggers Hole Road, Snowy River NP, VIC, January 2016]

Lateral view of a male Gang-gang Cockatoo high up in a eucalypt (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Upper Little River Rd, Mt Nunniong, East Gippsland, VIC, April 2013]

Dorsal view of a male Gang-gang Cockatoo (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Cassilis Road, Swifts Creek, East Gippsland, VIC, October 2017]

Three adult male Gang-gang Cockatoos (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Diggers Hole Road, Snowy River NP, VIC, January 2016]

Ventral view of an adult male Gang-gang Cockatoo in flight (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Diggers Hole Road, Snowy River NP, VIC, January 2016]

FEMALE

Frontal portrait of an adult female Gang-gang Cockatoo (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Cassilis Road, Swifts Creek, East Gippsland, VIC, October 2017]

Frontal view of a female Gang-gang Cockatoo (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Point Addis, VIC, April 2022]

Near-frontal portrait of a female Gang-gang Cockatoo (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Cassilis Road, Swifts Creek, East Gippsland, VIC, October 2017]

PAIR

Frontal view of a pair of Gang-gang Cockatoos (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Cassilis Road, Swifts Creek, East Gippsland, VIC, October 2017]

Frontal/ventral view of a pair of Gang-gang Cockatoos (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Point Addis, VIC, April 2022]

Pair of Gang-gang Cockatoos; here the female may be "sounding" the hollow in the dead branch
(photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Cassilis Road, Swifts Creek, East Gippsland, VIC, October 2017]

Male, left, and two female Gang-gang Cockatoos (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Cassilis and Goldie's Road, East Gippsland, VIC, March 2014]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Close-up frontal view of an immature male Gang-gang Cockatoo in a White Cedar tree (photo courtesy of C. Lawrence)
[Canberra, ACT, June 2017]

Lateral view of an immature male Gang-gang Cockatoo (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Point Addis, VIC, April 2022]

Lateral view of an immature male Gang-gang Cockatoo (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Point Addis, VIC, April 2022]

Immature male Gang-gang Cockatoo, left, and female, right, in a White Cedar tree (photo courtesy of C. Lawrence)
[Canberra, ACT, June 2017]

Food, Diet

Gang-gang Cockatoos like various types of fruit, nuts and berries, e.g. the nuts of the White Cedar tree.

Gang-gang Cockatoos feeding on White Cedar nuts (photo courtesy of C. Lawrence)
[Canberra, ACT, June 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a male Gang-gang Cockatoo feeding on White Cedar nuts (photo courtesy of C. Lawrence)
[Canberra, ACT, June 2013]

Dorsal view of a female Gang-gang Cockatoo feeding on fruit (photo courtesy of C. Lawrence)
[Canberra, ACT, June 2013]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

gang_cl_20170625.m4a

(ACT)

Various (feeding in White Cedar tree)

© CL

More Gang-gang Cockatoo sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Sun, 17 April 2022, 21:56 +00:00