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12

Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (Cacatua leadbeateri) Alternate name(s): "Pink Cockatoo", "Wee Juggler", "Leadbeater's Cockatoo" Aboriginal name(s): Race "leadbeateri": "gugalarrin" [yuwaalaraay], "wijagala" ("weejugla") [wiradjuri]; Race "mollis": "yakalyakal" (WA) Size: 35-40 cm Weight: 360-480 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

Similar species

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

Physical description Click here for a physical description Major Mitchell's Cockatoos are medium-sized cockatoos. They have a light-pink front (face, neck, chest, belly), an off-white cap and off-white back (vent, tail, wings). Their most prominent feature is the crest. When relaxed, it is quite inconspicuous, trailing the head, but when erected, it displays an array of off-white, red and yellow, with off-white tips. Males tend to have more red in their crests than females; race "mollis" has no yellow in the crest. When seen up close, the sexes are most easily told apart by the colour of their irises: Males have dark irises, while those of females are reddish-brown. The bill is light-grey, the legs and feet are grey. Twitcher's tip Compared to Galahs they have a permanently visible crest and are lighter in colouring overall (lighter shade of grey and lighter shade of pink).

Taxonomy, classification See Major Mitchell's 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 Major Mitchell's Cockatoo is available HERE . NB: Reports on ebird of birds submitted by birdwatchers from the Australian Outback tend to be clustered along roads and public areas such as camp grounds; in such cases their distribution is not a good representation of the overall distribution of the species. Major Mitchell's Cockatoos are endemic to Australia. They are found mostly in inland NSW, VIC and QLD, basically across the Murray Darling Basin. They also occur throughout most of SA (including the Nullarbor) and in the southern central NT. Major Mitchell's Cockatoos populate only a few scattered locations in WA. They do not occur anywhere North of the tropic of Capricorn, nowhere along the East coast of Australia and not in Tasmania either. Within this total (mostly inland) range, westward of a line connecting the tip of Eyre peninsula with Lake Eyre race "mollis" is present; further to the East one finds nominate race "leadbeateri". Major Mitchell's Cockatoos are often found in mulga- or mallee-dominated scrub. They have a preference for Murray Pine and casuarinas, where they are often found feeding on the seeds.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "leadbeateri" Major Mitchell's Cockatoos, race "leadbeateri", were first spotted by us near Brewarrina, NSW, on a trip to Outback western NSW in March 2008. There were two independent sightings both westward of Brewarrina, NSW, and in the Darling River floodplains. Next we found Major Mitchell's Cockatoos, race "leadbeateri", in various locations in western NSW in September 2012, e.g. 20 km South of Bourke, NSW, and 100 km North of Bourke. They were again found in various locations around Bourke, NSW, in September 2017. M. Mearns reports spotting Major Mitchell's Cockatoos, race "leadbeateri", by the side of a road near Mitchell, QLD, in July 2009. M. Eaton found Major Mitchell's Cockatoos, race "leadbeateri", at Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, in September 2017 and again in August 2018. M. Eaton and ourselves found Major Mitchell's Cockatoos, race "leadbeateri", at the same location in June 2019. In September 2022, M. Eaton spotted Major Mitchell's Cockatoos, race "leadbeateri", near Quilpie, QLD. Race "mollis" C. Pears reports finding Major Mitchell's Cockatoos, race "mollis", in Tjoritja (West MacDonnell Ranges), NT, in August 2016.

Photos

Race "leadbeateri"

ADULT

MALE

Frontal view of a male Major Mitchell's Cockatoo; note the dark iris (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Near-lateral view of a male Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a male Major Mitchell's Cockatoo; note the dark iris
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Close-up lateral view of a male Major Mitchell's Cockatoo feeding on the cones of a Black Pine
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, September 2017]

Lateral view of a male Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, September 2017]

Lateral view of a male Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a male Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Dorsal view of a male Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, September 2017]

Dorsal view of a male Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, September 2017]

Are you looking at me....?
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

FEMALE

Close-up frontal view of a female Major Mitchell's Cockatoo - note the reddish-brown iris - feeding on the cones of a Black Pine (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, September 2017]

Frontal view of a female Major Mitchell's Cockatoo feeding in an Emu-bush (Eremophila longifolia)
[Near Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

Near-frontal view of a female Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Close-up lateral view of a female Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Quilpie, QLD, September 2022]

Close-up lateral view of a female Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

Close-up lateral view of a female Major Mitchell's Cockatoo feeding on the ground (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, September 2017]

Lateral view of a female Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, September 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a female Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, September 2017]

Three Major Mitchell's Cockatoos feeding in low shrubs by a roadside; the bird in the middle is probably a male
[Near Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

Two Major Mitchell's Cockatoos landing, displaying their underwing and upperwing patterns, respectively
[Near Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

Lateral view of two Major Mitchell's Cockatoos in flight (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Near Mitchell, QLD, July 2009]

Dorsal view of a Major Mitchell's Cockatoo in flight
[Near Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

PAIR

Frontal view of a pair of Major Mitchell's Cockatoos; male above, female below
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Near-frontal/near-lateral view of a pair Major Mitchell's Cockatoos - male on the left, female on the right (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, September 2017]

Race "mollis"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Major Mitchell's Cockatoos feeding in a shrub (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Tjoritja (West MacDonnell Ranges), NT, August 2016]

Hybridisation

Major Mitchell's Cockatoos can hybridise with both Little Corellas .

Little Corella x Major Mitchell's Cockatoo hybrids

Frontal view of a Little Corella x Major Mitchell's Cockatoo hybrid in captivity (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

Lateral view of a Little Corella x Major Mitchell's Cockatoo hybrid in captivity (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal

Mobility: Sedentary/dispersive

Elementary unit: Small flock

Some Major Mitchell's Cockatoo "TLC" - allopreening is a commonly used bonding ritual (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Quilpie, QLD, September 2022]

Some Major Mitchell's Cockatoo "TLC" - allopreening is a commonly used bonding ritual (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Quilpie, QLD, September 2022]

Unlike many other species of cockatoos, Major Mitchell's Cockatoos form only small flocks.

Small flock of Major Mitchell's Cockatoos (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

Small flock of Major Mitchell's Cockatoos in flight
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Food, Diet

Adults: Seeds

Dependents: Regurgitated seeds

Water intake: Daily

Like basically all cockatoos, Major Mitchell's Cockatoos are seed-eaters, where seeds include those in cones and nut-like fruit.

Near-lateral view of a male Major Mitchell's Cockatoo taking a seed pod (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Quilpie, QLD, September 2022]

Lateral view of a male Major Mitchell's Cockatoo taking a seed pod (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Quilpie, QLD, September 2022]

Major Mitchell's Cockatoo feeding on nectar from flowers, in this case Eremophila longifolia
[Near Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

Major Mitchell's Cockatoo feeding on seeds on the ground
[Near Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

Female Major Mitchell's Cockatoo feeding on what looks like a native orange, the fruit of a Capparis mitchellii shrub
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, September 2017]

Major Mitchell's Cockatoos feeding on the seeds of a noxious weed, Noogoora burr
[Near Bourke, NSW, September 2017]

Major Mitchell's Cockatoo feeding on seeds on the ground
[Near Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

Major Mitchell's Cockatoo picking up seeds or grain from the side of a road (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Near Mitchell, QLD, July 2009]

Lateral view of a Major Mitchell's Cockatoo approaching a waterhole (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

Close-up lateral view of a Major Mitchell's Cockatoo approaching a waterhole (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

Major Mitchell's Cockatoos having a drink of water
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

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.

majmitch_20190617.m4a	(SW QLD)	Warning/departure	© MD
majmitch_20190618.m4a	(SW QLD)	Various (arrival & drinking)	© MD

More Major Mitchell's 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: Wed, 28 September 2022, 21:25 +00:00