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Pink Cockatoo (Cacatua leadbeateri) Alternate name(s): "Major Mitchell's Cockatoo", "Leadbeater's Cockatoo", "Wee Juggler" 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 Pink Cockatoo Galah Rainbow Lorikeet Red-collared Lorikeet Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Purple-crowned Lorikeet Varied Lorikeet Musk Lorikeet Little Lorikeet Eclectus Parrot Red-cheeked Parrot 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 Pink 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 Pink 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 Pink 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. Pink 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. Pink 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". Pink 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" Pink 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 Pink 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 Pink Cockatoos, race "leadbeateri", by the side of a road near Mitchell, QLD, in July 2009. M. Eaton found Pink Cockatoos, race "leadbeateri", at Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, in September 2017 and again in August 2018. M. Eaton and ourselves found Pink Cockatoos, race "leadbeateri", at the same location in June 2019. In September 2022, M. Eaton spotted Pink Cockatoos, race "leadbeateri", near Quilpie, QLD. Race "mollis" C. Pears reports finding Pink Cockatoos, race "mollis", in Tjoritja (West MacDonnell Ranges), NT, in August 2016.

Photos

Race "leadbeateri"

ADULT

PAIR

Many bird species exhibit sexual dimorphism, i.e., male and female have differing appearances which can be quite subtle.
Note the irises; the male's are dark, the female's reddish.

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

Near-frontal view of a pair of Pink Cockatoos feeding on nectar from flowers, in this case Eremophila longifolia; male at the top
[Near Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

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

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

MALE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dorsal view of a male Pink 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 Pink Cockatoo - note the reddish-brown iris - feeding on the cones of a Cypress Pine
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, September 2017]

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

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

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

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

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

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

Three Pink Cockatoos feeding in Eremophila longifolia; by a roadside
[Near Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

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

Sex unknown

Dorsal view of a Pink Cockatoo in flight
[Near Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

Race "mollis"

ADULT

Sex unknown

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

Hybridisation

Pink Cockatoos can hybridise with both Little Corellas .

Little Corella x Pink 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: Mob/small flock

Some Pink 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, Pink Cockatoos form only small flocks.

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

Near-dorsal view of a small flock of Pink 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, Pink Cockatoos are seed-eaters, where seeds include those in cones and nut-like fruit.

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

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

Female Pink 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]

Lateral view of 4 Pink Cockatoos feeding on the seeds of a noxious weed, Noogoora burr
[Near Bourke, NSW, September 2017]

Lateral view of a Pink Cockatoo feeding on seeds on the ground
[Near Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

Pink 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 Pink Cockatoo approaching a waterhole (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

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

Frontal view of 4 Pink 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 Pink 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.

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