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12

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
- Aboriginal information

(Cacatua galerita)
Alternative name: "White Cockatoo"
Aboriginal names: "gehr" [western bundjalung]; "gayambula" [ngadjon]; "kaneky", "mooyi", "kogga-longo", "arunta", "korina", "kudrungoo", "moorai", "nannawarra", "tingari"

Size: 45-50 cm
Weight: 835 g (average)

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Spiritual significance

The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo features in Aboriginal creation stories. A few examples are reproduced or listed here.

R. A. Roberts and C. P. Mountford tell the story of "The Wedge-tailed Eagle, the White Cockatoo and the Blanket Lizard" (1968 ed.), p. 30. This story explains how Yurumu, the Eagle-man, took revenge on Kilpuruna for cheating on him with his wife, Narina. While Kilpuruna turns into a Blanket Lizard, Narina turns into a Sulphur-crested (White) Cockatoo.

Disclaimer: Not being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin, we make no claim of intellectual ownership of any of the information presented here. We merely collect facts and stories documented by others. Credits/references are listed HERE.

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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