Baudin's Black-Cockatoo Zanda baudinii Scientific name definitions

55–60 cm; 540–790 g; culmen 53 mm. Body plumage dull black with buff margins to the feathers; grayish white patch on ear-coverts; tail shows broad subterminal white panel, with central two feathers all black; eye dark brown; feet gray-brown. Sexes similar, but periophthalmic skin pink in male and dark gray in female ; bill gray-black in male and bone-colored in female; female has larger ear patch. Immature resembles female.

Closely related to Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Zanda funerea) and Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo (Zanda latirostris). Long considered conspecific with latter, but currently treated as separate species because ecology quite different, and bill significantly longer; difficulty in field identification, compounded by long history of conspecific treatment, has led to uncertainty regarding limits of range in area of overlap, and to publication of some inaccurate maps. Present species has also, on occasion, been lumped in Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo. Confusion over bill size of specimen used in original description led to proposal of subspecies tenuirostris, but this name shown to be synonymous with baudinii (1 Schodde, R. and Mason, I.J. (1997). Aves (Columbidae to Coraciidae). In: Houston, W.W.K. & Wells, A. eds. (1997). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 37(2). CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. Close ). Monotypic.

Forested extreme southwestern Western Australia in region bounded by Perth, Albany and Margaret River; breeds in the south of this range.

Breeds in forests  of jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) and karri (E. diversicolor), in zones of higher rainfall, averaging over 750 mm per year. Less frequently found in other types of woodlands, partly cleared farmlands and urban areas including roadside trees and house gardens (2 Johnstone, R. E. and T. Kirkby (2008). Distribution, status, social organisation, movements and conservation of Baudin’s Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus baudinii) in South-west Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 25:107–118. Close ).

After breeding, family groups tend to coalesce and form larger flocks that may forage nomadically north and east beyond their breeding distribution. The bulk of the population largely vacates in autumn the coldest parts of the range (2 Johnstone, R. E. and T. Kirkby (2008). Distribution, status, social organisation, movements and conservation of Baudin’s Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus baudinii) in South-west Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 25:107–118. Close ). Sometimes feeds in mixed flocks with Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo (Zanda latirostris).

Long upper mandible enables extraction of large seeds from the large fruit of marri (Eucalyptus calophylla); fruit is held in the foot during seed extraction . Also eats seeds of a variety of native plants (Banksia  , Dryandra), and insect larvae. It forages at all levels of the forest from the canopy to the ground, often feeding in the understory on proteaceous trees and shrubs, especially Banksia, and in orchards both in trees and on dropped or fallen fruit on the ground (2 Johnstone, R. E. and T. Kirkby (2008). Distribution, status, social organisation, movements and conservation of Baudin’s Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus baudinii) in South-west Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 25:107–118. Close ). Removes seeds from orchard apples in the same way as seeds are extracted from marri, and in consequence species is sometimes regarded as a pest.

Most common call, typically given in flight, is a rather high-pitched overslurred squealing kweEE-ah. When perched, vocabulary more diverse and elaborate, with most notes having a similar tonal quality to flight call.

Monogamous, probably mates for life; the pair stay together all year round except when the female is incubating and brooding; both adults play a part in selecting the nest hollow, but only the female is responsible for renovation and preparing the hollow for breeding. Males recorded making the breeding call and displaying to females in most months, but more frequently in August–October (2 Johnstone, R. E. and T. Kirkby (2008). Distribution, status, social organisation, movements and conservation of Baudin’s Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus baudinii) in South-west Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 25:107–118. Close ). Laying August–January. Nest is bed of woodchips in a hollow, high in either a jarrah or a karri tree. 1–2 eggs; in captivity, incubation by female 28 days; chick has yellow or white down; a nestling period of 16 weeks, in captivity, seems overlong, and realistic figure is probably similar to that of Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo (Zanda latirostris). Usually only one young survives to fledge.

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED. CITES II. Previously considered Vulnerable. Currently still numerous, but concern expressed over continued frequent burning of forests and clear-felling, especially in conjunction with long timespan before a seedling eucalyptus is likely to have a hollow usable for cockatoos. Over a quarter of its original habitat has been cleared (2 Johnstone, R. E. and T. Kirkby (2008). Distribution, status, social organisation, movements and conservation of Baudin’s Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus baudinii) in South-west Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 25:107–118. Close ). Total population estimated at 5,000–25,000 birds in 1977. Orchardists still shoot marauding cockatoos under permit, but examination of the problem suggests that they would probably be economically better satisfied if they netted their trees.