The second and larger branch is formed by the genus Cacatua, comprising 11 species of white-plumaged cockatoos and four monotypic genera that branched off earlier namely the pink and white Major Mitchell's cockatoo, the pink and grey galah, the mainly grey gang-gang cockatoo and the large black-plumaged palm cockatoo.Ĭockatoos prefer to eat seeds, tubers, corms, fruit, flowers and insects. The five large black-coloured cockatoos of the genus Calyptorhynchus form one branch. The remaining species are in two main clades. The phylogenetic position of the cockatiel remains unresolved, except that it is one of the earliest offshoots of the cockatoo lineage. On average they are larger than other parrots however, the cockatiel, the smallest cockatoo species, is a small bird. Their plumage is generally less colourful than that of other parrots, being mainly white, grey or black and often with coloured features in the crest, cheeks or tail. The family has a mainly Australasian distribution, ranging from the Philippines and the eastern Indonesian islands of Wallacea to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Australia.Ĭockatoos are recognisable by the prominent crests and curved bills. Along with the Psittacoidea ( true parrots) and the Strigopoidea (large New Zealand parrots), they make up the order Psittaciformes. Phylogenetic tree of cockatoo species, showing their relatedness to each other.Ĭlick on the link for more information and pictures of this cockatoo species.A cockatoo is any of the 21 species of parrots belonging to the family Cacatuidae, the only family in the superfamily Cacatuoidea. The Raven cockatoos are a separate group as well, with five species that are more related to each other than to all the other cockatoo species. In the graph you can also see that there are two groups of Cacatua species: the bigger species (with Cacatua alba) and the smaller corellas (with Cacatua sanguinea). In this particular phylogenetic tree, the Palm cockatoo ( Probosciger) is the least related to all other species of cockatoos. Species that are less related to each other, will have a common ancestor that is farther up in the tree (to the left) than species that are more closely related. You can determine the relatedness of two species by comparing the length of the bars, less distance between species means more relatedness. In the next graph you can see how all the cockatoo species are related to each other. Galah cockatoo ( Eolophus roseicapilla).Gang-Gang cockatoo ( Callocephalon fimbriatum).Long Billed-Black cockatoo ( Calyptorhynchus baudinii) – Baudin’s black cockatoo.Short-Billed Black cockatoo ( Calyptorhynchus latirostris) – Carnaby’s black cockatoo.Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo ( Calyptorhynchus funereus).Glossy Black Cockatoo ( Calyptorhynchus lathami).Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo ( Calyptorhynchus banksii).Raven Cockatoos / “Dark Cockatoos” (Calyptorhynchus Species) Long-Billed Corella (C acatua tenuirostris).Citron Crested Cockatoo ( Cacatua sulphurea citrinocristata) (subspecies of Lesser Sulphure-Crested Cockatoo).Lesser Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo ( Cacatua sulphurea).Blue-Eyed Cockatoo ( Cacatua ophthalmica).Moluccan Cockatoo ( Cacatua moluccensis).Major Mitchel’s Cockatoo ( Cacatua leadbeateri).Red-Vented Cockatoo ( Cacatua haematuropygia).Goffins cockatoo or Goffini cockatoo ( Cacatua goffini).Triton cockatoo ( Cacatua galerita triton) (subspecies of Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo).Mathews’ cockatoo ( Cacatua galerita fitzroyi) (subspecies of Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo).Eleonora cockatoo ( Cacatua galerita eleonora) (subspecies of Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo). Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo ( Cacatua galerita).Here I will list all the species and add a link to a page that describes this species more closely. At the bottom of this page you will find a graph of the relatedness of these species. The species of cockatoo can be divided into white cockatoos ( Cacatua species), “dark” cockatoos ( Calyptorhynchus species) and a few other species. All species occur in Australia, Indonesia and the island around Oceania. Every one of these species has a crest that can be put up or down. There are 21 species of cockatoo in the world.
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