Cockatoo

From Freepedia

Cockatoos

Image:Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.jpg
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Psittaciformes
Family:	Cacatuidae

Genera

Probosciger
Calyptorhynchus
Callocephalon
Eolophus
Cacatua
Nymphicus

A cockatoo is any of the 21 species of bird belonging to the family Cacatuidae. Along with the Psittacidae family ("true" parrots), they make up the order Psittaciformes (all parrots). The name cockatoo originated from the Malay language kakaktua meaning older sister (kakak - sister and tua - old).

These birds' high intelligence and emotional requirements make them notoriously difficult pets[1] that have far higher care requirements than more typical pets like the domestic cat.

Cockatoos share many features with other parrots including the characteristic curved beak shape and a zygodactyl foot (two toes forward and two toes back). They differ however in a number of anatomical characteristics, including the often spectacular movable headcrest, and their lack of the Dyck texture feather composition which gives many parrots their iridescent colours. Cockatoo species are on average larger than other parrot species. The Cockatiel though is a small cockatoo and the very biggest parrots are not cockatoos, the Hyacinth Macaw being the longest and the Kakapo the heaviest.

Cockatoos as a family have a much more restricted range than the larger parrot group, occurring naturally only in Australia and nearby islands. Of the 21 species, 11 are confined to Australia while 7 species occur in different parts of Indonesia, New Guinea and the Pacific Islands; whereas 3 species occur in both New Guinea and Australia.

The list below is a traditional classification of the cockatoos. However, Brown & Toft (1999) performed molecular analysis on 15 out of the 18 recognised species in this group and found that

a) the Cockatiel and the Gang-gang Cockatoo group together with the black cockatoos of the genus Calyptorhynhus as a clade, indicating that they should move to the subfamily Calyptorhynchinae, and the subfamily Nymphicinae deprecated.

b) Major Mitchell's Cockatoo is basal to all other Cacatua species, indicating that its original placement in the monotypic genus Lophocroa is valid

ORDER PSITTACIFORMES

Family Cacatuidae
- Subfamily Microglossinae
  - Palm Cockatoo, Probosciger aterrimus
- Subfamily Calyptorhynchinae
  - Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, Calyptorhynchus banksii
  - Glossy Black Cockatoo, Calyptorhyncus lathami
  - Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, Calyptorhyncus funereus
  - Short-billed Black Cockatoo, Calyptorhyncus latirostris
  - Long-billed Black Cockatoo, Calyptorhyncus baudinii
- Subfamily Cacatuinae
  - Gang-gang Cockatoo, Callocephalon fimbriatum
  - Galah, Eolophus roseicapilla
  - Long-billed Corella, Cacatua tenuirostris
  - Western Corella, Cacatua pastinator
  - Little Corella, Cacatua sanguinea
  - Major Mitchell's Cockatoo, Cacatua leadbeateri
  - Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Cacatua galerita
  - Lesser Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Cacatua sulphurea
    - Citron-crested Cockatoo, Cacatua sulphurea citroncristata
  - Blue-eyed Cockatoo, Cacatua ophthalmica
  - Moluccan Cockatoo or Salmon-crested Cockatoo, Cacatua moluccensis
  - Umbrella Cockatoo, Cacatua alba
  - Red-vented Cockatoo, Cacatua haematuropygia
  - Goffin's Cockatoo, Cacatua goffini
  - Ducorps' Cockatoo, Cacatua ducorpsii
- Subfamily Nymphicinae
  - Cockatiel, Nymphicus hollandicus
Family Psittacidae ("true" parrots, over 330 species)