Calyptorhynchus lathami lathami

Glossy Black-Cockatoo at suppressed

Calyptorhynchus lathami lathami at suppressed - suppressed
Calyptorhynchus lathami lathami at suppressed - suppressed
Calyptorhynchus lathami lathami at suppressed - suppressed
Calyptorhynchus lathami lathami at suppressed - suppressed
Calyptorhynchus lathami lathami at suppressed - suppressed
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Identification history

Calyptorhynchus lathami lathami 6 Apr 2025 plants
Calyptorhynchus lathami lathami 6 Apr 2025 LisaH

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User's notes

(Edited observation, in light of following observations regarding the ID of the pair.) It's on - Glossy black breeding season! This evening I heard the soft call of glossy blacks near the dam, and followed the sound. The female is young, with little head colouring at the initial sighting. (I've put my original thoughts on ID at the base of this sighting). The pair chewed, then the male flew to a branch, calling. Eventually the female flew over to him, and, in silence, the male allofed the female - around 6 times in quick succession. They then flew off, in the direction of a tree with a hollow that had been of interest to a pair of glossy blacks last year, but wasn't used. I followed as quickly as possible (hearing a family with a calling young bird, and another pair, as I went). Imagine my excitement when my guess was correct, and there was the pair of glossy blacks, on a branch above the nest. I began filming them - they were high up, the zoom was on, my hands were very shaky . . . when I saw, for the first time, glossy blacks mating (the video tells me it was for around a minute). Afterwards, the female made her way to the hollow, backing down into the void. I stayed around, and heard the distinctive echo of wood being chewed from inside the hollow (similar to the sound I've heard as gang gang cockatoos prepare a hollow). After a few minutes she reappeared, then the pair flew off north-east, joining a solo male (whose mate may already be sitting?). I'll keep monitoring the hollow, with all my fingers and toes crossed that this will be home for a successful breeding event for these endangered birds (but also girding myself for disappointment, with the knowledge that there is a likely less-than-50% chance of success . . .) . ORIGINAL OBSERVATION, incorrect ID of birds, now updated: There I saw a pair that I'd seen on and off over the past year - a pair with no visible yellow colouring in the younger bird, not even orange on the heavily-banded tail. They have acted as a couple since first being sighted, but because of the lack of yellow/orange colouring anywhere, I wondered if this might be a father and son pair - I was very confused! But this evenings sightings clarified things.

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Sighting information

Additional information

  • Displaying Activity
  • Mixed Sex
  • Adult Age
  • Whitish-green Colour of chewings
  • True Nesting site
  • True Chewed sheoak cones

Species information

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  • Nearby sighting(s) of same species
  • GPS evidence of location
  • Description
  • Additional attributes
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