Today's highlight come from arid New South Wales, where we have spent the last few days camping and doing some very pleasant bushwalks. This pair of Pink Cockatoos (Lophochroa leadbeateri), also known as 'Major Mitchell's Cockatoos because of their very prominent and brightly coloured crest, had a nest in a hollow branch of a live gum tree. They sat quietly and allopreened (groomed each other) as we walked below. Here is a close up shot of the female, which has a pink iris and black pupil. She can be distinguished from the male who has a black iris.
It was refreshing to find these cockatoos nesting as they are quite rare, being much less abundant than other species and no doubt get out-competed for both food and nest sites by the more aggressive Galah (Eolophus roseicapillus) and Little Corella (Cacatua sanguinea), birds that have undergone enormous population expansions following the broad-scale clearing by Europeans.
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