YELLOW-TAILED BLACK COCKATOO

Calyptorhynchus funereus
Height 660 mm (24")

Large dark bird with yellow ear and tail band. Moderately common in Ash and foothill forests in pairs and small noisy flocks. Not recorded in the 1994 fauna survey of Herring Island.

Feeds on seeds, fruits and nectar. It also rips into trees to get at grubs.. (picture at right.).

Lays two white eggs in a nest located in a hole in a tall tree.

Breeding season: April to October.

Illustration by Vivian Duong

RED-RUMPED PARROT

Psephotus haematonotus
Height 280 mm (11")

Medium sized green bird with red rump. Moderately common from Southern Queensland to South Australia in pairs and flocks, frequenting sparsely-timbered grasslands. Not recorded in the 1990 fauna survey of Herring Island.

Feeds on seeds of grasses and other plants.

Lays four to seven white eggs in a nest located in a hole in a tree. Parrots generally are threatened by Indian Mynas competing for nesting sites.

Breeding season: September to December.

Illustration by Sadira Campbell

GALAH

Cacatua roseicapilla

A medium to large, (380 mm - 15") light grey bird with a rose-pink crest, neck and breast. Makes a loud screeching sound. Found through continental Australia generally, chiefly inland areas.

Visits the island in pairs or small groups. Galahs can cause considerable damage to cultivated crops, but also eat large amounts of noxious plants' seeds.

Galahs normally nest in the base of a hollow in a tall tree; lined with green leaves.

They lay three to five white eggs in a breeding season from September to November.

Illustration by Fred Webber

SULPHUR-CRESTED COCKATOO

Cacatua galerita

Distributed throughout the eastern states, and in New Guinea and New Britain.

Heavily built, medium to large bird (510 mm - 20 inches), white with a cream crest which are often displayed on landing. Fairly common as a cage-bird, it is the best known member of its group. Seen on the island in pairs or small groups. The cockatoos main food is seeds and bulbous roots but they sometimes damage crops.

Cockatoos normally nest in a hole in a tree and lay two or three white eggs in a breeding season from August to November.

Illustration by Miles Durham

Play the
lorikeet call. 102kb

RAINBOW LORIKEET

Trichoglossus moluccanus = Trichoglossus haematodus

Small to medium (300mm - 12") blue - green bird with orange and yellow underparts. Found throughout eastern Australia to southern South Australia and Tasmania but uncommon in Melbourne.

Frequenting flowering eucalypts feeding on nectar, flowers, and native and cultivated fruits and grain. High pitched chattering and screeching are uttered during feeding, and a sharp call-note when flying. In some areas flocks visit houses and feed from hands.

Lays two white eggs in a nest made in a hole in a tree, during a breeding season between September and January.

Illustration by Fred Webber

EASTERN ROSELLA

Platycercus eximius

A brightly coloured, medium-small parrot (330mm - 13") with red head and white cheeks. Common from south-eastern Queensland to Victoria, and south eastern South Australia and Tasmania. Listed in the 1989 Herring Island Fauna record as last sighted in 1979. Now back in the island.

> In pairs or flocks, inhabiting open-forest country and partly-cleared lands. It feeds in trees but spends much time on the ground in search of seeds of grasses, which, with wild fruits and berries, constitute its normal food. The call is a pleasant whistling note.

Lays four to nine white eggs in a hole in a tree during a breeding season between September and January.

Illustration by Vesna Jugovic

WESTERN ROSELLA

Platycercus icterotis

Found in south-western Australia north to Moora and east to Dundas. It is thought that this bird may be an escaped caged bird

Characteristics are similar to its eastern counterpart.

Illustration by Richard Lau

Text by Stanley Barker sourced from "What Bird is That? A Guide to the Birds of Australia" by Neville Cayley; Published by Angus & Robertson 1973
and the "Birds of ..." series by the Gould League.

Artwork by students of Richmond Primary School, Year 6, 1999 / 2006