Short answer: there are five black cockatoo species, all of them Australian. Red-tailed, glossy, yellow-tailed, Carnaby’s and Baudin’s.
The palm cockatoo is black. It is not a black cockatoo. That sounds like a contradiction, and it is the first thing worth clearing up.
The five species also split across two genera, not one. That split is more useful than it sounds, because it tells you how to identify them.
Key facts at a glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| How many black cockatoo species are there? | Five |
| Where are they found? | Australia only |
| Is the palm cockatoo one of them? | No, despite being black |
| How many genera? | Two — Calyptorhynchus and Zanda |
| Black cockatoo size | 48 to 65 cm, depending on species |
| Smallest species | Glossy black cockatoo, around 48 cm |
| Largest species | Yellow-tailed black cockatoo, up to 65 cm |
| Rarest | Baudin’s, fewer than 15,000 in the wild |
| How many are threatened? | Four of five under Australian federal law |
| Hardest pair to tell apart | Carnaby’s and Baudin’s — bill length is the only reliable mark |
| Do they talk? | No. They are not mimics |
| Can you buy one in the US? | Effectively no. See the section below |
Is the palm cockatoo a black cockatoo?
No. The palm cockatoo is black, but it is not one of the five black cockatoos.
This confuses people constantly. Both answers you find online are defensible, depending on how you read the question.
Wikipedia’s disambiguation page lists the palm cockatoo under “black cockatoo,” treating the term as a plain description of color.
Australian Geographic states the opposite. There are other black-colored cockatoos, it notes, but they are not considered black cockatoos.
The Australian usage is the one that matters. “Black cockatoo” is a name for a specific group of Australian birds. It is not a description of any dark cockatoo.
The practical difference:
| The five black cockatoos | Palm cockatoo | |
|---|---|---|
| Genus | Calyptorhynchus and Zanda | Probosciger |
| Range | Australia | Cape York and New Guinea |
| Tail panels | Red, yellow or white | None |
| Bare cheek patch | No | Yes, red and it flushes |
The palm cockatoo sits in its own genus on a separate branch. It is still a cockatoo, and it counts among all 22 cockatoo species. It is just not one of the five.
And there is no such thing as a black macaw. People search for one, but macaws are a New World family with no black species. The hyacinth macaw is deep cobalt blue and can look black in poor light, which is probably where the idea comes from.
The gang-gang cockatoo is another bird that sometimes gets counted with the black cockatoos. A 1999 study placed it as an early offshoot of the group, but 2011 genetic work moved it elsewhere. See our full gang-gang cockatoo profile.
Why do black cockatoos belong to two genera?
Because a genetic study split them, and the split maps onto how the birds actually look.
This is where several popular articles are now out of date. One of the highest-ranking pages on this subject still states that all black cockatoos fall into the genus Calyptorhynchus. That was the accepted position for decades. It is no longer the current taxonomy.
The five species now sit in two genera:
| Genus | Species | Tail panels |
|---|---|---|
| Calyptorhynchus | Red-tailed, glossy | Red or maroon |
| Zanda | Yellow-tailed, Carnaby’s, Baudin’s | Yellow or white |
The genus Zanda was named in 1913 by Gregory Mathews. For most of the last century, though, the three species were folded back into Calyptorhynchus.
Molecular work then found a deep genetic divergence between the two groups. They are now widely treated as separate genera.
The split is an identification tool
Here is the part almost nobody explains, and it is genuinely useful in the field.
The two genera do not just differ genetically. They differ in four ways you can see or hear: tail color, head pattern, juvenile begging calls, and how different the males and females look.
That last one matters most for identification.
In Calyptorhynchus — the red-tailed and glossy — males and females look markedly different.
A male red-tailed black cockatoo is glossy black with solid red tail panels. The female has a pale bill, yellow spotting on the head and body, and orange tail panels barred with black. You would not mistake one for the other.
In Zanda — yellow-tailed, Carnaby’s and Baudin’s — males and females look similar. The differences are there, but they sit in the bill color, the eye-ring and the ear patch, not in the overall plumage.
Two black cockatoos that clearly look different from each other are almost certainly a red-tailed or glossy pair. Two that look nearly identical are Zanda.
That narrows five species down to two or three before you have looked at anything else.
How do you tell a female black cockatoo from a male?
It depends entirely which genus you are looking at, which is why a black cockatoo female looks obvious in some species and nearly identical to the male in others.
| Species | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Red-tailed | Glossy black, solid red tail panels, dark bill | Duller, pale bill, yellow spotting on head and body, orange tail panels barred black |
| Glossy | Brown-black, solid red tail panels, no barring | Irregular yellow patches on head, redder panels with orange and black barring |
| Yellow-tailed | Pink eye-ring, dark bill, duller yellow cheek patch | Gray eye-ring, pale bill, brighter yellow cheek patch |
| Carnaby’s | Black bill, pink eye-ring, dusky white ear patch | Grayish-white bill, gray eye-ring, yellowish-white ear patch |
| Baudin’s | Dark gray bill, pink eye-rings | Bone-colored bill, gray eye-rings, paler ear patches |
The pattern worth remembering: in the red-tailed and glossy, look at the whole bird. In the other three, look at the bill and the eye-ring.
One complication with Carnaby’s — juvenile males look like adult females until around three years old. A “female” in a flock may be a young male.
What are the five black cockatoo species?
1. Red-tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii)
Around 60 cm, with a bushy erectile crest that forms a helmet when raised and pushed forward.
The male is glossy black with bright red tail panels. The female is duller, with a pale bill, fine yellow spotting across the head and body, and orange tail panels finely barred with black.
Five subspecies are recognized, and their situations differ sharply. The species as a whole is not globally threatened.
But the south-eastern subspecies (C. b. graptogyne), in southwestern Victoria and southeastern South Australia, has fewer than 1,000 birds left. The forest red-tailed subspecies (C. b. naso) in southwest Western Australia is separately listed as threatened. The coastal subspecies (C. b. banksii) was listed as critically endangered in New South Wales after it disappeared from most of its former range there.
This is the species most often meant when someone says “black cockatoo” without qualifying it.
2. Glossy black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami)
The smallest of the five, at around 48 cm, according to BirdLife Australia.
Brown-black head, otherwise dull black body, with red tail panels. Adult females carry irregular yellow patches on the head, and their tail panels tend toward red with orange and yellow barring. Males have solid red panels with no barring.
It is a feeding specialist, and that is exactly what makes it vulnerable. The glossy black feeds almost entirely on the seed cones of Allocasuarina trees. Remove those trees and the bird has nowhere to go. No alternative food, no flexibility.
The Kangaroo Island subspecies is listed as endangered. A 2023 analysis by Saunders and Pickup challenged whether those subspecies divisions hold up at all. They found no meaningful difference in bill shape, genetics, plumage or diet.
Its call is a drawn-out wheezing kee-aiirrk, softer and less harsh than the red-tailed.
3. Yellow-tailed black cockatoo (Zanda funerea)
The largest of the five at 55 to 65 cm, and the one most people in eastern Australia will actually see.
Brownish-black plumage with body feathers edged in yellow, which gives a scalloped appearance up close. Prominent yellow cheek patches and a yellow tail band.
Unlike most of the others, it has partly adapted to human-altered landscapes. It turns up in urban Canberra, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne. Its call is a loud, wailing cry that carries a long way.
Not globally threatened, though it has declined in parts of its range as native habitat has been cleared.
4. Carnaby’s black cockatoo (Zanda latirostris)
Also called the short-billed black cockatoo. 53 to 58 cm, with a short crest, endemic to southwest Western Australia.
White tail panels and a white ear patch. The male has a black bill and a pink eye-ring. The female has a grayish-white bill, a gray eye-ring and a paler, more yellowish-white ear patch.
The name comes from Ivan Carnaby, who described it in 1948. The specific epithet latirostris combines the Latin for “broad” and “beak.” That short, broad bill is built for cracking hard banksia seeds.
Endangered under Australian federal law, and in Western Australia it is considered likely to become extinct in the wild.
Its most common call is a wailing wy-lah.
5. Baudin’s black cockatoo (Zanda baudinii)
Also called the long-billed black cockatoo. Nearly identical to Carnaby’s, and restricted to a small corner of southwest Western Australia.
Named for Nicolas Baudin, the French explorer who led an expedition to Australia between 1801 and 1804.
Fewer than 15,000 remain in the wild. Endangered, and protected under Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
One recorded individual reached 47 years of age by 1996, which gives some sense of how slowly this species replaces itself.
What does a black cockatoo sound like?
Loud, wailing and carrying — nothing like the shriek of a white cockatoo.
This is one of the more reliable ways to tell the species apart. It is often the first thing you notice, before you see the bird at all.
| Species | Call |
|---|---|
| Yellow-tailed | A long, drawn-out wailing kee-ow. Carries further than any of the others |
| Carnaby’s | A wailing wy-lah, which is where several of its local names come from |
| Baudin’s | Similar to Carnaby’s but shorter and sharper |
| Red-tailed | A rolling, metallic krurr-urr, harsher than the rest |
| Glossy | A soft, wheezing kee-aiirrk. The quietest of the five |
The difference between the red-tailed and the glossy is a useful one to learn. The red-tailed sounds harsh and discordant. The glossy sounds soft and creaky by comparison. That matters, because the two overlap in range and look broadly similar at distance.
Juvenile begging calls also differ between the two genera, which is one of the traits ornithologists used to support the split.
Do black cockatoos talk?
No. They are not mimics, and you should not expect one to learn words.
This surprises people, because cockatoos as a family have a reputation for talking. Umbrella and Moluccan cockatoos can pick up words, and sulphur-crested cockatoos are well known for it.
Black cockatoos are different. They are highly vocal, but their vocalizations are their own calls rather than imitations. There are no credible reports of black cockatoos learning human speech.
Part of the reason is simply that so few are ever kept. Mimicry in parrots is largely a captive behavior that develops through close contact with people, and black cockatoos are almost absent from aviculture worldwide. Whatever capacity they might have has never been widely tested.
If talking matters to you, this is the wrong group of birds. Among cockatoos, the umbrella cockatoo is a far more likely talker, and African Greys outperform every cockatoo.
How do you tell Carnaby’s and Baudin’s apart?
By the bill, and almost nothing else. This is the hardest identification in the family.
Both are white-tailed black cockatoos in the same small corner of Western Australia. Both have white tail panels, white ear patches and similar plumage. They overlap in range.
The reliable difference is bill length. Baudin’s has a notably longer, narrower upper mandible, adapted for extracting seeds from marri fruit. Carnaby’s has a shorter, broader bill for cracking banksia seeds.
Denis Saunders did the foundational work on these birds in the 1970s. He also found that Baudin’s has a longer wing and a wider, higher skull. Later analysis put the bill difference at roughly 20 to 25 percent.
In practice, experienced observers rely on call and feeding behavior as much as appearance. If a bird is working on marri fruit, it is more likely Baudin’s. If it is on banksia, more likely Carnaby’s.
This is not a distinction you should expect to make confidently from a photograph. Anyone who tells you it is easy has not tried it.
Is that a black cockatoo or a raven?
Look at the bill and the wingbeat.
This is a genuinely common mix-up in Australia, particularly at distance or in silhouette.
| Black cockatoo | Raven | |
|---|---|---|
| Bill | Rounded, heavy | Sharp, pointed |
| Wingbeat | Slow and long | Fast |
| Tail | Panels of red, yellow or white | Uniformly black |
| Flight | Lazy, undulating | Direct |
The tail panels are the giveaway when the bird is close enough. At distance, the wingbeat does it. A black cockatoo in flight looks unhurried in a way a raven never does.
How rare are black cockatoos?
It depends which one. Two are common enough to see in city parks, two are Endangered, and the fifth sits between them.
| Species | IUCN status | Population picture |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow-tailed | Least Concern | Widespread in eastern Australia, seen in major cities |
| Red-tailed | Least Concern | Common across the north, but some subspecies are in serious trouble |
| Glossy black | Vulnerable | Declining, tied almost entirely to Allocasuarina habitat |
| Carnaby’s | Endangered | Considered likely to become extinct in the wild in Western Australia |
| Baudin’s | Endangered | Fewer than 15,000 remain |
How many red-tailed black cockatoos are left?
This is a common search, and the honest answer depends on what you mean by it.
The red-tailed black cockatoo as a species is listed Least Concern, and is common across northern Australia. But its five subspecies are assessed separately, and three of them are in real trouble:
- South-eastern (C. b. graptogyne) — fewer than 1,000 birds in southwestern Victoria and southeastern South Australia
- Forest red-tailed (C. b. naso) — southwest Western Australia, listed as threatened
- Coastal (C. b. banksii) — listed critically endangered in New South Wales after it vanished from most of its range there
So “how many are left” gives a very different answer depending on whether you mean the species or the population near you.
Why they decline
The threats are consistent across all five:
- Nest hollow loss. Black cockatoos nest in tree cavities that take decades to form. Logging removes them faster than forests replace them
- Slow reproduction. These birds raise one or two chicks and do not breed every year. A population that loses adults cannot rebuild quickly
- Specialized diets. The glossy black on Allocasuarina, Carnaby’s on banksia, Baudin’s on marri. A specialist cannot switch food when its food disappears
- Vehicle strikes, particularly where birds feed on roadside vegetation
- Climate change, which affects all five in different ways
Four of the five are threatened under Australian federal law. Under the global IUCN assessment, three of five are. That difference is worth explaining, because both figures circulate and neither is wrong. The IUCN assesses species globally. Australia’s EPBC Act assesses populations within Australia, including subspecies, which brings the red-tailed into the count.
What does it mean to see a black cockatoo?
In Australian folk belief, rain. In several First Nations traditions, something considerably more significant than a weather forecast.
This is one of the most searched questions about these birds, and most bird sites ignore it entirely while most spiritual sites overstate it. Both are worth answering carefully.
The rain association
Black cockatoos are widely called rainbirds in Australia, and the belief that a flock overhead means rain within days is genuinely common across the country.
There is a plausible mechanism. Birds are sensitive to changes in barometric pressure. Black cockatoos have been observed gathering in larger numbers, flying lower and changing feeding behavior before storms.
The honest position: the observation is widespread and the mechanism is reasonable, but there is very little published research testing whether black cockatoo movements actually predict rainfall. Treat it as folk knowledge with a possible basis, not as an established finding.
Cultural significance
For a number of First Nations peoples, black cockatoos carry meaning that goes well beyond weather. These traditions belong to specific communities rather than being generically “Aboriginal,” and they differ from one another.
Noongar people of southwest Western Australia know the red-tailed black cockatoo as Karrak and Carnaby’s as Ngoolark. The birds are regarded as symbols of strength and endurance, and their presence is treated as an indicator of a healthy Country. Flocks blackening the sky signified seasonal change, including the onset of rain.
Butchulla people of K’gari and the adjacent Queensland mainland regard the glossy black cockatoo as a spiritual messenger. Its wailing call is understood to carry news from the spirit world, and traditional lore instructs listeners to pause and receive it.
Yuin people of New South Wales carry the bird into their place names. The town of Nowra takes its name from the Yuin word for black cockatoo. Mount Cambewarra is the site of a Creation story in which a white cockatoo flew over a bushfire and turned black.
There is also a practical side that gets overlooked. Because black cockatoos are feeding specialists, their movements show where seasonal plant foods are. Following the birds meant finding food, which is knowledge worth having.
Can you buy a black cockatoo in the United States?
In practice, no. And this is the honest answer nobody gives.
Every article on this subject is written for an Australian audience. That leaves American readers assuming these are birds you might find at a breeder. You will not.
Three barriers stack up:
Australia does not export them. The EPBC Act bans commercial export of live native wildlife, including all CITES-listed parrot species. Black cockatoos cannot legally leave the country for the pet trade.
The US stopped importing. The Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992 sharply restricted imports of CITES-listed birds into the United States. Any black cockatoos in the US would need to descend from birds already there before that date.
Almost none were brought over in the first place. When importation was still possible, importers concentrated on species that sold — umbrellas, galahs, Moluccans. Black cockatoos were rarely imported, so there was never meaningful breeding stock in the US to build from.
What about the prices you see online?
Searches for black cockatoo prices do turn up numbers. They are worth understanding, but not worth acting on.
Australian black market prices for smuggled black cockatoos have been reported as high as AU$30,000. That is not a market price. It is what illegal trade pays for a bird that cannot legally be sold, and it tells you both how rare these birds are and how much pressure that rarity creates.
Any listing offering a black cockatoo for sale in the United States deserves serious scrutiny. The legal supply essentially does not exist.
Palm cockatoos are the one exception worth mentioning, since people searching black cockatoo prices often end up looking at them. As covered above, the palm cockatoo is not one of the five. It does appear legitimately in US aviculture, but at the very top end of the parrot market. Rare, expensive and difficult. Not a beginner’s bird by any measure.
If you want a cockatoo, the ones actually available in the US are the umbrella, Moluccan, sulphur-crested, Goffin’s, galah and cockatiel. Our umbrella cockatoo care guide covers what living with one is genuinely like, including the parts that send so many of them to rescues. If you already have a cockatoo, teaching a reliable step-up is the single most useful thing you can work on.
Where can you see black cockatoos?
For anyone visiting Australia, these are the realistic options:
- Yellow-tailed — the easiest. Urban parks and pine stands around Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide
- Red-tailed — widespread across northern and western Australia, common in parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory
- Carnaby’s and Baudin’s — southwest Western Australia, around Perth and south toward Albany
- Glossy black — eastern Australia wherever Allocasuarina stands survive, and on Kangaroo Island
Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre near Perth rehabilitates injured birds and is open to visitors. It is one of the few places you can see several species reliably.
Interesting facts about black cockatoos
A few things that surprise most people:
- They can live nearly 50 years. One Baudin’s black cockatoo was recorded at 47 years of age by 1996
- They preen each other. One bird will gently groom another’s feathers as a social bond, using a beak powerful enough to crush a banksia cone
- The crest is a helmet. In the red-tailed, the crest pushes forward when raised rather than straight up, forming a distinct shape
- They are indicator species. Their presence or absence is used to assess the health of an ecosystem, which is why Noongar tradition and modern conservation science reach the same conclusion by different routes
- Yellow-tailed black cockatoos have moved into cities. They are regular in Canberra, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, feeding heavily on introduced pine
- Juvenile male Carnaby’s look like adult females for around three years, which makes flock counts harder than they appear
- The glossy black is a one-food bird. Almost its entire diet is Allocasuarina seed cones, which is why habitat loss hits it so directly
Frequently asked questions
The questions people ask most about black cockatoos.
How many black cockatoo species are there?
Five, all endemic to Australia: the red-tailed, glossy, yellow-tailed, Carnaby’s and Baudin’s black cockatoos. They fall into two genera, Calyptorhynchus and Zanda.
How rare are black cockatoos?
It depends on the species. The yellow-tailed and red-tailed are common enough to see in Australian cities. The glossy black is Vulnerable. Carnaby’s and Baudin’s are both Endangered, and Baudin’s has fewer than 15,000 birds left in the wild.
Do black cockatoos talk?
No. Black cockatoos are highly vocal but they are not mimics, and there are no credible reports of them learning human speech. Part of the reason is that so few are ever kept in captivity, where parrot mimicry usually develops.
What does it mean to see a black cockatoo?
In Australian folk belief, a flock overhead means rain is coming, and there is a plausible basis in birds responding to pressure changes. In several First Nations traditions the meaning goes further. Noongar people regard them as symbols of strength and as indicators of healthy Country. Butchulla people regard the glossy black as a spiritual messenger whose call carries news.
What does a black cockatoo sound like?
Loud and wailing rather than shrieking. The yellow-tailed gives a drawn-out kee-ow that carries a long way. Carnaby’s calls a wailing wy-lah. The red-tailed is a harsh metallic krurr-urr, and the glossy a soft wheezing kee-aiirrk.
How big is a black cockatoo?
Between 48 and 65 cm depending on species. The glossy black is the smallest at around 48 cm. The yellow-tailed is the largest at 55 to 65 cm, with the red-tailed close behind at around 60 cm.
How do you tell a female black cockatoo from a male?
In the red-tailed and glossy, the whole bird differs. Males are darker with solid red tail panels, females have pale bills, yellow spotting and barred panels. In the yellow-tailed, Carnaby’s and Baudin’s, the sexes look similar and you have to check the bill color, eye-ring and ear patch.
Is the palm cockatoo a black cockatoo?
No. The palm cockatoo is black in color but belongs to the genus Probosciger and is found in Cape York and New Guinea. Australian usage treats “black cockatoo” as a name for the five Australian species, not as a description of any dark cockatoo.
What is the difference between Calyptorhynchus and Zanda?
Calyptorhynchus holds the red-tailed and glossy black cockatoos. They have red or maroon tail panels, and males and females look markedly different. Zanda holds the yellow-tailed, Carnaby’s and Baudin’s. They have yellow or white tail panels, and the sexes look similar.
How many red-tailed black cockatoos are left?
The species is listed Least Concern and is common across northern Australia, but its subspecies differ sharply. The south-eastern subspecies has fewer than 1,000 birds. The coastal subspecies is critically endangered in New South Wales. The forest red-tailed subspecies in Western Australia is separately listed as threatened.
How do you tell Carnaby’s and Baudin’s apart?
By bill length. Baudin’s has a notably longer, narrower upper mandible for extracting marri seeds. Carnaby’s has a shorter, broader bill for cracking banksia. The difference is around 20 to 25 percent. Experienced observers also use call and feeding behavior.
Can you buy a black cockatoo in the US?
Effectively no. Australia bans commercial export of native wildlife. The US Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992 restricted imports. And very few were ever brought over before that, so they are almost absent from American aviculture.
Can you keep a black cockatoo as a pet in Australia?
Only under state wildlife licensing, and requirements vary by state. These are protected native species, not pet-shop birds.
How long do black cockatoos live?
Long. One Baudin’s black cockatoo was recorded at 47 years of age by 1996. Slow maturity and low reproductive rates are part of why the threatened species recover so slowly.
What do black cockatoos eat?
Seeds, mostly, and each species is specialized. The glossy black feeds almost entirely on Allocasuarina cones, Carnaby’s on banksia seeds, Baudin’s on marri fruit. That specialization is what makes them so vulnerable to habitat loss.
Is there such a thing as a black macaw?
No. Macaws are a New World family with no black species. The hyacinth macaw is deep cobalt blue and can appear black in low light, which is probably the source of the confusion.
What are some interesting facts about black cockatoos?
They can live nearly 50 years, they preen each other gently with beaks strong enough to crush a banksia cone, and yellow-tailed black cockatoos have moved into Australian cities. Juvenile male Carnaby’s look like adult females for about three years. And the glossy black eats almost nothing but Allocasuarina seed cones.
Is that a black cockatoo or a raven?
Look at the bill and the wingbeat. Black cockatoos have a heavy rounded bill and slow, long wingbeats. Ravens have a sharp pointed beak and fast wingbeats. Black cockatoos also have colored tail panels; ravens are uniformly black.
Black cockatoos are protected species. If you find an injured bird in Australia, contact a licensed wildlife rescue rather than attempting to handle it yourself.
The practical summary
Five species, all Australian, split across two genera.
The palm cockatoo is not one of them, whatever a color-based reading of the name suggests.
And the genus split is not just taxonomic bookkeeping. Calyptorhynchus birds have red tails and obvious male-female differences. Zanda birds have yellow or white tails and sexes that look alike. Knowing that halves the identification problem before you start.
Four of the five are in trouble, and for the same reasons every time. They nest in hollows that take decades to form. They breed slowly. And most of them eat one thing.
If you are in the US hoping to keep one, that is not going to happen. Better to know that now than after a long search.
Sources and notes
- Species profiles, measurements and conservation status: BirdLife Australia bird profiles (linked above)
- Current taxonomy and the Zanda split: AviList v2025, the unified global bird checklist released June 2025
- Australian conservation listings: Australian Conservation Foundation, and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act
- Red-tailed subspecies listings: NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee determinations
- Carnaby’s and Baudin’s morphology: Saunders 1979, Emu, and later morphological analyses
- Glossy black subspecies question: Saunders and Pickup 2023
- Cultural significance: Noongar, Butchulla and Yuin sources including the Keep Carnaby’s Flying project at Murdoch University and WWF-Australia
- US import restrictions: Wild Bird Conservation Act 1992; Australian export restrictions under the EPBC Act
This article is for general information. Black cockatoos are protected species. If you find an injured bird in Australia, contact a licensed wildlife rescue rather than attempting to handle it yourself.