Native Animals History and Science
Introduction
Cockatoos are among the most striking and noisy birds of Australia, instantly recognisable by their crests, strong bills, and raucous calls. In Victoria, both white cockatoos (such as the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo) and black cockatoos (such as the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo) are common across forests, farmlands, and coasts. They are highly intelligent, social, and long-lived, forming tight family groups that often return to the same nesting hollows for decades.
For Aboriginal peoples of Victoria, cockatoos are not only birds but spiritual messengers, totems, and teachers, woven into story and ceremony. Their loud calls announce presence, their flights mark seasons, and their feathers hold ceremonial significance. For settlers, cockatoos became both admired icons of the bush and, at times, considered “pests” on crops.
The duality of cockatoos—white and black, sacred and mischievous—reflects their deep place in both culture and ecology.
Species of Cockatoos in Victoria
White Cockatoos
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita)
Large white cockatoo with a striking yellow crest.
Common across Victoria, especially in woodlands, urban areas, and farmland.
Known for loud screeching calls and destructive chewing of timber and crops.
Little Corella (Cacatua sanguinea) and Long-billed Corella (Cacatua tenuirostris)
Smaller white cockatoos, often seen in large flocks across western Victoria and the Murray River.
Highly social, playful, and intelligent.
Black Cockatoos
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus)
Large black cockatoo with yellow cheek patches and tail panels.
Found in coastal forests and woodlands, especially in eastern Victoria and the Otways.
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii graptogyne)
Endangered subspecies occurring in western Victoria’s stringybark forests.
Males have striking red tail panels, while females are barred with orange-yellow spots.
Dependent on old-growth hollow-bearing trees for nesting.
Gang-gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum)
Smaller, grey cockatoo with a wispy red crest in males.
Iconic to Victoria, listed as threatened after major losses in the 2019–20 bushfires.
The official faunal emblem of the Australian Capital Territory but strongly associated with Victorian highlands.
Ecology and Behaviour
Cockatoos play crucial ecological roles:
Seed dispersal and forest regeneration: They feed on seeds, cones, nuts, and fruits, dispersing them across landscapes.
Insect control: Black cockatoos tear into wood to eat grubs, helping manage insect populations.
Keystone nesters: Their need for large tree hollows links them to forest health; old trees sustain their breeding success.
Cockatoos are long-lived (up to 60 years in the wild), pair for life, and nest in hollows of eucalypts, stringybarks, and river red gums.
Moieties, Totems, and Kinship in Victorian Aboriginal Communities
Aboriginal societies across Victoria are organised through kinship systems that connect people, land, and species. In the Kulin Nations — Wurundjeri, Wadawurrung, Taungurung, Bunurong, and Dja Dja Wurrung — every person belonged to one of two moieties:
Bunjil (the wedge-tailed eagle)
Waa (the crow)
These moieties structured law, ceremony, and marriage, ensuring that people from one moiety married into the other, maintaining social and spiritual balance (Howitt, 1904; Clark & Heydon, 2002).
Within moieties, individuals and clans held totems — birds, animals, plants, or places — that provided identity and obligations. A totem was not just a symbol but a binding relationship: people were responsible for caring for their totem species and were often restricted from harming or eating it (Clarke, 2009).
Cockatoos and Moiety Duality
Cockatoos fit directly into this system of balance:
White cockatoos (sulphur-crested cockatoos and corellas) are frequently associated with the Waa moiety (Crow). Like Waa, they are loud, gregarious, and often described in stories as gossipers or tricksters. Their raucous calls echo the social and disruptive qualities of Waa.
Black cockatoos (yellow-tailed and red-tailed species) are more closely linked to the Bunjil moiety (Eaglehawk). Their solemn, haunting calls and strong presence in the deep forests align them with rain, spirit, and the authority of Bunjil, the law-giver.
Kinship Between Black and White Cockatoos
Together, black and white cockatoos embody the kinship balance of moieties. One cannot exist without the other: the noisy playfulness of the white cockatoo is balanced by the sombre wisdom of the black cockatoo. Their contrasting roles — chatter and warning, play and omen, light and shadow — reflect the complementary responsibilities of Bunjil and Waa.
In Kulin cultural law, this duality reinforces the principle that all beings are bound by kinship. Cockatoos do not simply fly above Country; they maintain its spiritual order, reminding people of obligations to moiety, family, and land.
Cockatoos in Aboriginal Culture
For Aboriginal peoples of Victoria, cockatoos are deeply significant:
Totems: Different clans across the Kulin Nations and beyond hold cockatoos—both white and black—as totem animals, guiding kinship, law, and responsibility to Country.
Messengers: Their loud calls are considered announcements of change, arrival, or warning.
Feathers in ceremony: White and black cockatoo feathers are prized for adornment, dance, and ritual, symbolising strength, spirit, and connection to the sky.
Story and Law: White cockatoos often appear in stories as tricksters or loud gossips, while black cockatoos are more solemn figures, associated with rain, mourning, or spiritual transition.
In this way, cockatoos embody duality—light and dark, play and seriousness, life and death.
Colonial and Modern History
European settlers viewed cockatoos with mixed feelings:
Admiration: Their intelligence, beauty, and mimicry made them popular as pets, both in Australia and exported overseas.
Conflict: Farmers often saw them as pests, raiding crops, chewing fruit trees, or damaging structures with their powerful beaks. Sulphur-crested cockatoos in particular became targets of culling.
Symbolism: Despite conflict, cockatoos became symbols of the Australian bush, featured in art, literature, and tourism.
Today, they are protected species under law, though tensions with agriculture remain.
Conservation and Threats
Not all cockatoos are secure.
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo: Vulnerable to habitat loss; dependent on intact forests.
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo (SE subspecies): Critically endangered, with fewer than 1,500 birds in western Victoria and South Australia. Loss of old nesting trees is the greatest threat.
Gang-gang Cockatoo: Recently listed as threatened after severe declines due to bushfires, habitat clearing, and climate stress.
White cockatoos (sulphur-crested, corellas): Stable or even increasing, particularly in agricultural and urban landscapes.
Conservation measures include protecting hollow-bearing trees, habitat corridors, and working with Traditional Owners to manage landscapes in culturally informed ways.
Symbolism of White and Black Cockatoos
The contrast between white and black cockatoos carries powerful symbolism:
White cockatoos: Lively, noisy, playful, sometimes mischievous symbols of community, communication, and disruption.
Black cockatoos: Solemn, haunting, often linked to rain and spirit—symbols of depth, resilience, and transformation.
Together, they represent balance—light and shadow, noise and silence, joy and mourning.
The Future of Cockatoos in Victoria
The future of Victoria’s cockatoos depends on:
Protecting ancient hollow-bearing trees is vital for nesting.
Restoring native forests, especially stringybark country, for the red-tailed black cockatoo.
Managing urban and agricultural conflicts with white cockatoos through non-lethal strategies.
Reviving Aboriginal cultural stories and practices that embed cockatoos within spiritual and ecological law.
If these steps are taken, cockatoos will continue to fill Victoria’s skies with both screeches and solemn calls—reminders of resilience, community, and the enduring presence of Country.
Conclusion
White and black cockatoos are more than birds. They are voices of Country—playful and mournful, disruptive and sacred. For Aboriginal peoples, they are kin and teachers; for ecosystems, they are keystone species; for all Victorians, they are unmistakable presences in the treetops.
Their contrasting forms remind us of balance: life’s noise and silence, joy and sorrow, community and solitude. Protecting cockatoos means protecting not just species, but the stories, forests, and connections that sustain them.
References
Clarke, PA 2009, Australian Aboriginal Ethnobotany: An Overview, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
Clark, I & Heydon, T 2002, Dictionary of Aboriginal Placenames of Victoria, Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages, Melbourne.
Howitt, AW 1904, The Native Tribes of South-East Australia, Macmillan, London.
DELWP (Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning) 2021, Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act Threatened List, Victorian Government, Melbourne.
Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council 2020, Totems and Moieties in Kulin Nations, VAHC, Melbourne.