Yellow-crested cockatoo
| Yellow-crested cockatoo | |
|---|---|
| Wing-clipped cockatoo at Guangzhou Zoo | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Psittaciformes |
| Family: | Cacatuidae |
| Genus: | Cacatua |
| Subgenus: | Cacatua |
| Species: | C. sulphurea |
| Binomial name | |
| Cacatua sulphurea (Gmelin, JF, 1788) | |
| Native (blue) and introduced (red) ranges of C. sulphurea | |
The yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea) also known as the lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo, is a medium-sized (about 34-cm-long) cockatoo with white plumage, bluish-white bare orbital skin, grey feet, a black bill, and a retractile yellow or orange crest. The sexes are similar.
The yellow-crested cockatoo is found in wooded and cultivated areas of East Timor and Indonesia's islands of Sulawesi and the Lesser Sundas. It is easily confused with the larger and more common sulphur-crested cockatoo, which has a more easterly distribution and can be distinguished by the lack of pale yellow coloring on its cheeks (although some sulphur-cresteds develop yellowish patches). Also, the yellow-crested cockatoo's crest is a brighter color, closer to orange. The citron-crested cockatoo, which used to be considered a subspecies of the yellow-crested cockatoo, is similar, but its crest is orange and it is endemic to Sumba.
The yellow-crested cockatoo's diet consists mainly of seeds, buds, fruits, nuts, and herbaceous plants.