Leadbeater's cockatoo
| Major Mitchell's cockatoo | |
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| With crest raised in Queensland, Australia | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Psittaciformes |
| Family: | Cacatuidae |
| Subfamily: | Cacatuinae |
| Tribe: | Cacatuini |
| Genus: |
Lophochroa Bonaparte, 1857 |
| Species: | L. leadbeateri |
| Binomial name | |
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Lophochroa leadbeateri (Vigors, 1831) |
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| Subspecies | |
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C. (L.). l. leadbeateri (Vigors, 1831) |
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| Major Mitchell's cockatoo range (in red) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Plyctolophus leadbeateri Vigors, 1831 |
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C. (L.). l. leadbeateri (Vigors, 1831)
C. (L.). l. mollis (Mathews, 1912)
Plyctolophus leadbeateri Vigors, 1831
Lophochroa leadbeateri
Cacatua leadbeateri
The Major Mitchell's cockatoo (Lophochroa leadbeateri) also known as Leadbeater's cockatoo or pink cockatoo, is a medium-sized cockatoo restricted to arid and semi-arid inland areas of Australia. It is here placed in its own monotypic genus Lophochroa, though to include it in Cacatua as others do is not wrong as long as the corellas are also included there.
With its soft-textured white and salmon-pink plumage and large, bright red and yellow crest, it is often described as the most beautiful of all cockatoos. It is named in honour of Major Sir Thomas Mitchell, who wrote, "Few birds more enliven the monotonous hues of the Australian forest than this beautiful species whose pink-coloured wings and flowing crest might have embellished the air of a more voluptuous region."
Major Mitchell females and males are almost identical. The males are usually bigger. The female has a broader yellow stripe on the crest and develop a red eye when mature.
The reaches sexual maturity around 3-4 years old. The oldest recorded pink cockatoo died at 83 years old.
It is possible, though not certain, that the Major Mitchell's cockatoo is more closely related to Cacatua than is the galah, and that its lineage diverged around the time of or shortly after the acquisition of the long crest – probably the former as this crest type is not found in all Cacatua cockatoos and therefore must have been present in an early or incipient stage at the time of the divergence of the Major Mitchell's cockatoo's ancestors. Like the galah, this species has not lost the ability to deposit diluted pigments dyes in its body plumage, although it does not produce melanin coloration anymore, resulting in a lighter bird overall compared to the galah. Indeed, disregarding the crest, Major Mitchell's cockatoo looks almost like a near-leucistic version of that species (see also "External links" below). Another indication of the early divergence of this species from the "white" cockatoo lineage is the presence of features found otherwise only in corellas, such as its plaintive yodeling cry, as well as others which are unique to Major Mitchell's and the true white cockatoos, for example the large crest and rounded wing shape.
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Wikipedia