Gang-gang Cockatoo

A Leader in Breeding Hand Reared Companion Parrots

Specialist Breeders of Eclectus, Conures, Exotics, and Australian Companion Parrots

(Callocephalon fimbriatum)

OTHER NAMES

Red-Crowned Cockatoo, Red-Headed Cockatoo, Red-crowned Parrot, Red-headed Parrot, Helmeted Cockatoo.

Description.

The Gang-gang Cockatoos’ general plumage is grey. Each featheredge is pale greyish-white.

Very typical are the head and crest, they are orange-red to red. Their lower abdomen and under tail-coverts are edged with orange-yellow.

The wings and tail-feathers are grey. They have a very narrow grey eye ring. The iris is dark brown.

The Gang-gang Cockatoos’ feet are grey. The bill is horn-coloured.

Gang-gang Cockatoos: male (left) and female

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:

Adult males:

Are grey, feather edged with pale greyish-white, giving a barred appearance; crest and head are a bright orange-red; feathers of the lower abdomen and under the tail-coverts are margined with orange-yellow; outer webs of wing-covertsare washed with dull green, and the primaries are grey without pale margins and becoming very dark towards the tips. The tail is dark grey, mandibles are horn coloured, their iris is dark brown and their legs are grey.

Adult Females:

Where the male head and crest are bright orange-red, the females head and crest are grey. Their upper parts are more heavily edged and bared with greyish-white and their feathers of the underparts are broadly margined with orange and greenish-yellow.

Immature:

Resemble adult female, their axillaries and underside of the tail is bared with greyish-white. Young males have their crest tipped with red and exhibit various red markings on the forehead and crown.

ORIGIN:

South-eastern Australia, from eastern New South Wales through southern Victoria to the extreme south-east of South Australia.

SIZE:

Length about 35 cm (14")

WEIGHT:

Male: 210-334 grams

Female: 240-300 grams

SEXING:

The Gang Gang is dimorphic with the female lacking the red coloured head of the male. Immature birds look like the hen except for some red scalloping of the head feathers in young males, which may be seen even in the nest.

BREEDING SEASON:

The breeding season extends from October to January in Australia, with a hollow high in a eucalypt tree being used. The birds usually enlarge the hollow by chewing at the sides and scrape out the wood chips.

EGGS:

Two, or more rarely three, eggs are laid. The eggs are broadly elliptical to elliptical and without gloss.

INCUBATION:

Incubation lasts approximately thirty days and both sexes brood the eggs. The male and female feed together in the early morning and then the male broods while the female perches in the same or an adjacent tree. In the afternoon both the male and female again leave to feed, upon return the female takes up the task of incubating and the male stands guard in the same or adjacent tree.

FLEDGING:

The young leave the nest about eight weeks after hatching and are fed by the parents for a further four to six weeks.

Male Gang Gang Cockatoo

[Major Mitchell] [Gang-gang] [Sulphur-crested] [Galah] [Cockatiel]

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