Gang gang cockatoo flyong skin#

The Gang-gang is one of the few birds that eats sawfly larvae – they may work their way through a whole clump!Ĭarol Probets, long term resident of the Blue Mountains, and member of the Blue Mountains Bird Observers (BMBO) group has captured this foraging behaviour on camera.Ĭarol watched the male Gang-gang manipulate the grub with its left foot, and then eat the soft inner parts of the grub, discarding the skin and head, before reaching out for the next “tasty” morsel. Like other forest and woodland cockatoos, gang gangs also eat insects and their larvae. They feed primarily on the seeds of eucalypts and wattles and the fruits of introduced plants such as Hawthorn. They may also growl quietly and contentedly whilst eating. It is often the sound of their distinctive creaking calls, or the gentle patter of half eaten gum nuts falling from high in the tree canopy that indicates their presence. Gang-gangs are not as conspicuous as other members of the cockatoo family. Many thanks to Ambika Bone for this lovely photo.

The whole September issue can be read online here – but to really enjoy this gorgeous magazine – become a member or a wildbird protector and get the print edition! : ) A male Gang-gang looking simply gorgeous on a favourite food plant – Hawthorn. So this blog’s purpose is twofold – to share the article with you, my lovely readers, if you are not already a subscriber, and to add in a fascinating bit about an unusual food preference that was unpublished. I gathered enough material and read enough scientific papers for a whole chapter on these lovely birds! I was pleased with the published result – but due to space constraints a fair bit had to be cut out. And had an email interview with Stephen Garnett, one of Australia’s leading ornithologists and currently very busy preparing the 2021 Action Plan for Australian Birds. I interviewed Carol Probets, a naturalist from the Blue Mountains area, and Chris Davey from the Canberra Ornithologists Group by phone. I had the great pleasure of writing a feature article on this species for the September issue of Australian Birdlife magazine ( my workplace).

There are some relatively common birds that I find exciting and wondrous to see every single time – Wedge-tailed Eagles, Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, Crested Shrike-tits – and of course everyone’s favourite stocky grey cockatoo with the whispy little crest- the Gang-gang Cockatoo!

Gang gang cockatoo flyong