Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo by RobGeraghty, on Flickr

It wasn't until I looked at this photo on the computer that I realised I had photographed the Cockatoo's food as well as the bird. This Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo had ripped open the tree to expose
the grub inside.

---------- Post added 13-04-20 at 08:59 PM ----------

And a Noisy Miner.


Noisy Miner by RobGeraghty, on Flickr

[pichaser]

His beak is even more powerful than I imagined but the blight was extensive too . This series is almost as good as being there .

[RobG]

His beak is even more powerful than I imagined but the blight was extensive too . This series is almost as good as being there .

Cockatoos love to rip trees apart to get at grubs. You need to be careful around pet ones because they can bite your finger off! Thank you! I was really pleased with these photos despite the poor light close to sunset.

[ToddK]

A couple of excellent captures Rob! I have a smaller cockatoo and her bite is bad enough. I couldn't imagine the bite of a large one. Not to mention how quickly they could destroy your furniture

I noticed the noisy miner that you photographed has less yellow around its eye than the one I photographed in Sydney. Is that how you differentiate the males from the females?

[Sailor]

Love 'em, Rob. Nice job, as always!

Jer

[RobG]

A couple of excellent captures Rob! I have a smaller cockatoo and her bite is bad enough. I couldn't imagine the bite of a large one. Not to mention how quickly they could destroy your furniture I noticed the noisy miner that you photographed has less yellow around its eye than the one I photographed in Sydney. Is that how you differentiate the males from the females?

A friend had a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and put the cage against the brick wall outside the house. The Cockatoo managed to remove most of the grout from between the bricks.


I don't think there's any sexual dimorphism in Noisy Miners. There's a number of sub-species with local colour variations however. I don't have the field guide handy to tell whether there's different subspecies in Sydney and Canberra. Magpies in Canberra do show variation because it's the northern edge of the White-backed subspecies and the southern extent of the Black-backed subspecies. There's also variations within subspecies as well, and between immatures and adults. There's plenty of species with no sexual dimorphism - Magpies, Crimson Rosellas, Lorikeets for example, but since Miners are honeyeaters, there's plenty of honeyeaters as well like Wattlebirds for instance. I'd say that sexual dimorphism in honeyeaters is less common, such as Sunbirds. I only recently found out that you can tell Galah genders apart by the colour of the iris, so it can be really subtle.

Love 'em, Rob. Nice job, as always!

Thanks Jer!!