Galah

Cacatua roseicapilla

This is Chook Chook, raised by friends and released at Fourth Crossing
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other names
Rose-Breasted Cockatoo, Goulie or Willie-Wilcock

DESCRIPTION

Male: Length 350-360mm including tail. Head, nape and underparts pink, paler on top of head deepening in colour down the body. Back, wings and tail pale grey. The skin around the eye is red in eastern birds, but white in western birds. Eye is brown. Bill is off white in colour and slightly hooked. Legs and feet are grey.

Females: as per male but eye colour is pale red.

Juveniles: As per adults but with grey mottled into the pink colour on the chest in their first year. Eye is brown.

Voice: Single screech note in contact or alarm. Harsh screeching in territorial calls. Chicks and juveniles beg with a heavy wheezing whine.

The Galah is one of the most commonly seen parrots and is abundant throughout most of Australia.  It's habitat is mainly woodlands and open grassland.  It is usually seen in pairs or in large family flocks.  Like most parrots the Galah feeds on the ground on seeds, grasses and fruit and can travel some distance for food, returning to their nest area to roost at night.  Galahs begin to breed in the third or fourth year. The breeding season is mainly from August to November, earlier in the northern parts of Australia. It is thought that the Galah mates permanently and returns to the same nest site year after year. It makes its nest in tree hollows, lined with eucalypt leaves and twigs and  lays between 2 and 5 eggs, with incubation by both parents for approximately 30 days.  Young fledge in about 8 weeks.