I got lucky this morning with two Black Cockatoos in a Silver Wattle. Only about 12 feet away from me, they kept looking for grubs and didn’t fly off!




Male Southern Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos (Zanda xanthanotus). Identified from the females by pink eye rings and black beak.
Nice photos Tone. It’s good isn’t it when the birds sit close to you and you don’t have to have the tele lens at full stretch. They’re a fascinating bird. We have quite a few of them in and around Apollo Bay.
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Thanks John, they’re a regular visitor to the valley here but they’re usually wary when I get close. Last time it happened the light was pretty low. One of my favourite birds here, they look like they’re from pre-historic times!
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Beautiful pictures.
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Thanks Michael 😀
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Wow, what beautiful birds! And wonderfully captured on film!
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Thank you, lots of light helped 😀
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It’s an attractive bird, a bit large too. ❤️🇦🇺
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Thanks John, one of my favourite birds, they look as if from another time!
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They are related to the dinosaurs I guess?
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Ha ha! I like to think so, you can easily imagine them flying around with dinosaurs 🦕 I call one of the ttacks up behind me “The Jurassic Track”, I have a recent pic of it to edit that will fearture in a post soon 🙂
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OK, sounds good. Something in the landscape I suppose.
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What a beauty.
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Indeed, he staid fairly still for me too 😀
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Beautiful birds! Super photos!
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Thanks Morgaine, very nice of him to pause and smile at me 😛
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He was ready for his close-up 😀
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Maybe they’re getting used to that crazy human pointing a camera at them. I come on peace ✌️ 📷
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Wow!
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😎 Thanks 😊
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I’m so glad you are sharing these beautiful birds with us. We have nothing like them here on the Canadian west coast. I would love to have one of these birds sit on my hand just for a few seconds (and not get pecked). They are gorgeous! Great photos, Tone.
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Thank you Anneli, I think the same about your squirrels 🐿 They don’t seem real to me because I’ve never seen one.
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I thought you had almost everything there. 😉
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Ha! Nope, no bears or moose either! Oh, drop bears of course, you gotta watch those! ;P
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Gotta watch all of them!
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The things that can kill you here are small and sneaky – snakes and spiders. At least in Canada, you have a chance to see what’s coming for you 🙂
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True. I don’t like spiders!
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Me neither – surprisingly I’m much more comfortable around snakes, they are so beautiful and the way they move intrigues me. Still, I prefer to keep my distance 😀
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Exactly how I feel too.
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Amazing photos. What a treat to create a connection that allowed you to get close enough. I love that feeling. Well done!
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I’m not sure if it was the same ones I got close to not too many posts ago, but I was closer this time and the light was much better 🙂 It’s cool when wild animals trust you 😎
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Amazing captures, such a beautiful bird!
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Thanks Donna, lovely to watch. Today about 8 of them landed noisily in a tree just off my deck. My camera was downstairs. I grabbed my phone but I think they saw me at the window and immediately flew off, no photo
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What a beautiful bird , first time seeing 👌🌷🙏😊
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Quite unique and very noisy, especially in a large group. I’ve seen flocks of as many as 20 in the valley, the sound of them calling to each other is incredible!
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Wow ,So nice to hear 👌🏼🙏🏼🌹 it is a special bird and tail so amazing !!
Your place so safe for birds 👍😀 Best wishes 🙏🏼♥️
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Thank you kindly, have a great evening 😀
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This bird’s name Cockatoo so lovely 👍🌹 thank you for sharing 🌹🙏🏼🌹
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Thanks Thattamma, I always thought that Cockatoo derived from an Aboriginal name for the bird, but apparently it comes from Malay, meaning ‘vice’ or ‘grip’, because of their strong beak. There are 14 species of Cockatoo in Australia. They’re also found in Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the Philippines.
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Yes, now I got in Malay name “Burung nuri” here so many 👌
But this kind colour I never saw here , Australia only !! I think 😊
Australia so famous for kind of Animals and Birds 👌🌷🙏♥️
Thank you so much for this beautiful reply 🌷🙏🌷
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Ah, Parrot! We have parrots here too, they are much smaller than Cockatoos! There is one that migrates to breed in Tasmania called the Swift Parrot – it is in extreme danger of becoming extinct.
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So nice to hear 🌷🙏
birds are blessed by earth mom , my believe 👍🏻😊🙏
Thank you for so kindly messaging 🌷🙏🌷
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Such fabulous birds and so good to see them in the wild. Beautiful photography.
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Thanks, I wanted a pet cockatoo when I was young, so glad I didn’t get one, I much rather see them wild. They can live as long as humans in captivity.
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awww I’ve never seen a black cockatoo. Very cool. I had a Moulukan who was eaten by a coyote. He was 16. I was soooo sad and still am when i think about it. 💖
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Thank your , sorry to hear about your bird 😢 when my girls were little the wife decided to get two budgies. They only lasted a few months before they hatched an escape plan.
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You’re so welcome.
Thanks so much.
Oh boy, I have a few of those stories as well!
birds will be birds. 🤣
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