The gang-gang cockatoo is a parrot found in the cooler and wetter forests and woodlands of Australia, particularly alpine bushland. It is the only species placed in the genus Callocephalon. Mostly mild grey in colour with some lighter scalloping, the male has a red head and crest, while the female has a small fluffy grey crest. It ranges throughout south-eastern Australia. The gang-gang cockatoo is the faunal emblem of the Australian Capital Territory. It is easily identified by its distinctive call, which is described as resembling a creaky gate, or the sound of a cork being pulled from a wine bottle.
Region
Southeast Australia
Typical Environment
Occurs from the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales south through Victoria, with outliers in far southeastern South Australia. Prefers cool, moist eucalypt forests, alpine and subalpine woodlands, and tall wet forests including mountain ash. In winter it often descends to lower elevations, visiting urban parks and gardens, especially around Canberra. It relies on mature trees with hollows for nesting and may forage in orchards or along forest edges.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1800 m
Climate Zone
Temperate
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
The gang-gang cockatoo is the only species in the genus Callocephalon and is the faunal emblem of the Australian Capital Territory. Its call is famously likened to a creaky gate or a cork popping from a bottle. Pairs are strongly bonded and often return to the same nesting hollows year after year.
Temperament
social and relatively quiet
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with undulating flight
Social Behavior
Outside the breeding season they form small, loose flocks that move between food sources. Pairs are monogamous and nest in deep tree hollows lined with wood dust. Breeding occurs in late spring to summer, with both parents sharing incubation and chick rearing.
Migratory Pattern
Partial migrant
Song Description
Calls include a distinctive creaking, squeaky note reminiscent of a rusty hinge or a cork popping, often given in short sequences. Soft chattering and contact calls are used within flocks and between mates.
Plumage
Overall soft slate-grey with fine pale scalloping; feathers have a fringed appearance. Males have a bright red head and ragged crest, females a smaller grey crest with greenish-yellow barring on the underparts.
Diet
Feeds primarily on seeds, nuts, and berries from native trees and shrubs such as eucalypts, acacias, hakeas, and wattles. Also takes buds and fruits, and will use some introduced plants like hawthorn. In some seasons it supplements its diet with insect larvae, including wood-boring beetles, obtained from decaying timber.
Preferred Environment
Forages in the canopy of mature eucalypt forests and along forest edges, as well as in urban parks and gardens. Will also feed on fallen seeds on the ground and sometimes in orchards or roadside trees.
