Crested Ranking Officer
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Crested Ranking Officer
Today’s special animal friend is Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo, Lophochroa leadbeateri, only we’re not supposed to call it that. We’re supposed to call it the Pink Cockatoo, Cacatua leadbeateri. I guess the Wingspan card was printed before whatever taxonomic catastrophe befell this large Australian bird with the snazzy, candy-corn crest.
At various points since it was first described in 1831, it has been called Leadbeater’s cockatoo, Major Mitchell’s cockatoo, the pink cockatoo, the red-top cockatoo, and the desert cockatoo. The final name is because it is found in dry, inland areas of Australia. There is further confusion about its genus, even after genetic analysis. But enough of that, let’s have a video! It’s a long video.
They are about 15 inches high and weigh up to a pound; males are a little larger than females. Their feathers are mainly white or cream, with a pink or coral wash to the head and upper body and the underwing feathers. They have an unusually tall crest, considerably more impressive than a sulphur-crested cockatoo’s, with red-yellow-red banding. The coloration is pigment-based, using chemicals from the plants they eat.
In addition to a variety of native and agricultural plants, they eat insect larvae. In flocks of 20 to 50, they may travel widely as different kinds of plants put out their fruit or seeds. They need to live near water and are most easily observed near water sources.
They typically nest around August, late winter in Australia, with monogamous pairs returning to hollows they’ve excavated high in eucalyptus trees. They chew up wood chips to line the hollow and sometimes add pebbles. Pairs don’t like to be near others: 2 kilometers is close enough. The female lays 2 to 5 eggs, and both parents incubate them for 23 to 26 days. The chicks stay in the hollow for about two months, brooded by the mother at night and the father during the day.
Eventually, the whole family resumes foraging with their flock. They begin breeding at about 3 years old and have lifespans up to 80 years in captivity. IUCN rates the pink cockatoo as Least Concern, but trade is restricted by CITES, and they are protected by the Australian national government and Australian states. Habitat loss, especially due to large wildfires, is the main threat.
They are challenging to keep as pets, but some people do:
They are also kept in zoos.
Belated recognition of CynthiaW as the correct author: Thank you for TSAF, Cynthia!
...looking forward to the day when someone invents a machine by which I can finally automate such matters for enhanced efficiency and improved accuracy...
Today’s special animal friend is the African finfoot, Podica senegalensis, a water bird of the Heliornithidae family, which includes only three species, each in its own genus. After the large herbivore excitement of the last couple of days, I figured you would all like to lounge a little. You’ll have to look closely to see the finfoot, which lurks under cover at the water’s edge. It has a dark head and back and a lighter underside which is barred and spotted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZyhPigHNJY
The African finfoot is a medium-sized duckish bird, two feet or so in length, weighing something over 1 lb. Females have a stockier body than males and slightly lighter coloring. Males also have iridescent blue-green coloring on their head and some of their wing covert feathers. This species is nonmigratory and highly territorial, especially during breeding season.
https://ebird.org/species/afrfin1
Although this species has the build of a diving bird such as a loon or anhinga, they feed at the surface and occasionally on land. They are carnivorous, with a varied diet of insects – both aquatic and terrestrial – crustaceans, fish, frogs, reptiles, and birds. They have been observed eating insects from the backs of hippopotamuses. Unfortunately, there’s no video of this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXfwJtTW-Rk
Pairs are believed to be monogamous. Finfoot females build cup-shaped nests out of sticks, reeds, and twigs, in vegetation and above water. There will often be a covered walkway from the waterside to the nest. The female lays two or three eggs and does all the incubation as well as the care and feeding of the chicks. “Hatchlings are semi-precocial, ptilopaedic, and nidicolous.” They are able to swim in less than a week, and they stay around their mother’s nest for several months.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o-UviJ3ZaU
The African finfoot is a species of Least Concern. Their population might be declining in some areas, but they are so difficult to observe that ornithologists aren’t sure. The major threats are habitat loss, including invasive plant species such as water hyacinth which disrupt the entire aquatic food web. Sedimentation of water bodies is also a threat; this is a result of poor soil conservation in agricultural lands.