Butler's corella (''Cacatua pastinator butleri'') is a medium-sized white

cockatoo A cockatoo is any of the 21 parrot species belonging to the family Cacatuidae, the only family in the superfamily Cacatuoidea. Along with the Psittacoidea (true parrots) and the Strigopoidea (large New Zealand parrots), they make up the ord ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It is one of two

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the

western corella The western corella (''Cacatua pastinator'') also known as the western long-billed corella, is a species of white cockatoo endemic to south-western Australia. Taxonomy Cacatuidae is one of three families of the large and diverse avian order Psit ...

.Anon. (2007). ''Butler’s Corella''. (Fauna Note No.19). Department of Environment and Conservation, Western Australi

Description

Butler's corella has mainly white plumage with a distinct white crest. The undersides of the wings and tail are pale yellow. The feathers between the eye and beak are deep salmon-pink, as are the bases of the feathers on the head and underparts. The eye is surrounded by a broad grey-blue eye-ring. The white plumage is often stained with soil because of the birds’ foraging activities. The corellas range from 40–48 cm in length and 600–750 g in weight. They are very similar in appearance to Muir's corella, the nominate subspecies of the western corella.

Distribution and habitat

Butler's corella is found in the northern and central wheatbelt of south-west Western Australia. Its habitat is open

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

and

farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

where there are nearby trees for roosting in. It has benefited from agricultural development with access to food from cereal crops and permanent water.

Behaviour

Butler's corella is gregarious and may be seen in large flocks of up to several thousand birds.

Feeding

The corellas feed extensively on the seeds of cereal crops, the seeds of weeds such as Cape weed (''

Arctotheca calendula ''Arctotheca calendula'' is a plant in the sunflower family commonly known as capeweed, plain treasureflower, cape dandelion, or cape marigold because it originates from the Cape Province in South Africa. It is also found in neighboring KwaZulu ...

'') and double gee (''

Emex australis ''Rumex hypogaeus'' (Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Emex australis''), commonly known in English as southern threecornerjack, devil's thorn, or double gee (also doublegee, from the old Afrikaner name dubbeltge-doorn - 'double thorned'), is a herb ...

''), as well as the

corm A corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation). The word ' ...

s of onion grass (''

Romulea rosea ''Romulea rosea'' is a herbaceous perennial plant in the family Iridaceae. It is a small plant, usually less than 20 cm high, with grass-like leaves. The flowers, which appear in spring, are pink with a yellow throat. Common names include G ...

'') and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

Breeding

The corellas nest in tree hollows of large, mature eucalypts, including wandoo (''

Eucalyptus wandoo ''Eucalyptus wandoo'', commonly known as wandoo, dooto, warrnt or wornt, is a small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of nine to sev ...

'') and salmon gum (''

Eucalyptus salmonophloia ''Eucalyptus salmonophloia'', commonly known as salmon gum, wurak or weerluk or woonert or marrlinja. is a species of small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to Western Australia. It has smooth bark, narrow lance-shaped to curved adult leave ...

''). Eggs are laid from August to October with a clutch size of 1-4 (averaging 2.7). The incubation period lasts 24–29 days, following which the chicks remain in the hollow for about 60 days until fledging. After fledging, the young birds begin to forage for themselves in 2–3 weeks but continue to be dependent on their parents for another 6 months, moving with them in family groups to feeding areas and roosts. They do not start breeding until they are 3–5 years old.

Status and conservation

Butler's corella is not considered to be

threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensat ...

. The population comprises some 20–30,000 birds and is gradually spreading in the south-east of its range. Average life expectancy of adults has been estimated at 17 years for males and 14 years for females. However, most young birds die before they reach breeding age. Because flocks sometimes cause damage by defoliating trees, by digging up

lawn A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawnmower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. L ...

s, sports grounds and

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also u ...

s, by chewing wiring and house fittings, and by being very noisy, the subspecies is a declared pest of agriculture. Birds may be destroyed where they are considered a nuisance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:corella, Butler's Butler's corella