''Cacatua'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 ...

s found from the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Wallacea Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of mainly Indonesian islands separated by deep-water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as Lo ...

east to the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

and south to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. They have a primarily white

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

(in some species tinged pinkish or yellow), an expressive crest, and a black (subgenus ''

Cacatua ''Cacatua'' is a genus of cockatoos found from the Philippines and Wallacea east to the Solomon Islands and south to Australia. They have a primarily white plumage (in some species tinged pinkish or yellow), an expressive crest, and a black (s ...

'') or pale (subgenus ''

Licmetis ''Licmetis'' is a subgenus of the white cockatoos (genus ''Cacatua''). They are collectively known as corellas in Australia. Three of the six species are primarily – or only – found in Australia, while the Philippines, Indonesia, and the S ...

'') bill. Today, several species from this genus are considered threatened due to a combination of

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and capture for the wild bird trade, with the blue-eyed cockatoo, Moluccan cockatoo, and umbrella cockatoo considered vulnerable, and the red-vented cockatoo and yellow-crested cockatoo considered critically endangered. The genus was first described by Brisson in 1790, with the white cockatoo (''C. alba'') subsequently designated as the type species.

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier ...

defined the genus ''Kakatoe'' in 1800, with the red-vented cockatoo (''C. haematuropygia'') as the type, and some older bird books use the latter name. Mayr, Keast and Serventy validated ''Cacatua'' in 1964, and dismissed ''Kakatoe''.

Species

References

* Juniper, T., & M. Parr (1998). ''A Guide to the Parrots of the World.'' Pica Press, East Sussex. {{Taxonbar, from=Q827257 Cacatuini Bird genera Taxa named by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot