Black cockatoo: the bird creates its own “drum lines” (9 photos)

Black or palm cockatoos are fairly large birds from the cockatoo family. Their males create musical instruments and are able to sense rhythm.





They are distinguished from all other birds of the same name by their solid black color, luxurious mohawk of feathers on their heads, red cheeks and a huge powerful beak. Parrots weighing 1.2 kg and with a wingspan of almost a meter are clearly visible from afar. And even better - you can hear it. They usually don't gather in large flocks like other parrot species, but you definitely won't miss even a small group of 5-6 birds.



This is because our feathered heroes are famous for their not very pleasant and at the same time very loud screams. They scream for all sorts of different reasons, and sometimes just because they can. In Australia everyone is used to this, but the gala lasts from August to January, when mating season begins for black cockatoos. Then the already brutal black birds straighten their mohawks and turn into real rocker-drummers!





To start the show, each male finds a suitable hollow in a tree, which will become a stage and a family hearth for many years to come. To do this, the hollow must be at least a meter deep and half a meter in diameter - cockatoos are not sparrows after all. After this, the preparatory part begins: the feathered one makes a musical instrument! The parrot bites off a stick or a large pod with seeds from some bush and gives it the desired shape and length with its powerful beak. Moreover, each bird does everything in its own way.



This is not just a stick, works of parrot art are created with this stick!

And when all preparations are completed, the concert will break out! The cockatoos take the tools more comfortably and knock on the wood as hard as they can, so much so that you can hear them 100 meters around! And here’s what’s remarkable: all the males knock in their own style, and no one strays from it. Moreover, scientists have observed that birds can even create and memorize their own exclusive drum patterns, and then perform the same beats over and over again. This behavior is simply amazing, because it confirms that black cockatoos have a sense of rhythm and they have their own “music”.



This process of creating art may seem too simple to a person, but for the animal and bird world it is like flying into space. Why? Yes, because the use of homemade tools even for getting food, to put it mildly, is not common in the wild. And here it’s nonsense - the birds whittle sticks and make music to attract ladies! Was it really impossible to abandon the usual bird mating habits, such as somersaults in the air and displays of beautiful feathers?



It’s possible, but apparently evolution decided that drumming is much more effective. Especially when the reproduction rate of your species is extremely low, and the female can lay only one egg every two years - here you can sing and dance to at least someday become a father! According to various sources, black cockatoos reach sexual maturity at either 8 or 30 years of age. The range is very large, since there have not been many bird observations over the years. And professional ornithologists don’t live that long: they say birds in captivity live up to 90 years!



Parental care begins after the laying of a single egg. Incubation lasts 5 weeks. The chicks hatch naked and completely helpless. Therefore, for the next 3+ months, the feathered mother and father will provide the baby with everything necessary. After leaving the nest, the young parrot will learn to look for edible nuts, seeds, fruits and bite through hard shells with its powerful beak. He will have a whole year to learn all the wisdom of life - the chick will remain on the territory of his parents until the start of the next breeding season.



An artist must be hungry. And the musician is well-fed!

Black cockatoos need forests to live comfortably. But as Australia's trees have recently been disappearing faster than they are appearing, the birds are learning to adapt to life near them.a person. Wild parrots are generally very brave: they risk visiting feeders and have the audacity to take food directly from humans!



In the wild, black cockatoos are threatened by habitat loss and poaching. Some people still catch birds from the forest to sell, causing significant damage to populations.

Due to its character and unusual appearance, people often keep cockatoos as pets. This is not an easy matter, because birds are very demanding in terms of food and living conditions. But if you manage to do everything perfectly, feathered drummers can learn to speak and communicate quite well with humans.