Not far from here is a scratched-out well dug-out patch of dirt under a very large pin oak. Here is where some Long-billed Corellas gather frequently.
The Long-billed Corellas are considered the best “talker” of the Australian cockatoos. They are popular pets in many parts of Australia although they are considered pests in western Victoria and Western Australia due to the damage they can cause to crops. They have also been known to tear "up pieces of asphalt along roadsides and damaging power lines” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-billed_corella).
Feral populations have sprung up in Sydney, Perth, Hobart and southeast Queensland from the release of captive birds.
These birds “form monogamous pairs and both sexes share in building the nest, incubating the eggs and caring for the young” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-billed_corella). They lay 2-3 dull white, oval eggs on a lining of decayed wood. Their nests are made in decayed debirs, hollows of large old eucalypts and even cavities of loose gravely cliffs. Incubation is around 24 days and the chicks spend about 56 days in the nest. Breeding is usually from July to November.
These corellas inhabit grassy woodlands, grasslands as well as parks in urban areas (https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/birds/long-billed-corella/).
“The Long-billed Corella is a medium-sized white cockatoo with a short crest (not always visible) and short tail, stocky body and a distinctive long upper mandible to its bill. There is a faint yellowish wash on the undersides of its wings and tail, and orange-red splashes on its forehead, throat and an orange-red crescent across its upper breast. The eye ring is pale grey-blue. It is a conspicuous and gregarious species, often seen foraging in large flocks on the ground.
“The Long-billed Corella might be confused with the Little Corella..., but can be distinguished by its long slim upper bill, bright orange-red head patches and orange-red markings on its breast. It is also slightly larger and heavier, and has a shorter tail than the Little Corella.
“Grass seeds are the preferred diet of Long-billed Corellas, particularly those from grain crops. They also eat corms, bulbs and roots, especially from the weed onion grass, Romulea. Insects are also eaten. Native food plants include Murnong, Microseris lanceolata, but about 90 % of the diet now includes introduced food plants.” (http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Cacatua-tenuirostris).
There were once two subspecies of the Long-billed Corella (one in western Victoria and the other in south-western Australia. But after years of scientific research, it was determined that the two subspecies were different. The Long-billed Corella in Western Australia was renamed the Western Corella (http://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/Long-billed-Corella).
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