Palm Cockatoo

Probosciger aterrimus (Gmelin, JF, 1788)

51–64 cmLength841 gWeight

It has black feathers, red cheeks and a tuft of long crest feathers on the crown.

Busiest months: July–August · Most records: Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Thailand

Near Threatened

How to identify

Field marks

Bright red patches on cheeks
Long crest on crown
Large black bill with strongly downhooked tip
Mainly black overall

Male, female and young

Males have larger bills than females.

Voice

Males string together many types of syllables into long, complex vocal sequences.

Where and when it's recorded

Palm Cockatoo has been recorded at 26 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 4 countries and regions.

Records by month Southern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Kwatu LodgePapua New Guinea149 records
Fly River – between Kiunga and Elevala RiverPapua New Guinea77 records
Elevala River – between Fly River and Ketu RiverPapua New Guinea71 records

More places

Elevala and Ketu RiversPapua New Guinea49 records
Elevala RiverPapua New Guinea47 records
Tabubil-Kiunga Rd – Km 17Papua New Guinea45 records
Drimgas Road, KiungaPapua New Guinea40 records
Boystown Road – Bowerbird HillPapua New Guinea38 records
Sera (formerly Crater Mountain) Biological Research StationPapua New Guinea27 records
Boys Town Road, KiungaPapua New Guinea16 records

Countries and regions with the most records

Papua New Guinea Singapore Thailand Philippines

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The palm cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus), also known as the goliath cockatoo or great black cockatoo, is a large, smoky-grey/black parrot of the cockatoo family native to New Guinea, the Aru Islands and the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Palm Cockatoo?

The Palm Cockatoo is about 51–64 cm long and weighs around 841 g.

Where does the Palm Cockatoo live?

Its breeding range: Australasia: New Guinea and satellites, and far northern Australia. It is most often recorded in Papua New Guinea, Singapore and Thailand.