Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus)

Our yearly visitor arrived with the usual unmistakable screeching and weird wailing. This is the first time we\’ve had any success getting a photo and unfortunately we haven\’t been able to take one when in flight. Their wingspan is about 2 feet (63-68cm) and they look quite spectacular with their yellow tail feathers.

A portion of the tail feathers can be seen here

Here is one of them glowering at us with the air of a pirate. He is feeding on a banksia (named after Sir Joseph Banks, a naturalist who travelled with Captain Cook). Our very first encounter with these birds came one wet day when we went to see what was causing a regular thud overhead. We found a couple of them eating the banksias from an overhanging tree and the leftover heavy, woody cones were falling on our roof.

 If you leave me, can I come too?