White parrots - winners and losers

[Julian Robinson <>]

A few months after I first started following birds in mid-2006, I
'discovered' Corellas and took some notice of them from then on. 
Very occasionally here in lower Narrabundah we  would observe a
flock flying over, perhaps once a month or two on average, which used to
please me because they were so uncommon.  However in a very short
time things have changed, until now, for the last 6 months, Corellas have
passed my place every single day, usually many times.  They've
become common here in only a year.

Separately from this, in the last 6 months I've kind of adopted a
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo who took to appearing at my office window and
just sitting there watching until I'd go down and put out some seed on
the balcony.  After a while it started appearing with a friend, so I
had two SC Cockatoos that I would feed reasonably regularly.  I
know... I know, I don't really know why I do it, but ... not rational.
Actually my location in a block of units bordering the golf course is a
bird desert, or at least a desert for interesting birds.  My
observations are so incredibly boring that I have to admit I gave up on
my garden bird survey.  I know I shouldn't have, especially as
things have turned out, but it really was mind-numbingly boring. 
This is one of the reasons I encouraged the SC Cockatoos, they were a
little bit different.  I fed them reasonably regularly despite
thinking white cockies must be some of the toughest and most dominating
birds around, not exactly in need of our support. 

So today I was surprised by the following events...

I came home to find one of "my"cockies busy chewing up the tray
that I use as a bird table.  So I put some seed out for it, at the
same time noticing that it behaved differently from either of my two
regulars, so was probably a different bird.  A minute or so later I
looked out to see that a second had turned up, then three ... I went to
the balcony and to my astonishment there was a Hitchcockian array of
large white birds all lined up on the fence that separates us from the
golf course, more on the sidings between me and both adjacent units and
still more above me - on the gutter of the roof above the balcony. 
What was more surprising was that most of them were Corellas, an absolute
first to see them perched anywhere in the vicinity. I've never seen them
around here other than than flying overhead.   It was
astounding  - there were at least 4 Long-billed Corellas, 9 Little
Corellas, 1 half-half Corella and 5 SC Cockatoos,  I don't know the
actual numbers because the ones on the roof were invisible until I went
out on to the balcony, at which time all those close to the balcony would
fly off and confuse the issue.

I have never seen more than three cockatoos on the fence before, and
never a single corella -- now they were wall to wall.  It was far
more strange than my little panorama shows, quite bizarre, as they were
very active, flying from the fence to the roof and back, displacing one
another and having goes at each other all the time.  But then things
got really strange.  At first there were the 3 cockies at my bird
table, which is only a couple of metres from where I stand at the
door.  Two flew off when I came out to look, leaving only my
original 'mate'. After 30 seconds or so, the 2 came back ... until ... a
single Long-billed Corella (LBC) flew down, two of the cockies flew off
immediately and the LBC physically attacked the other one until it left
too.  At which point a collection of corellas flew to the table and
started feeding voraciously.  The cockies were completely subjugated
and sat on the fence and outer edges watching.  There was a lot of
activity, fighting and to-ing and fro-ing, with cockies swooping corellas
and vice versa, pecking and flying birds attacking perched birds with
their feet.   But the summary is that the Corellas completely
dominated the cockatoos, in particular one Little Corella that eventually
would remain at the table even when I was standing close. It would peck
and move threateningly every time a cockatoo got close, and looked
completely in command.

The business ended strangely as well - a squawk from one bird and the
whole lot, all three species, took off at once and disappeared.  Not
one bird remained.

If my experience is any guide, Canberra is going to have Corellas as much
or more than it does Crested Pigeons.  If Corellas can dominate
Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, is anything likely to stop them?