The thousands of white cockatoos around south Canberra at the moment are feeding on capeweed Arctotheca calendula (right) and also on a similar flatweed that lacks the silvery undersides (3 plants on left). Recent conditions have produced a lush crop of both these. In each case the plant is uprooted and the fleshy root eaten completely. Large numbers (presumably the same birds) also spend periods foraging for fallen acorns under the street pin-oaks. In due course they will no doubt work through the seasonal menu, including cedar cones, which make a fine thump on a metal roof.
