Bron:
I wish I could answer your question from personal experience, but it
seems that you already have -- your Corellas were spotted with a flock of
SC Cockatoos. I have seen Galah and Sc Cuckatoo feeding together
in the same flock, so I am wondering: Were your birds feeding
together or were they travelling or roosting together? Is it
possible that both species were attracted to the same food source?
In your neck of the woods, NSW in winter, SC Cockatoos are reported to
form roamimg flocks that move around looking for food. If the birds are
coming together to feed than I can't see any reason way other species
couldn't join in. However, it is strange that you spotted a Little
Corella (Cacatua sanguinea) given that this bird's natural range is in
northern Australia. I would agree that they must be escapees (but
truthfully, I have no way of knowing this; hopefully, other parrot
enthusiasts can help on the question of seasonal range extensions, etc.).
If they are, then it is reasonable they would be looking for other birds
to associate with or looking for something to eat. There are many other
advantages for wanting to associate with other birds. During winter, and
especially in feeding flocks, I would not except SC Cockatoos to
discriminate between other flock member, besides Little Corellas are the
same colour and probably have similar feeding habits as the SC. If the
Corellas were roosting with the large Sulphur-crested that would be a more
interesting observation. I hope my comments have been helpful.
Cheers, Jim
On Tue, 12 Aug 1997, Bron King wrote:
> Yesterday my husband Daryl (who is keeping a workplace bird list) had a pair
> of Little Corellas on his window ledge at work (between Kingston and Lake
> Burley Griffin.)
> They were with a large flock of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos,
> and must be ex-avary , because no sightings are recorded in 'Birds of the
> ACT An Atlas' (Taylor and COG.) Is it common for flocks of cockatoos to
> accept birds of other species?
>
> Bron
> __________________________________________________________
> Bronwyn King
> Canberra, Australia
>
> __________________________________________________________
>
> ---
>
>
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