Friends are approaching!

A rare Brighton Grammar sighting of one of Australia’s beautiful black cockatoos occurred last week in the Rosstrevor pine tree, as a small flock of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo’s dined on pine seeds and generally made a royal mess below.

Both male (pink eye ring, black upper bill) and female (grey eye ring, white upper bill) showed off their spectatular yellow tail feathers as they hoped from branch to branch last week.  One of six black cockatoo species in Australia the yellow-tailed (scientific name Calyptorhynchus funereus) has a wide habitat zone spanning from South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula to central eastern Queensland and Tasmania.

Although not an endangered species, they are classified as vulnerable in SA and have seen significant population decline on the east coast.  Indigenous names vary by country; when on the GSWJ (Gunditjmara country) they would be known as Wilan, and the call was known to some tribes as a foretelling that friends were approaching. 

A very apt symbol for our return to on-site learning after a period of distance learning.