Blue-eyed cockatoo
| Blue-eyed Cockatoo | |
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| Species: | C. ophthalmica
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| Cacatua ophthalmica Sclater, 1864
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The Blue-eyed Cockatoo, Cacatua ophthalmica is a large, approximately 50 cm (20 in) long, white cockatoo with an erectile yellow white crest, grey color beak and feet, and a light blue rim of featherless skin around each eye, that gives this species its name.
Both sexes appear very similar. Some males have a dark brown iris and some females have a reddish brown iris, but this small difference may not always be reliable as a gender indicator. They pair for life.
The Blue-eyed Cockatoo is distributed and endemic to lowland and hill forests of New Britain in Papua New Guinea, and it is the only cockatoo in the Bismarck Archipelago.
Like all cockatoos and many parrots, the Blue-eyed Cockatoo can use one of its zygodactyl feet to hold objects and to bring food to its beak whilst standing on the other foot; nevertheless, amongst bird species as a whole this is relatively unusual. A common species throughout its habitat range, the Blue-eyed Cockatoo is evaluated as Least Concern on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
In captivity, the most sucessful zoo with this species is Chester.
References
- ^ Template:IUCN2006 Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern