Template:POTD/2023-12-12
The pink cockatoo (Cacatua leadbeateri) is a medium-sized cockatoo that inhabits arid and semi-arid inland areas across Australia, with the exception of the north east. The bird has a soft-textured white and salmon-pink plumage and large, bright red and yellow crest. The sexes are quite similar, although males are usually bigger while the female has a broader yellow stripe on the crest and develops a red eye when mature. The pink cockatoo is usually found in pairs or small groups, and feeds both on the ground and in trees. It is listed as an endangered species by the Australian government. Formerly known as Major Mitchell's cockatoo, after the explorer Thomas Mitchell, the species was officially renamed the pink cockatoo in 2023 by BirdLife Australia in light of Mitchell's involvement in the massacre of Aboriginal people at Mount Dispersion, as well as a general trend to make Australian species names more culturally inclusive. This pink cockatoo with a raised crest was photographed near Mount Grenfell in New South Wales.Photograph credit: John Harrison