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Deceptive Corellas
An American bird-breeder will sell one for US$1500 or more. However a grain farmer in Australia will shoot it first and ask questions later. The Little Corella is one of the many cockatoo species thriving on the Australian continent, despite being indicted for feeding on grain crops.
Before white settlement, these large birds would emerge from woodland roosts to forage for grass seeds in open country. Now, these cockatoos, along with their other white-feathered relatives, the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and Long-billed Corella, find it convenient to feed in freshly sown pastures, thank you very much.
They are the picture of innocence to someone who comes upon a flock. When travelling through the Flinders Ranges of South Australia, I found them decorating the branches of a River Red Gum, preening and squawking among themselves. The scene of a beautiful tree bedecked with snowy white blossoms turned out to be an illusion. On close inspection I could see the flock had defoliated the tree—thanks to their voracious need to keep their beaks constantly occupied.
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