Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla), family Cacatuidae, order Psittaciformes, Western Australia

A pair of galah cockatoos (Eolophus roseicapilla) in Flinders Ranges National Park, Australia

Photo source

photo by Thinnecke on Wiki.

Despite it being one of Australia’s most common and well-known birds, I’ve apparently never done a proper post about them. Either that or it got eaten in the Great Tumblr Purge for being suspiciously pink. 

AKA pink and grey cockatoo or rose-breasted cockatoo. The common name comes from the Gamilaraay language group of SE Australia - other words from that language that have become English loanwords include Bindii - an annoying burr-like weed, Brolga - the Australian Crane, and Budgerigar. 

The scientific name was originally applied to the pale headed variety, found on Australia’s east, but the expedition that provided the holotype had provided one of the west-coast, dark-pink-headed specimens and never actually been anywhere near the east coast. So the trinomial  Eolophus roseicapilla roseicapilla should actually only apply to the western subspecies, previously known as Eolophus roseicapilla assimilis,  and the eastern subspecies had get an entirely new name -  Eolophus roseicapilla albiceps. ‘roseicapilla albiceps’ translates as ‘rosy-capped white-headed’, but I’m not sure what Eolophus means. There’s also a northern subspecies, but it managed to avoid this entire mess. Galah is also Australian slang for a fool or idiot, and refers to the bird’s raucous squabbling flocks.

Galahs were originally found in the drier interior of the mainland, but expanded therir range dramatically and is now found across almost all of Australia - it’s one of those species that has done very well out of human presence, since it prefers open ground with scattered trees - the kind of thing that happens anywhere humans go and there’s forests to cut down. They were introduced in Tasmania in the mid-19th century, and first seen in the wild in New Zealand in 1959, but the population in the latter remains small.

Captive Galahs may live for over 70 years, but wild birds rarely reach 20. They pair-bond intensely, which can make them challenging pets for anybody ill-prepared for a life-long commitement to a loud, jealous, and demanding bird.

Often found in flocks of 10 to 1,000 individuals. These can be mixed flocks, including Major Mitchell's cockatoo, the little corella, and the sulphur-crested cockatoo. The galah readily hybridizes with all of three, and was originally included in the cockatoo genus.

Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla), family Cacatuidae, order Psittaciformes, Australia

Galahs (Eolophus roseicapilla), family Cacatuidae, order Psittaciformes, Australia

Galahs (Eolophus roseicapilla), chicks, family Cacatuidae, order Psittaciformes, Australia