The citron-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua citrinocristata'') is a medium-sized

cockatoo A cockatoo is any of the 21 species of parrots belonging to the family Cacatuidae, the only family in the superfamily Cacatuoidea. Along with the Psittacoidea ( true parrots) and the Strigopoidea (large New Zealand parrots), they make up t ...

with an orange crest, dark grey

beak The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for pecking, grasping, and holding (in probing for food, eating, manipulating and ...

, pale orange ear patches, and strong feet and claws. The underside of the larger wing and tail

feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and an exa ...

s have a pale yellow color. The eyelid color is a very light blue. Both sexes are similar. Females have a copper colored eye where as the male has a very dark black eye. They are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Sumba Sumba (; ), natively also spelt as Humba, Hubba, Suba, or Zuba (in Sumba languages) is an Indonesian island (part of the Lesser Sunda Archipelago group) located in the Eastern Indonesia and administratively part of the East Nusa Tenggara pro ...

in the

Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pro ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. The diet consists mainly of seeds, buds, fruits, nuts and herbaceous plants. In 2022,

Birdlife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

recognized the citron-crested cockatoo as a separate species, ''Cacatua citrinocristata'', assessed as Critically Endangered, while the

International Ornithological Congress International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

designated it to be a species in 2023.

Conservation status

The citron-crested cockatoo is a critically endangered bird whose population has declined due to

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

and illegal trapping for the cage-bird trade. A 1993 survey of Sumba estimated the species' numbers at less than 2,000 individuals. By 2012, the estimate had dropped to 563, and as of 2019 the population numbers are estimated to be 1,200-2,000 individuals with 800-1,320 mature individuals. It is listed in appendix I of the

CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

list. Consequently, international trade is strongly regulated and trade in wild caught citron-crested cockatoos is illegal.

References

External links

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds website - threats to wild bird populations
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3696997 Cacatua Cockatoos Birds of the Lesser Sunda Islands Parrots of Asia citron-crested cockatoo Taxa named by Louis Fraser