Fun Corella Facts For Kids

The little corella (Cacatua sanguinea) has many names: bare-eyed cockatoo, blue-eyed cockatoo, blood-stained cockatoo, little cockatoo, and short-billed cockatoo. These birds are native to Australia and Southern New Guinea. In the west of Western Australia, Pilbara, these birds are called Birdirra. There are three sub-species of corella throughout Australia; the Western corella is confined to the extreme south of Western Australia. The long-billed corella is also one of the subspecies from South East Australia. These birds are primarily white.

These little corellas are usually found in flocks, and at night they roost on trees nest and feed on the ground during the morning. Cockatoos are just like parrots; they are intelligent, easily trainable, and playful birds. These little corellas are spread across Australia; they are adequately populated with minimum posable threats. Therefore, their Conservative Status is under the Least Concern category.

If you're a cockatoo lover, please check out our website to know more exciting facts on the little corella and glossy black cockatoo.
 

What type of animal is a corella?

The corella is a native bird of Australia, where its parent species are parrots. These corellas in wild, roost on tree nests and feed on the ground. These species are found in large flocks and can cause agricultural damage as pests. These birds are clownish and noisy too. They can be kept as pets but not cage birds. And pair for life, not just during the breeding season.

What class of animal does a corella belong to?

The corella, Cacatua sanguinea, belongs to the class of Aves in Psittaciform order (parrots) under the Cacatuidae family (cockatoo) in genus Cacatua.

How many corellas are there in the world?

Corella's population trend shows increased growth. Their population size is thought to be over 1,000,000.

Where does a corella live?

This parrot bird is native to Australia and spread throughout the continent. These corella birds have three subspecies breeding in Australia. The Western corella in the extreme south-west of Western Australia and long-billed corella from the South-east.

What is a corella's habitat?

The corella prefers lands near watercourses as there would be plenty of seeding grasses. Its habitat range from central Australian arid deserts to coastal plains in the east. They do not prefer thick forests as they will be most vulnerable to attack from predators. They enjoy human interaction and demand love and attention from their owner, just like a pet dog. They usually nest in trees and feed on turfgrass seeds.

Who do corellas live with?

These cockatoos live in large flocks of the same species and enjoy a domestic environment with humans and other species pets like cats and dogs.

How long does a corella live?

In the wild, they live for 20-46 years. However, in a captive or domestic environment, they can live up to 50 years.

How do they reproduce?

Corellas do not have a particular breeding season. They start breeding once raining season kicks in. They mate for life. Adults build nests in a hollow tree. Multiple adults pair in a nest of the same tree. After mating, the female lays two to four eggs in one brooding and incubates for 26 days, and chicks are born naked. Parents participate in incubation and also take care of the chicks until they grow to become independent.

What is their conservation status?

Corellas have increased their population trends in the world. Hence the IUCN has placed these parrot birds in the Least Concern category.

What do corellas look like?

Little corellas are mostly white, unlike traditional green parrots. Its eye has a naked fleshy blue eye-ring with dark brown eyeballs; hence, it's called bare-eyed cockatoos. Between the eye and bill, it has a pale rose pink patch. Its bill is grayish-horn color. We can notice a sulfur yellow wash color under their wings and tail. They do not exhibit sexual dimorphism, and both have the same white plumage. The young birds look the same as adults, only they are smaller in size.

How cute are they?

These cockatoo species look adorable with white plumage. They act clownish and are easily trained. These birds are affectionate and enjoy the owner's company, just like parrots, pigeons, and pet dogs.

How do they communicate?

These white parrots with pink patches near bill are noisy. They use screeching calls or high pitch notes to call and communicate. This parrot usually flocks together and making loud screeching sounds that can be audible from few kilometers. Long-billed cockatoos can imitate human sounds.

How big is a corella?

Little corella parrot grows up to 14-16 in (35 - 41 cm) in length, four times bigger than a buff-faced pygmy parrot, which is 3.1 in (8cm).

How fast can a corella fly?

A little corella's exact flight speed is not known. However, the cockatoo family birds usually fly at a speed of 43 mph (70 kph).

How much does a corella weigh?

Little corellas weigh 13-22 oz (370-623 g) with a mean weight of 1.157 lb (525 g).

What are the male and female names of the species?

These corellas do not have sex-specific names. However, they are commonly referred to as male and female corellas.

What would you call a baby corella?

The baby or young little corella is known as a chick or hatchling. And the young ones are the same as adults-only smaller in size.

What do they eat?

Corellas feed on fruits, bulbs, grass seeds, and agricultural seeds like maize, wheat, and barley.

Are they dangerous?

Corellas do not pose a danger to humans. They are kept as domestic pets and demand the owner's love and attention.

Would they make a good pet?

These cockatoos are the best pets to raise, just like dogs. They are intelligent, playful, clownish, and have affectionate personalities. They are easily trainable and make good life companions. Compared to dogs and cats whose life span is short. A well-raised cockatoo makes an excellent responsible companion to its owner. However, it equally requires owners time to raise it properly. Improperly trained pets may develop behavioral phobias and unbearable screeching.

Did you know...

The difference between a corella and cockatoo needs understanding. Several white cockatoos fall in the corella group (subgenus licmetis). The cockatoo is from the same family, Cacatuidae (parrot family), with curved beaks and Zygodactyl foot.

Cockatoos mate for life and both sexes equally participate in incubating eggs and raising young chicks.

Corellas can be loud, noisy beings when uncomfortable and have behavior phobias that make them screech loudly.

Corellas usually flock in large numbers and feed on agricultural crops, which can cause damages.

The process of training a corella is similar to any other pet animal. Treating and rewarding with their favorite foods for obeying commands is the best technique. This also helps them to be responsible pets. Yelling and shouting should be avoided as it causes emotional distress to cockatoos and leads to behavioral phobias.

Different types of corella

C. s. normantoni is slightly smaller, and it has a brownish color under the tail and flight feathers.

C. s. gymnopis has distinct pink lores, yellow wash on lower-ear coverts, and darker blue eye-rings.

C. s. transfreta, is the same as subspecies normantoni but has yellow-brownish underwings and under the tail.

C.s. westralensis looks the same as subspecies gymnopis, but bright orange/red lores and more color washed from the head to upper breast and gradually blends with lower underparts and thighs. It has deep yellow underwings and under the tail.

Cacatua tenuirostris, commonly known as sulfur-crescent cockatoo, has an elongated bill and reddish-pink feathers on its face, neck, and belly.

Are corellas considered pests?

White corellas sometimes form huge flocks and search for food and water. Once they find farmlands and agricultural lands, they feed on crop seeds and cause catastrophic damages.

There was a tragic incident in 2019 July, with hundreds of corella falling from the sky, wailing, bleeding from the mouth, and dying. It looked like a doomsday movie climax, but this is a real incident in Australia. Studies on these bird corpses confirmed the presence of toxic or poison in toxicology reports. However, Sarah King, Casper's Bird Rescue founder, confirmed that poison should be bought post-registration for using this deadly poison and the concluded reports took a long time to take any plan of action.

It's reported that long-billed corellas causing damages like chewing streetlights, damaging building infrastructure, sporting equipment, damaging crops, and displacing other native species of birds, bees, possums, etc. Hence the urban council has ordered culling.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other birds from our blue-winged parrotlet facts and gold-capped conure facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable long billed corella coloring pages.