Every year when I'm able, I take part in the annual Glossy Black Cockatoo survey. These birds are classified as Vulnerable to Endangered. Each year, I find evidence of the birds but no birds. The survey is usually Sept.
So this year, I decided to head out a month and a bit earlier than the official survey, and it paid off. I spotted a small flock of 6 birds, and managed to have a close encounter with a male/female pair feeding.
Another pair (maybe the same) way off in the distance, just perched on a dead branch. Even at a distance, they aren't particularly black, or glossy.
The male and female pair feeding. Female is higher in the tree and behind the male. Both are nibbling on casuarina cones.
Male Glossy Black Cockatoo, holding a casuarina cone in one cone, nibbling at it. His body is facing the camera, but head is turned to the right. He's a more uniform black-ish colour (also not glossy), with red tail feathers visible.
Female adult Glossy Black Cockatoo feeding on casuarina cones. She is blackish (but not glossy), with a yellow neck, and formidable slate coloured beak. In this shot, she's holding a cone in one claw, and looking directly at the camera.