Janice Terrill, Red-tailed cockatoos: a family vignette (ANIMAL 2024)

In January, a large flock of red-tailed cockatoos regularly feeds on the casuarinas and beach almonds at Grasstree Beach. At this time of the year they have their newly fledged juveniles with them and are easier to approach than during the rest of the year. On this afternoon, I had the privilege of watching this family comprising a male adult and a female adult and two juveniles settle at the top of a large eucalypt. I watched Dad feed one of the juveniles who was demanding food lustily, a juvenile practice its flying skills and Mum take off for a fly over, leaving Dad with the kids.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.