A rare orange red-tailed black cockatoo has been sighted in Southern Western Australia, captivating locals and bird enthusiasts. The bird, a female, exhibits leucism, a genetic condition that causes loss of pigment in feathers, affecting as few as one in 30,000 birds.
Photographed by local Julie Guglielmana last month, the cockatoo's unique colouring is due to a genetic mutation that disrupts the normal black pigmentation. Tegan Douglas from BirdLife Australia explained that the condition is a harmless glitch in genetic coding, not providing any special abilities.
Reports of a similarly coloured bird have emerged periodically in the Bunbury area over the past decade, and experts believe it is likely the same individual. The bird's occasional absence from the area may be due to food scarcity and increased competition in suburban environments.
The sighting occurs during an ongoing corella plague in Greater Bunbury, where the invasive species damages local flora and out-competes native birds like the black cockatoo. Dr Douglas hopes the rare sighting will encourage people to appreciate and protect local birdlife, emphasizing the importance of neighbourhood birds.
