Cockatoo

Cockatoo
Galah in Australia
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Psittaciformes
Superfamily:	Cacatuoidea
Family:	Cacatuidae G. R. Gray 1840
Type genus
Cacatua Vieillot 1817[1]
Genera
Probosciger Callocephalon Nymphicus Calyptorhynchus Eolophus Lophochroa Cacatua
Current range of cockatoos – red Finds of recent fossils – blue
Synonyms
Plyctolophinae Vigors 1825[2]

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

The name cockatoo comes from the Malay name for these birds, kaka(k)tua, via the Dutch kaketoe.^[3][4]

Cockatoos are recognisable by the showy crests and curved and strong bills. Their plumage is generally less colourful than that of other parrots, being mainly white, grey or black and often with coloured features in the crest, cheeks or tail. On average they are larger than other parrots; however, the Cockatiel, the smallest cockatoo species, is a small bird.

1. ↑ ICZN (2000). "Opinion 1949. Cacatua Vieillot, 1817 and Cacatuinae Gray, 1840 (Aves, Psittaciformes): conserved". Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 57: 66–67.
2. ↑ Suppressed by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature in Opinion 1949 (2000). ICZN (2000). "Opinion 1949. Cacatua Vieillot, 1817 and Cacatuinae Gray, 1840 (Aves, Psittaciformes): conserved". Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 57: 66–67.
3. ↑ "Cockatoo". American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 4th ed. Houghton Mifflin Company. 2000. Archived from the original on 2005-04-05. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
4. ↑ "Cockatoo". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 30 June 2013.