Callocephalon fimbriatum

2 Gang-gang Cockatoo at Hughes, ACT

Callocephalon fimbriatum at Hughes, ACT - 4 Aug 2024
Callocephalon fimbriatum at Hughes, ACT - 4 Aug 2024
Callocephalon fimbriatum at Hughes, ACT - 4 Aug 2024
Callocephalon fimbriatum at Hughes, ACT - 4 Aug 2024
Callocephalon fimbriatum at Hughes, ACT - 4 Aug 2024
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Identification history

Callocephalon fimbriatum 5 Aug 2024 MichaelMulvaney
Callocephalon fimbriatum 4 Aug 2024 CarbonAI
Callocephalon fimbriatum 4 Aug 2024 LisaH

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After spending some time with @gee and Bill, I am influenced by them to observe the way gang gangs feed. I've included examples of the tell-tale snapping of a twig by gang gangs - neat, with an approximate 42degree slant across the severed stem. My amateur observations on how gang gangs peel and chew a blue gum nut to get to the seeds are: they strip the outside husk in two ways - peeling away the centre rim (in the second photo, these are the second and fourth pieces of husk); then peel smaller strips leaving the fibrous nut naked. They then severe the nut in half with their beak, allowing them access to the seed. Once I began looking, there is such a pattern - it's not just pulverising a nut with their powerful beak to get to the inner seeds. Instead, they assess the nut (will it be nutritious), then systematically deconstruct the nut from the tough outer skin and middle rim, exposing the vulnerable inner husk, allowing easy access to the nutritious seed. Amazing!! I wonder if the curved rostrum(?) on the lower beak has been evolved to aid the careful turning of the nut, as happens with the glossy black cockatoo?

1 comment

   5 Aug 2024
Yes I wonder as well

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