Sulpher-crested cockatoos bonding. Image by Matthew McLartySOME cocky cockies will develop a Jagger-style strut in the lead-up to Christmas as they try to start families in trees across the Macarthur region.
Warmer weather means raucous sulphur-crested cockatoos are searching for mates before bunkering down in tree hollows to hatch and raise their young.
National Parks and Wildlife Foundation chief executive officer Steve Corbett said breeding season for cockatoos was likely to run until January. “To attract a mate, a male sulphur-crested cockatoo struts Jagger-style toward the female with his crest held high and his tail feathers spread out wide,” he said.
“If you want to be a buddy to cockatoos, a great thing you can do is plant local native plants, grasses, shrubs and trees that they love in your garden.”
Cockatoos lay one to three eggs in tree hollows and both parents incubate them for 30 days.
The chicks stay in the nest for a two months after hatching, then remain with their parents and family group indefinitely.
Mr Corbett urged people to keep their distance and not feed the birds.