They are the faunal emblem of the Australian Capital Territory, but enthusiasm for the gang-gang cockatoo stretches far beyond the Canberra bubble.
That became clear in this year's Bird of the Year poll, where they finished third out of 50 Australian native birds.
Despite their popularity, we don't know a lot about them. No formal research or monitoring has been conducted about the species, says Stacey Taylor, a Master's student at The Australian National University (ANU) who is studying the patterns of occupancy of the gang-gang across the ACT.
We asked our gang-gang guru what we know about the birds, what we still need to find out, and what makes these charismatic cockies special.
Gang-gangs are a pretty parrot
Gang-gangs, one of 14 cockatoo species in Australia, are crowd favourites for their slate-grey feathers with blushes of pink, the male's distinctive red crest, and their quirky call.
"Gang-gangs are an incredibly beautiful parrot," Taylor says. "The males boast a spectacular red head and both the males and females have a wispy crest."
"They are not as commonly spotted as other similar sized parrots and should certainly not be mistaken for the much more common, but also beautifully coloured, galah."
If you can't get close enough to identify it, try listening instead. "Their most distinctive trait is their call that is often heard while they are in flight. Many compare their call to the sound of a drawn-out creaky door."
They are a Canberra icon
When the Australian Capital Territory adopted the gang-gang as its emblem in 1997 it was the only state or territory to feature a bird as its faunal emblem instead of a mammal. (The Southern brush-tailed rock-wallaby was chosen as the ACT's mammal emblem in 2018.) The gang-gang is also the insignia for the ACT Parks and Conservation Service and the Canberra Ornithologist Group - our local bird loving group.
"Some gang-gangs move to lower elevations in winter but some remain in areas with higher elevation," Taylor says.
While they hold a special spot in the heart of Canberrans, you'll also find gang-gangs well beyond the territory.
"Gang-gangs are endemic to eastern Australia. They occur along the Great Dividing Range from the central north coast of NSW, through the ACT and central and southwestern Victoria, to the South Australian border," Taylor says.
Until the 1960s, their habitat even stretched as far south as King Island, off Tasmania's northwest coast. They were one of several mainland birds introduced to Kangaroo Island in South Australia between 1911 and 1957 when part of Flinders Chase was identified as a sanctuary due to its lack of pests.
"Gang-gangs are a canopy specialist and occur primarily in forest and woodland habitats," Taylor says.
