This, coupled with illegal tree cutting, has greatly dwindled the numbers of this beautiful parrot down to an estimate of under 1,200 total in the entire country 4.ĭespite successful conservation efforts on Palawan where the population increased from 20 to 200 between 19, declines have continued in all other islands that the Philippine Cockatoo calls home 3. With such a high profit, poachers take chicks from as many nests as they can in addition to snaring older parrots 3. On Palawan, the Polillo islands, and Samar, trapping is serious with the price of each parrot set up to $300 US dollars in 2006. The Philippine Cockatoo is a critically endangered species 3īecause of the illegal pet trade they are only found regularly on the island of Palawan or on the islands of the Sulu Archipelago 1. They are often seen in groups and along with feeding on seeds, fruits, nuts and berries, are known to raid corn crops in nearby farmland 2. It is a noisy bird, whose sound is deafening when several birds are calling at the same time. Today, what is left of them are small populations on the Philippine islands of Palawan (where it is referred to as Agay), Samar, Tawi-Tawi in the Sulu archipelago, and the Polillo islands east of Luzon 1. Its unique red and yellow colors under its tail are seen as an exotic trait by pet collectors around the world. It was once found everywhere in the Philippines but since 1950 its population has gone down dramatically due to the pet trade. Also known as the Red-vented Cockatoo, its only non-white parts are its cheeks tinged with yellow and under its tail where a unique reddish orange blends into a deep yellow 1, 2. This beautiful parrot is the only all-white large landbird of the Philippines. However the yellow crested cockatoo and its sub species the citron crested cockatoo, is also critically endangered, but sadly is widely available for the pet trade and bred in their thousands unfortunately again and they are sold as pets and they come into rescue a lot, more often than we would like for this endangered species.A photo of two Philippine Cockatoos perched on a branch by Benedict de Laender from. Which for this cockatoo, is a good thing. We do not ever see these cockatoos come into rescue because of their rarity and lack of availability to the pet trade. These cockatoos can be extremely aggressive with their mate in captivity (like most other cockatoo species) so only really dedicated individuals should consider this and if the adult birds do produce eggs, they should be left for the parents to rear their own offspring, not taken as eggs and artificially incubated which unfortunately also does often happen. Breeding this cockatoo in captivity does not mean helping preserve the species in the wild, as captive bred birds can never be returned to the wild for many reasons, mainly the risk of disease to wildlife. There has been a rapid decline in the population of this cockatoo in the last 40 years up to 80%.Ī CITES Article 10 certificate MUST be obtained to buy or sell these birds, however they are very rarely for sale on the open market, never seen being traded as pets but they are available to breeders, which is not always a good thing. Beautiful reds and yellow mixed with the white plumage gives this cockatoo an unmistakably beautiful individual identity.Ī species is considered critically endangered when there is a serious threat that the species may become extinct in the near future. Red vent or Philippine cockatoos are similar in size to the Goffins or Tanimbar cockatoo, however the tail and feathers on this cockatoo is what give the species its name. ![]() Numbers are currently estimated at 1,100 birds, with between only 450 and 700 mature adult birds included in that figure. The other main factor in the decline of this small cockatoo is still unfortunately, trapping for the pet trade. This is due to deforestation, meaning lack of habitat for these birds to live and subsequently lack of nesting sites for them to breed. This cockatoo is another critically endangered cockatoo, and has been listed as such since 1994. P hilippine Cockatoo, Red Vent cockatoo Cacatua haematuropygia
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