The Gang-gang Cockatoo is the faunal emblem of the Australian Capital Territory. It ranges throughout south-eastern Australia and Tasmania. Mostly mild grey in colour with some lighter scalloping (more pronounced and buffish in females) the male has a red head and crest, while the female has a small fluffy grey crest. Habitat is defined to include "an area periodically or occasionally occupied by a species".The Gang-gang Cockatoo, Callocephalon fimbriatum, is found in the cooler and wetter forests and woodlands of Australia, particularly alpine bushland. Damage is defined to include "damage caused by removing any part of the habitat". This protection status as a threatened species makes it a Tier 1 criminal offence for a person or corporation to knowingly damage the bird's habitat. It is protected as a vulnerable species under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW). As a result, the gang-gang is now listed as vulnerable in New South Wales. Loss of older, hollow trees and loss of feeding habitat across south-eastern Australia through land clearing has led to a significant reduction in the numbers of this cockatoo in recent years. Also, they breed in the canopy of most trees. The adult male has a distinctive bright red helmet and filamentous curled crest. Unlike most other cockatoos, gang-gangs nest in young, solid trees, the females using their strong beaks to excavate nesting cavities. The Gang-gang Cockatoo is a small, overall dark grey cockatoo, with dull white edges on the wings and most of the body, with a short, square tail. However they must migrate back to denser forests to breed, as they need tall trees in order to build nests. The birds migrate short distances during winter into more open habitats. The gang-gang prefers forests and woodlands in the mountains with dense shrub understories. They are an introduced species on Kangaroo Island. They used to inhabit King Island off of Tasmania, but they have since gone extinct locally. The gang-gang is endemic to coastal regions of south-eastern Australia. Considering the robust phylogeny of the cockatoos now established, a comparison of characteristics gained and lost during the evolution of cockatoos suggests that the gang-gang cockatoo-while of course much changed and adapted during the perhaps 20 million years since its last common ancestor with any other living species lived-is probably still very similar in overall appearance to how the earliest cockatoos would have looked, and certainly the most primitive-looking of the species alive today. This cockatoo can live up to 50 years and are found in the south-east corner of Australia with a very restricted range including south-east Victoria and. They are sexually dimorphic, with the male sporting a red head and the female being grey all over. New research has finally resolved the matter, with the gang-gang cockatoo being recognized as a distinctive early offshoot of the calyptorhynchine (dark) cockatoos. The Gang-Gang Cockatoo belongs to the genus Callophalon which means beautiful headed. This has always been controversial due to the unusual appearance and coloration of the bird, especially its sexual dichromatism. The gang-gang cockatoo was most often allied with the white cockatoos of the genus Cacatua. Gang-gangs are very social birds, but not overly noisy. The birds are not easily mistaken for other cockatoos, but while in flight may resemble the Galah. Juvenile males can be distinguished by their brighter crowns and shorter crests, but otherwise look similar to the adult female. The head and crest is bright red in males, but dark grey in females. The edges of feathers on upperarts are slightly paler grey than the rest of the feather, which makes the bird look somewhat barred. The gang-gang cockatoo is a grey bird with a wispy crest. The edges of feathers in underparts have edges of yellow or pink. The gang-gang cockatoo is a grey bird with a wispy crest.
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