Philippine Cockatoo
Philippine or Red-vented Cockatoos are one of the rarest species of Parrot that we keep here at Chester Zoo. As the name suggests they come from the Philippines, where they were once widespread.
They are now restricted to tiny populations on just a few Islands. We keep these shy and sensitive birds in our rare parrot breeding centre, where we are able to give them the piece and quiet and seclusion that they need in order to breed.
This species is notoriously difficult to breed in captivity and so our bird keepers have had to be very innovative in how they manage these birds. The bird keepers have set up a sort of dating agency, where the female has the pick of a number of males. She is kept in one aviary and is able to see several males in adjoining aviaries through a small window and below each window is a small perch. Like all Parrots these Cockatoos like to chew and so the keepers have been able to tell which male the female prefers by the amount of wood on each perch she has chewed. For the males that she wasn’t very interested in and therefore hadn’t spent much time near there was very little chewing, while the perch next to the male she liked the most was chewed to bits, suggesting she spent all her time there. The keepers gradually introduced these two birds and this has led to our first successful nesting attempts in 2010.
As well as working with these birds in the Zoo in a managed European captive breeding programme (EEP), we also support the conservation of this critically endangered species in the wild through our Philippine conservation programme and by sending our dedicated bird keepers out to help with the management of these birds in the field.
Species Information
Where they live: Formally widespread throughout the Philippines, now small populations are restricted to a few Islands, notably Palawan, Masbate, Tawi Tawi, W. Mindanao and San Miguel Island.
Habitat: Originally used to be found in Dipterocarp forest in the interior, but most of this has now been cleared now confined to edge of lowland rainforest, and mangroves, which may provide some safe nesting sites.
Diet: Seeds, fruits, nuts, berries. Also raids farmers maize and banana crops.
Weight: 300grams.
Conservation status: IUCN Red List: Critically endangered.
Threats: Widespread trapping for the cage bird trade. Most if not all known wild nests are watched by bird trappers, resulting in the removal of all young chicks and therefore no recruitment into the ageing wild population.