Glossy black cockatoo | |
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Adult male C. l. lathami | |
Adult female C. l. lathami | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Psittaciformes |
Family: | Cacatuidae |
Genus: | Calyptorhynchus |
Species: | C. lathami
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Binomial name | |
Calyptorhynchus lathami (Temminck, 1807)
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Subspecies | |
C. (C.) l. lathami | |
Glossy black cockatoo range (in red) |
The glossy black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami), is the smallest member of the subfamily Calyptorhynchinae found in eastern Australia. Adult glossy black cockatoos may reach 50 cm (19.5 in) in length. They are sexually dimorphic. Males are blackish brown, except for their prominent sub-terminal red tail bands; the females are dark brownish with idiosyncratic yellow marking around the neck and prominent sub-terminal tail band of red with black bars. Three subspecies have been recognised, although this has been recently challenged, with a detailed morphological analysis by Saunders and Pickup 2023 finding there is cline in body dimensions over the latitudinal range of the species, with the birds from the north of the range smaller than the birds in the south. Saunders and Pickup argued that with no differentiation in bill morphology, little difference in genetic makeup, no differences in plumage pattern or colour, and no differences in diet, there is no justification in subdividing the species.