Family Cacatuidae Tribe Cacatuini Phylum Chordata Rank Genus | Superfamily Cacatuoidea Scientific name Cacatua Higher classification Cacatuinae Order Parrot | |
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Lower classifications Sulphur‑crested cockatoo, White cockatoo, Yellow‑crested cockatoo, Salmon‑crested cockatoo, Tanimbar corella | ||
Cacatua is a genus of cockatoos found from the Philippines and Wallacea east to the Solomon Islands and south to Australia. They have a primarily white plumage (in some species tinged pinkish or yellow), an expressive crest, and a black (subgenus Cacatua) or pale (subgenus Licmetis) bill. Today several species from this genus are considered threatened due to a combination of habitat loss and capture for the wild bird trade, with the blue-eyed cockatoo, Moluccan cockatoo and umbrella cockatoo considered Vulnerable, and the red-vented cockatoo and yellow-crested cockatoo considered Critically Endangered.
The genus was first described by Brisson in 1790, with the white cockatoo (Cacatua alba) subsequently designated as the type species. Georges Cuvier defined the genus Kakatoe in 1800, with the red-vented cockatoo (C. haematuropygia) as the type, and some older bird books use the latter name. Mayr, Keast and Serventy validated Cacatua in 1964, and dismissed Kakatoe.