12/28/2023 0 Comments Kinds of cockatoosWhen they began in 1998 there were only 23-25 Philippine Cockatoos. Their first project site was Rasa Island. PCCP has four project sites in Palawan: Rasa Island Dumaran Pandanan, Balabac and Rizal, Palawan and one in Southern Luzon in the Polillo Group of Islands. The foundation runs several programs including Palawan Pangolin research, Philippine Freshwater Turtle Conservation Program, and the Philippine Cockatoo Conservation Program (PCCP). It is a Philippine-based foundation headed by Peter Widmann and Indira Lacerna-Widmann. This is mainly due to the efforts of the Katala Foundation ( The foundation is named after the local name for the Philippine Cockatoo. In Palawan, the number of Cockatoos has increased over the past few years unlike the downward spiral in the rest of the country. It took human intervention to put the Philippine Cockatoo population in such dire straits and it will also take human intervention to help them recover. The rest of the Philippine Cockatoo population of about 750 individuals is found in Palawan. The population in Sulu has not been surveyed because of security issues, but estimates put the population at less than two hundred. There are fewer than 20 individuals in the Polillo group of islands and Samar. The only remaining populations in the wild are found in Polillo group of islands, Samar, Bohol, Tawi Tawi and Palawan. The situation of the Philippine Cockatoo is dire. This is the highest danger level that the IUCN has and means that among other things, they estimate that “the probability of extinction in the wild is at least 50% within 10 years or three generations, whichever is the longer (up to a maximum of 100 years)”. In A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines by Robert Kennedy et al, it says that the Philippine Cockatoo “may be the most threatened species in the Philippines with nearly every known nest robbed each year to supply the pet trade.” The Philippine Cockatoo is categorized as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Either way, it seems that people have pushed the Philippine Cockatoo to the brink of extinction. With all that, it seems the Philippine Cockatoo is fated to either be captured as a pet or killed as a pest. And to cap it off, they are beautiful, cute, playful, curious, and they can mimic language. Then they have also been known to gather in flocks to raid rice and corn fields. Then instead of flying silently from tree to tree, they like to gather together in big, noisy, and conspicuous groups. To start with, they like to live in the coastal plains where most people also like to live. And so far, the birds have taken a huge hit. So many things about the Philippine Cockatoo have set it on a collision course with humans. Its bill and tongue are like an extra set of dexterous fingers that are used not just to pick up food but also to grasp branches as it climbs up and down a tree. The Philippine Cockatoo also has a chalky white to greyish white bill that is big and curved like a typical parrot bill. The crest is like an indicator of emotions, standing erect when the Cockatoo is excited or provoked and laying flat when it is relaxed. Both male and female Cockatoos have big crests on top of their heads that can be flexed up and down depending on the mood of the Cockatoo. The males have dark brown eyes and the females have blood red eyes. The Philippine Cockatoo is 305 mm (12 inches) long with tinges of yellow and pink on its cheeks, and yellow on its underwing, and reddish orange on its undertail. It even has the distinction of being the only white large land bird in the Philippines. While all of the other birds from the parrot family that are found in the Philippines are green, the Philippine Cockatoo is a resplendent white. The Philippine Cockatoo is a beautiful bird. Once they disappear from our forests, they cannot be replaced. The Philippines is the Philippine Cockatoo’s only home. They have gone from being a common sight throughout most of the Philippines to a critically endangered bird with remnant populations in a few scattered sites. In the past 30 years the population of Philippine Cockatoos in the wild has plummeted from tens of thousands to barely one thousand at present. And they’re disappearing right before our eyes. Philippine Cockatoos ( Cacatua haematuropygia) are found only in the Philippines.
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