The eggs are white, usually two to five in a clutch. kuhli, found right across the northern part of the continent, tends to be a little smaller and is distinguished by differences in the shape and colour of the crest, although its status as a valid subspecies is uncertain. Most pet birds outside Australia are the south-eastern form. roseicapilla, although the extent and nature of the central hybrid zone remains undefined. albiceps, is clearly distinct from the paler-bodied Western Australian nominate subspecies, E. Slight variation exists in the colours of the plumage and in the extent of the carunculation of the eye rings among the three subspecies. The significance of these two (and other) characteristics shared by the Cacatuinae had previously been explained away in earlier studies by strict application of parsimony on misinterpreted data. Today, the galah is seen, along with Major Mitchell's cockatoo, as an early divergence from the white cockatoo lineage, which has not completely lost its ability to produce an overall pink (Major Mitchell's) or pink and grey (galah) body plumage, while already being light in colour and non-sexually dimorphic. It fell to the study of Brown & Toft (1999) to compare the previously available data with their mitochondrial 12S rRNA sequence[ research and resolve the issue. Ignorance of this fact, however, led to attempts to resolve the evolutionary history and prehistoric biogeography of the cockatoos, which ultimately proved fruitless because they were based on invalid assumptions to start with. In consequence, the ancestors of the galah, the cockatiel and Major Mitchell's cockatoo were thought to have diverged from the main white cockatoo line at some stage prior to that group's main radiation this was indeed correct except for the placement of the cockatiel. Early DNA studies allied the galah with the cockatiel or placed it close to some Cacatua species of completely different appearance. Obvious morphological similarities are shared between the galah and the white cockatoos that make up the genus Cacatua and indeed the galah was initially described as Cacatua roseicapilla. It was separated in the monotypic genus Eolophus, but the further relationships were not clear. The classification of the galah was difficult. The changes brought by European settlement, a disaster for many species, have been highly beneficial for the galah because of the clearing of forests in fertile areas and the provision of stock-watering points in arid zones.įlocks of galahs often congregate and forage on foot for food in open, grassy areas. They are common in some metropolitan areas, for example Adelaide, Perth, and Melbourne, and common to abundant in open habitats that offer at least some scattered trees for shelter. Whether they are native to Tasmania is still uncertain, though records exist from as early as the 1840s, and they are locally common today, especially in urban areas. Galahs are found in all Australian states, and are absent only from the driest areas and the far north of Cape York Peninsula. Juveniles have greyish chests, crowns, and crests, and they have brown irises and whitish bare eye rings, which are not carunculated. The colours of the juveniles are duller than the adults. The sexes appear similar however, generally adult birds differ in the colour of the irises the male has very dark brown (almost black) irises and the female has mid-brown or red irises. They have a bone-coloured beak, and the bare skin of the eye rings is carunculated. They have a pale silver to mid-grey back, a pale grey rump, a pink face and chest, and a light pink mobile crest. Galahs are about 35 cm (14 in) long and weigh 270–350 g (10–12 oz). The term galah is derived from gilaa, a word found in Yuwaalaraay and neighbouring Aboriginal languages It appears to have benefited from the change in the landscape since European colonisation and may be replacing the Major Mitchell's cockatoo in parts of its range. It is endemic on the mainland and was introduced to Tasmania, where its distinctive pink and grey plumage and its bold and loud behaviour make it a familiar sight in the bush and increasingly in urban areas. The galah (/ɡəˈlɑː/ Eolophus roseicapilla), also known as the pink and grey cockatoo, is one of the most common and widespread cockatoos and it can be found in open country in almost all parts of mainland Australia.
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