Palm Cockatoo

The palm cockatoo is a large, striking cockatoo native to New Guinea, the Aru Islands and Cape York Peninsula in far northern Australia, with dramatic slate-black plumage and a prominent patch of bare red skin on its cheeks that flushes deeper red when the bird is excited. It has one of the largest bills of any parrot species, used to crack open hard seeds and nuts, and it is notable for a unique courtship behavior in which males fashion a stick or seed pod into a drumstick and beat it against a hollow tree to create a rhythmic sound.