Il Cockatoo (Sulphur crested Cockatoo)

The Oxford English Dictionary dates the word cockatoo from the 17th century, and records the derivation from the Malay name for these birds, kaka(k)tua (either from kaka "parrot" + tuwah, or "older sister" from kakak "sister" + tua, "old"), via the Dutch kaketoe; the word cock possibly influencing. Seventeenth century variants include cacato, cockatoon and crockadore, and cokato, cocatore and cocatoo from the eighteenth.The derivation has also been used for the family and generic names Cacatuidae and Cacatua respectively.

The family has an Australasian distribution, ranging from the Philippines and the eastern Indonesian islands of Wallacea to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Australia.

The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Cacatua galerita, is a relatively large white cockatoo found in wooded habitats in Australia and New Guinea. They can be locally very numerous, leading to them sometimes being considered pests. They are very popular in aviculture.