Palm cockatoo
Probosciger aterrimus (J. F. Gmelin, 1788)
The palm cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus), also called the Goliath cockatoo or Black palm cockatoo, is a parrot in the family Cacatuidae and the order Psittaciformes. It is a small bird by our size class, with an adult body mass of 841 g and values up to 905.9 g reported by our sources.
Quick facts about the palm cockatoo
This sedentary, perching omnivore lives in forest habitat, and checklists record it in Australia. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
- Weight
- 841 g – 905.9 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 56.3 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 100 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 33 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 7.5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.455src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Photos of the palm cockatoo
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the palm cockatoo live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The palm cockatoo is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Why a country list is not a range map
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the palm cockatoo?
The palm cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus), also known as the goliath cockatoo or great black cockatoo, is a large, smoky-grey/black parrot of the cockatoo family native to New Guinea, the Aru Islands and the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. It has a crest of long feathers atop its head, with a very large and strong, sharply-hooked black beak (with which it can easily open nuts and seeds), and prominent bright-red cheek patches.
From the Wikipedia article “Palm cockatoo” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Palm_cockatoo&oldid=1379016434), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the palm cockatoo endangered?
The palm cockatoo is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.
How is the palm cockatoo classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPsittaciformes
- familyCacatuidae
- genusProbosciger
- SpeciesProbosciger aterrimus (J. F. Gmelin, 1788)
Synonyms Microglossum aterrimum, Psittacus aterrimus, Psittacus gigas, Psittacus spectrum
Other names and names in other languages (49)
- Black palm cockatooEnglish
- Goliath cockatooEnglish
- كوكاتو النخيلArabic
- Qara palma kakadusuAzerbaijani
- PoimkakaduBavarian
- Какаду чорны пальмавыBelarusian
- Kaketou-palmezBreton
- Cacatua negraCatalan
- cacatua de pandanalCatalan
- kakadu arovýCzech
- kakadu palmovýCzech
- cocatŵ palmwyddWelsh
- ArakakaduDanish
- PalmkakaduGerman
- Ara-KakaduGerman
- palma kakatuoEsperanto
- Plejnigra kakatuoEsperanto
- Cacatúa enlutadaSpanish
- Cacatúa de las palmasSpanish
- ronkkakaduuEstonian
- palmukakaduFinnish
- Cacatoès noirFrench
- Microglosse noirFrench
- קקדו דקליםHebrew
- pálmakakaduHungarian
- Kakatua rajaIndonesian
- Cacatua delle palmeItalian
- ヤシオウムJapanese
- palminis kakaduLithuanian
- Juodoji palminė kakaduLithuanian
- PalmkaketoeDutch
- Zwarte KaketoeDutch
- palmekakaduNorwegian
- kakadu palmowaPolish
- żałobnica palmowaPolish
- cacatua-das-palmeirasPortuguese
- catatua-das-palmeirasPortuguese
- Чёрный какадуRussian
- kakadu čiernySlovak
- Palmin kakaduSerbian
- palmkakaduaSwedish
- మైక్రొగ్లొస్సైన్Telugu
- นกกระตั้วดำThai
- นกกระตั้วปาล์มThai
- Palmiye KakadusuTurkish
- какатоїс-голіафUkrainian
- Чорнодзьобі какадуUkrainian
- 棕树凤头鹦鹉Chinese
- 棕櫚鳳頭鸚鵡Chinese
Relatives of the palm cockatoo
Other species in the same family Cacatuidae.
Cockatiel
Nymphicus hollandicus
Sulphur-crested cockatoo
Cacatua galerita
Galah
Eolophus roseicapilla
White cockatoo
Cacatua alba
Salmon-crested cockatoo
Cacatua moluccensis
Yellow-crested cockatoo
Cacatua sulphurea
ComparePalm cockatoo vs CockatielPalm cockatoo vs Sulphur-crested cockatooPalm cockatoo vs GalahPalm cockatoo vs White cockatoo
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the palm cockatoo?
The palm cockatoo is a bird, a parrot in the family Cacatuidae within the order Psittaciformes.
How heavy is the palm cockatoo?
The palm cockatoo has an adult body mass of 841 g, with values up to 905.9 g reported by our sources.
What does the palm cockatoo eat?
The palm cockatoo is classed as an omnivore.
Is the palm cockatoo endangered?
No. The palm cockatoo is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
How long does the palm cockatoo live?
The palm cockatoo has a lifespan of 56.3 years, with values up to 100 years reported by our sources.
How many eggs does the palm cockatoo lay?
The palm cockatoo lays 1 egg per clutch, which is incubated for 33 days. It reaches sexual maturity at 7.5 years.
Who named the palm cockatoo?
The palm cockatoo, Probosciger aterrimus, was named by (J. F. Gmelin, 1788).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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CreatureData. (2026). Palm cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/palm-cockatoo
“Palm cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/palm-cockatoo.
@misc{palm_cockatoo_2026,
title = {Palm cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/palm-cockatoo},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}