CreatureData

White cockatoo

Cacatua alba (P. L. S. Müller, 1776)

ENEndangeredparrots

The white cockatoo (Cacatua alba) is a species in the family Cacatuidae, order Psittaciformes. Recorded adults weigh about 570 g and live up to 30 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.

White cockatoo (Cacatua alba)
Photo: Bramans · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the white cockatoo

Weight
570 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
30 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Omnivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
40 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
30 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
5.48 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the white cockatoo live?

Not recorded

What is the white cockatoo?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The white cockatoo (Cacatua alba), also known as the umbrella cockatoo, is a medium-sized all-white cockatoo endemic to tropical rainforest on islands of Indonesia. When surprised, it extends a large and striking head crest, which has a semicircular shape (similar to an umbrella, hence the alternative name). The wings and tail have a pale yellow or lemon color which is exposed when they fly. It is similar to other species of white cockatoo such as yellow-crested cockatoo, sulphur-crested cockatoo, and salmon-crested cockatoo, all of which have yellow, orange or pink crest feathers instead of white.

From the Wikipedia article “White cockatoo” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White_cockatoo&oldid=1384124393), 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 white cockatoo endangered?

The white cockatoo is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species. What the categories mean.

How is the white cockatoo classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPsittaciformes
  5. familyCacatuidae
  6. genusCacatua
  7. SpeciesCacatua alba (P. L. S. Müller, 1776)

Synonyms Cacatua cristata, Kakatoe alba, Psittacus albus

Other names and names in other languages (50)
  • Greater white-crested cockatooEnglish
  • Umbrella cockatooEnglish
  • كوكاتو أبيضArabic
  • كوكاتو المظلةArabic
  • Какаду вялікі белахохлыBelarusian
  • cacatua blancaCatalan
  • kakadu bílýCzech
  • cocatŵ gwynWelsh
  • Hvidtoppet KakaduDanish
  • WeißhaubenkakaduGerman
  • blanka kakatuoEsperanto
  • Cacatúa AlbaSpanish
  • Cacatúa blancaSpanish
  • maluku kakaduuEstonian
  • طوطیکاکلی سفیدPersian
  • valkokakaduFinnish
  • Cacatoès blancFrench
  • Cacatúa brancaGalician
  • קקדו לבןHebrew
  • bijeli kakaduCroatian
  • fehérbóbitás kakaduHungarian
  • Kakatua putihIndonesian
  • Cacatua biancoItalian
  • タイハクオウムJapanese
  • baltasis kakaduLithuanian
  • Didžioji baltakuodė kakaduLithuanian
  • Бело какадуMacedonian
  • पांढरा काकाकुवाMarathi
  • Кого ошикӓ упшан какадуWestern Mari
  • Kakaktua PutihMalay
  • Tsídii yáłtiʼíłgaaí íiyisígííNavajo
  • Witte KaketoeDutch
  • hvittoppkakaduNorwegian
  • kakadu białaPolish
  • چٹا کوکاٹوWestern Panjabi
  • cacatua-brancaPortuguese
  • catatua-brancaPortuguese
  • Белый какадуRussian
  • Большой белохохлый какадуRussian
  • kakadu bielySlovak
  • Beloćubi kakaduSerbian
  • vittofskakaduaSwedish
  • นกกระตั้วขาวThai
  • Ak KakaduTurkish
  • какаду білийUkrainian
  • 大巴Chinese
  • 大白凤头鹦鹉Chinese
  • 大白鳳頭鸚鵡Chinese
  • 白凤头鹦鹉Chinese
  • 白鳳頭鸚鵡Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the white cockatoo

Other species in the same genus Cacatua.

CompareWhite cockatoo vs Sulphur-crested cockatooWhite cockatoo vs Salmon-crested cockatooWhite cockatoo vs Yellow-crested cockatooWhite cockatoo vs Red-vented cockatoo

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the white cockatoo?

An adult white cockatoo weighs 570 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the white cockatoo endangered?

The white cockatoo is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the white cockatoo live?

The white cockatoo has a recorded lifespan of 30 years.

What kind of animal is the white cockatoo?

The white cockatoo (Cacatua alba) belongs to the family Cacatuidae in the order Psittaciformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). White cockatoo (Cacatua alba). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-cockatoo

MLA

“White cockatoo (Cacatua alba).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-cockatoo.

BibTeX
@misc{white_cockatoo_2026,
  title = {White cockatoo (Cacatua alba)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-cockatoo},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}