Philippine Red Vent Cockatoo
Philippine Cockatoo, Red Vent cockatoo Cacatua haematuropygia
This cockatoo is another critically endangered cockatoo, and has been listed as such since 1994. This is due to deforestation, meaning lack of habitat for these birds to live and subsequently lack of nesting sites for them to breed.
The other main factor in the decline of this small cockatoo is still unfortunately, trapping for the pet trade.
Numbers are currently estimated at 1,100 birds, with between only 450 and 700 mature adult birds included in that figure.
Red vent or Philippine cockatoos are similar in size to the Goffins or Tanimbar cockatoo, however the tail and feathers on this cockatoo is what give the species its name. Beautiful reds and yellow mixed with the white plumage gives this cockatoo an unmistakably beautiful individual identity.
A species is considered critically endangered when there is a serious threat that the species may become extinct in the near future. There has been a rapid decline in the population of this cockatoo in the last 40 years up to 80%.
A CITES Article 10 certificate MUST be obtained to buy or sell these birds, however they are very rarely for sale on the open market, never seen being traded as pets but they are available to breeders, which is not always a good thing. Breeding this cockatoo in captivity does not mean helping preserve the species in the wild, as captive bred birds can never be returned to the wild for many reasons, mainly the risk of disease to wildlife.
These cockatoos can be extremely aggressive with their mate in captivity (like most other cockatoo species) so only really dedicated individuals should consider this and if the adult birds do produce eggs, they should be left for the parents to rear their own offspring, not taken as eggs and artificially incubated which unfortunately also does often happen.
We do not ever see these cockatoos come into rescue because of their rarity and lack of availability to the pet trade. Which for this cockatoo, is a good thing. However the yellow crested cockatoo and its sub species the citron crested cockatoo, is also critically endangered, but sadly is widely available for the pet trade and bred in their thousands unfortunately again and they are sold as pets and they come into rescue a lot, more often than we would like for this endangered species.
