Kakatua jambul-jingga (Cacatua sulphurea)

Cacatua sulphurea is endemic to Timor-Leste and Indonesia, where it was formerly common throughout Nusa Tenggara (from Bali to Timor), on Sulawesi and its satellite islands, and the Masalembu Islands (in the Java Sea).

It has undergone a dramatic decline, particularly in the last quarter of the 20th century, such that it is now extinct on many islands and close to extinction on most others. Sumba appears to support the largest remaining population, tentatively estimated (in 1992) at c.3,200 birds (but declining, perhaps by 500 birds annually), with other significant (but considerably smaller) populations on Komodo, Sulawesi, Buton, Moyo and Timor-Leste¹. Its current status on several small islands is unclear.

It inhabits forest (including evergreen, moist deciduous, monsoon and semi-evergreen), forest edge, scrub and agriculture up to 500 m on Sulawesi, and 800 m (sometimes 1,500 m) in Nusa Tenggara. On at least some islands (e.g. Sumba), it appears heavily dependent on closed-canopy primary forest. On others, it survives despite the total clearance of original vegetation, indicating that its habitat requirements are somewhat flexible.