The Yellow-crested cockatoo is native to East Timor and Indonesia's islands of Sulawesi and the Lesser Sundas. Our birds here in Hong Kong are an introduced population, developed from caged birds that have been released. They are at risk of extinction in their natural habitat.
It is an attractive bird and it has a retractile yellow crest, as seen above. Noisy groups can often be seen flying around midlevels, particularly around the Aviary in HK park.
The birds in Hong Kong - some say - where introduced by HK Governor Sir Mark Aithison Young, who released the Government’s entire bird collection (which included cockatoos) before surrendering Hong Kong to Japanese troops in December 1941. postscript: Sir Mark Aithison Young served as Governor of Hong Kong between 1941 and 1947. At 08:00, 8 December 1941, several hours after Pearl Harbor was attacked, Hong Kong came under fire by Imperial Japanese Forces. The battle lasted for 17 days, and ended when Young surrendered the colony to the Japanese on 25 December, known as the 'Black Christmas' by Hong Kong people, who were then subject to Japanese rule for the next 3 years and 8 months. Young was responsible for the terrible and unnecessary bloodshed of many young doomed young men, as he rebuffed several attempts by General Maltby and others in the military to ask for terms and discuss surrender as early as the 18th. This was in part based on clear instruction by Churchill directly to Young, advising him that "Every Part of (Hong Kong) Island must be fought over and the enemy resisted with the utmost stubbornness. Every day that you are able to maintain your resistance you help the Allied cause all over the world." Well, quite frankly, that was simply rubbish, and Churchill - although a war time hero as political leader - has a history of unnecessary slaughter "for the greater good". Young was a prisoner of war in Japanese hands from December 1941 to August 1945 and was mistreated by his captors. Young resumed his duties as Governor of Hong Kong on 1 May 1946, after having spent some time recuperating in England. After returning, he proposed political reforms that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to directly choose a 30-member representative Legislative Council. This, as history shows, was abandoned under the next conservative governor.
(not all about wild animals eh?)