![]() ![]() Habitat loss, increased susceptibility to psittacine cirovirus disease (PCD) virus and increasing bush fire activity. Listen NowĪrticle: Call to help save Gang-gang Cockatoos as population declines by 69 percent ![]() Female-dark grey head and crest upperparts strongly barred with pale yellow, underparts heavily barred orange to green/yellow undertail barred grey/white.Īs in female but with more red in crest (male) and dark grey crest (female) crest shorter with less filaments more evident barring on tail.ĭescribed as croaking screech. Male-in general dark grey, the feathers scalloped pale grey/white bright orange/red crest and head secondary coverts suffused dull green dark grey tail. Genus: Callocephalon | Species: fimbriatum But perhaps Kiki was an amalgam of several different kinds of bird that Enid had seen or read about - combining the cheekiness and talkativeness of her aunt's parrot (are we told what Polly looked like? I'm guessing she may have been an African Grey) with a crest to make her all the more expressive! That's my best guess, anyway, unless a better possibility does come to light.Related publications: Callocephalon fimbriatum I too would love to know if there really is a scarlet and grey species of parrot (or cockatoo) with a sufficiently big crest. Very interesting to hear where Enid got her inspiration! Thanks for sharing that, Anita. (I'm very familiar with galahs, and some other cockatoo species, from growing up in Australia!) Also, the galah's colour is much more rose-pink I can't quite imagine anyone describing it as scarlet. It doesn't raise and lower anywhere near as expressively as the long, almost fan-like crest of a Major Mitchell or several of the other cockatoos. Yes, I thought of the galah too, but its crest is small and not very mobile - it normally sits quite flat on top of the bird's head. I expect the information is still on his website somewhere but unfortunately I don't know where. Having said that, I seem to remember Keith Robinson (or perhaps a contributor to his website " onclick="window.open(this.href) return false ) finding a parrot which was scarlet and grey with a crest. ![]() e_Nest.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href) return false The galah fits Enid's description, but again it's a cockatoo: It's possible that Stuart Tresilian did some research and felt that a cockatoo matched the description better (Enid's aunt might have called any parrot-like bird "a parrot" even if it was a cockatoo). I assume Enid was describing her aunt's parrot when she wrote of Kiki being scarlet and grey with a crest. The parrot would say things like "Polly's got a cold, send for the doctor" and would sniff loudly and then say, "Don't sniff! Blow your nose and wipe your feet." She could sing part of the National Anthem but would get muddled and come out with "Polly save the King, blow the King" or even "Blow the King! God save Polly," which shocked the old aunt! Harradine) so she would come running, thinking she was being called by Enid's aunt. The things she could say!" Enid goes on to describe how the real Kiki would imitate the chimney-sweep crying "Sweeeeeep!" and would call out the name of the char-woman (Mrs. "She was a wonderful parrot, intelligent, talkative and mischievous. Enid Blyton says in The Story of My Life that Kiki was based on a real parrot belonging to her aunt. Maybe Tresilian knew his exotic birds a bit better than Blyton did, and made Kiki resemble this real-life species rather than the description that doesn't quite fit any type of parrot or cockatoo? However, the Major Mitchell is mostly pink and white, with a scarlet and yellow banded crest, so that doesn't fit the "scarlet and grey" description either! In Stuart Tresilian's illustrations, especially on the 1st edition dustwrapper, Kiki looks much more like a Major Mitchell Cockatoo: The only kind of cockatoo that would fit that bill (pun not intended!), as far as I know, is the Gang-gang Cockatoo: " onclick="window.open(this.href) return false The snag is that in this case, there is an obvious difference between the sexes - it's only the male Gang-gang that is both scarlet and grey! What's more, the Gang-gang's crest is smaller than most other cockatoos', so that also casts some doubt. The mystery thickens further, though, with the description of Kiki as "scarlet and grey". The "big crest" does almost certainly point to her being a cockatoo (actually considered a separate family from "true" parrots, though closely related). Courtenay wrote:I'm confused, too, as to what type of parrot Kiki is supposed to be.
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