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 | Also called the Banksian Cockatoo, Banksian Red-Tailed Cockatoo, Bank's Black Cockatoo and the Great-Billed Cockatoo, the Red-Tailed Cockatoo's scientific name is derived from the Greek terms 'calyptos' meaning hidden and 'rhynchos' meaning beak plus the Latin term 'magnificus' meaning magnificent. The Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo is found in pairs and flocks in heavily timbered and open forest, in banksia scrub and in eucalypt woodlands. They are widely distributed in eastern, northern and south-western Australia concentrated along water courses . The South-eastern sub-species (depicted on the $10 coin) has been reduced to a fragmented population, endangered by both the clearing of trees used for nesting and by illegal bird trappers. |
| The Red-tailed cockatoo's food consists of seeds from a number of trees including eucalypts, casuarinas and banksias taken high in the trees in heavily timbered areas and on the ground in more arid areas. Large white grubs are also prized out of the tree bark and eaten. The bird is wary but very conspicuous and noisy. The male has black plumage which is slightly washed with brown on the breast. The most prominent feature is a broad lateral band of bright red across the black tail feathers. |  |
 | The female has a general brownish-black appearance, paler on the underparts with small yellow spots changing to a barred appearance lower on the breast and tail feathers. Their nest, usually located high in a hole in a tree, is lined with decayed wood dust. A single matt-white egg with a noticably pitted surface is produced. The breeding-season extends from March to September, tending towards the end of that period in the more southern areas.
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The Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo is featured on the following Australian coins:
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