white cockatoo

plural white cockatoos

1. Any of various cockatoos having predominantly white plumage:
   1. The endangered, all-white Cacatua alba, of the North Moluccas, Indonesia.First known use 18th c.
   2. The widespread sulphur-crested cockatoo, Cacatua galerita, of Australia.First known use 18th c.

      Even flocks of white cockatoos flying in a cloud along the beach like an angel with flapping wings, raucously cried for him.

      2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo, published 2012, page 92

      1 more example

      There were thousands upon thousands of white cockatoos flying around the trees alongside the river, and I had my first glimpse of that strange bird the ibis, with its long skinny legs and graceful neck.

      1933, Frank Clune, Try Anything Once, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 21