---
title: "Yellow-crested Cockatoo"
description: "Cacatua sulphurea — Birds. The yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea) also known as the lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo, is a medium-sized (about 34-cm-long) cockatoo with white plumage, bluish-white bare orbital skin, grey feet, a black bill, and a retractile yellow or orange crest."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/yellow-crested-cockatoo
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Yellow-crested Cockatoo

> Cacatua sulphurea — Birds. The yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea) also known as the lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo, is a medium-sized (about 34-cm-long) cockatoo with white plumage, bluish-white bare orbital skin, grey feet, a black bill, and a retractile yellow or orange crest.

- Scientific name: *Cacatua sulphurea*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `forest` (Forest), `zoo` (Zoo & pets)
- iNaturalist observations: 1497
- Wikidata: [Q372906](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q372906)
- iNaturalist taxon: [116759](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/116759)

## Names

- en: Yellow-crested Cockatoo
- de: Gelbwangenkakadu
- es: Cacatúa sulfúrea
- fr: Cacatoès soufré
- nl: Kleine geelkuifkaketoe
- pt: Cacatua-de-crista-amarela
- pl: Kakadu żółtolica

## Countries with the most observations

HK (1073), ID (142), SG (49), FR (13), TL (9), MO (3)

## Summary

The yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea) also known as the lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo, is a medium-sized (about 34-cm-long) cockatoo with white plumage, bluish-white bare orbital skin, grey feet, a black bill, and a retractile yellow or orange crest. The sexes are similar.
The yellow-crested cockatoo is found in wooded and cultivated areas of East Timor and Indonesia's islands of Sulawesi and the Lesser Sundas. It is easily confused with the larger and more common sulphur-crested cockatoo, which has a more easterly distribution and can be distinguished by the lack of pale yellow coloring on its cheeks…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-crested_cockatoo

## Photo

![Yellow-crested Cockatoo](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/yellow-crested-cockatoo/medium.jpg)

Photo: Aiken Lau · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/233253899

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/yellow-crested-cockatoo?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).