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cockatoo

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.02 sec.
cockatoo: see parrot parrot, common name for members of the order Psittaciformes, comprising 315 species of colorful birds, pantropical in distribution, including the parakeet . Parrots have large heads and short necks, strong feet with two toes in front and two in back (facilitating
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cockatoo

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Sulfur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita).
(credit: Warren Garst/Tom Stack & Associates)
Any of 21 species of crested parrots (family Cacatuidae), found in Australia and from New Guinea to the Solomon Islands. Most species are white with touches of red or yellow; some are black. All have a massive beak used to crack nuts, dig up roots, or pry grubs from wood; feeding is aided by a wormlike tongue. Treetop, hole-nesting birds, cockatoos at times form large, noisy flocks that damage crops. The largest cockatoo (the palm, or great black, cockatoo) is about 25–30 in. (65–75 cm) long. Some cockatoos live more than 50 years.
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I was on the point of answering, "I never said so," but the vicious cockatoo ruffled his clipped wings and gave a screech that set all my nerves on edge in an instant, and made me only too glad to get out of the room.
The Woman in White by Collins, Wilkie View in context
only a small cockatoo that twisted his head impudently and sidewise at him and repeated, "Cocky.
Michael, Brother of Jerry by London, Jack View in context
Hungerton, her father, really was the most tactless person upon earth,--a fluffy, feathery, untidy cockatoo of a man, perfectly good-natured, but absolutely centered upon his own silly self.
The Lost World by Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan View in context
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