Let’s face it, standing out from the crowd is a tough assignment if you are a sulphur-crested cockatoo.
Except, of course, if your feathers are pink!
Greg Tannos, of Alfords Point, snapped photos of this unusual sight as a flock of cockies fed on grass seeds at Menai on Thursday this week.
Mr Tannos posted the images on his website, finmyaustralia.com, and asked, “Can anyone please explain the colour?”
“The colour is definitely pigmented and not dye,” he said.
It’s not the first time pink and other coloured suphur-crested cockatoos have been spotted around Sydney.
The most recent report was in April, 2016 when cockatoos that appeared to have been painted blue, yellow, green and pink were spotted in parks, trees and backyards in Watsons Bay, Rose Bay and North Bondi.
Some of the birds were covered with a single colour, but others had a tie-dye appearance with multiple shades through their feathers.
A spokesman for wildlife rescue organisation WIRES told Fairfax Media at the time of those sightings the birds may have come into contact with dye or paint.
A branch member, who went to inspect the birds, noticed that paint, powder or dye had been used to mark up a nearby road and pathway.
Taronga Zoo bird keepers said the colour of the cockatoos photographed in the eastern suburbs did not reflect a natural mutation.
It appeared they had come into contact with a dye or other material.
"It is difficult to know whether this has been purposely done or whether it is the result of an accident," a spokeswoman said.
