What is a galah?

What is a galah? A galah is a bird. It’s a type of cockatoo with a pink breast, and it is commonly found throughout Australia.

Anyone who has watched Australian soap Home and Away will be well acquainted with the phrase “flamin’ galah”. It is used by the character of Alf Stewart in much the same way that someone else might say “bloody idiot”.

Rest assured, no real life Australian would ever call someone a flamin’ galah, unless doing so in knowing self-parody. Generally, Australian insults are considerably stronger than that – this is not a country that is shy of bandying about the odd swear word.

Genuine Australian insults, of course, are not suitable for a tea-time family audience. Hence Alf Stewart deals in flamin’ galahs and drongos.

Galahs: Members of the cockatoo family

But what is a galah? Well, a galah is a real thing. And a rather pretty one at that.

The galah is a member of the cockatoo family of birds.

It’s sometimes called a pink-breasted cockatoo or a pink-and-grey cockatoo. Unsurprisingly, given these alternative names, the galah has a distinctive pink breast.

Galahs live all over Australia, and while they’re more prevalent in rural areas, they also show up in cities. They’re a common sight, so most Australians would be familiar with the galah.

They like open habitats with a few trees for shelter – they’re not forest birds. The clearing of forests since European settlement began has played into galahs’ hands somewhat. They’ve now got more of what they like.

Noisy galahs in Australia

Galahs can be notoriously noisy, although a lot of the noise is strength in numbers. They hang out in flocks of at least ten birds – and sometimes there are hundreds in the flocks. When they all start squawking at once, it’s unsurprisingly loud.

The Big Galah in Kimba, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia — What is a Galah? Well, the Big Galah at Kimba on the Eyre Peninsula makes up for in size what it lacks in accurate representation. Photo by David Whitley/ Australia Travel Questions

Australia being Australia, there is of course a roadside Big Thing tribute to galahs. The Big Galah can be found in Kimba, roughly halfway across the top of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. You’ll find it on the Eyre Highway on the way through from Port Augusta to Ceduna.