In the wild, it eats nuts and palm tree fruit by cracking them open with its strong and curved beak. In captivity, people feed palm cockatoos a variety of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Palm cockatoos are native to Cape York Peninsula in northern Australia, the Aru Islands, Papua New Guinea, and other surrounding smaller islands. Palm cockatoo are common in these places, but scientists believe they are becoming less common because people are using their habitat for mining. They are intelligent and can be kept as pets.