Like all members of the family Cacatuidae, the Tanimbar corella is crested, meaning it has a collection of feathers on its head that it can raise or lower.

Aviculturists in the United Kingdom have reported that the Tanimbar corella breeds from late spring – with the eggs hatching before July after an incubation period around 28 days, the nest being attended to by both parents.

Although many died from stress during shipment, a small silver lining may remain behind this ecological disaster, because many Tanimbar corellas have reproduced in captive-breeding programs.

[13] It was named for Andreas Leopold Goffin, a friend of Finsch's and apparently a Dutch naval lieutenant who died the same year at the age of 26.

Occasionally, captive birds of this species (like many cockatoos) develop self-destructive behaviours such as feather-plucking, or stereotypy if they do not have an interesting and enriching environment.

They need time out of their cage for one-on-one social contact of at least four hours daily and also to exercise their wings and fly.

It was reported in November 2012 by Professor Alice Auersperg of the University of Vienna that a male named Figaro was observed spontaneously shaping splinters of wood and small sticks to create rakes that were then used to extend his reach and retrieve otherwise unavailable food items located on the other side of his aviary mesh.

The corellas were able to very quickly adapt their behaviour and again open the lock when the mechanism sections were modified or reordered, demonstrating an apparent concept of working towards a particular goal and knowledge of the way in which physical objects act upon each other – rather than merely an ability to repeat a learned sequence of actions.

[20] A 2022 study involving a golf-like task further demonstrated the Tanimbar corella's problem-solving skills, with the cockatoos spontaneously figuring out how to use a stick to hit a marble into a designated hole to release a cashew nut reward.

[23] Further research in 2020 by Auersperg's team compared the problem-solving ability of the captive-bred corellas at the Goffin Lab with wild birds caught in Tanimbar and exposed to the same experimental conditions – in which the birds were placed in an "innovation arena" and presented a series of 20 different tasks (e.g. pressing a button, turning a wheel, pulling out a drawer, removing a twig, overturning a cup, opening a clip, etc.

While the wild Goffins were less inclined to interact with the test apparatus, those that did solved the presented tasks at a similar rate to the captive-bred birds.

[24] Wild corellas were also observed shaping sticks of different dimensions to create a series of tools, which enabled them to eat sea mango seeds.

[26] Ellie also learned how to use a communication board on a tablet computer to express her wishes to researchers, touching symbols on the screen to request food items, drinks, activities, objects, and social interaction.

[27] In 2025, goffins were observing preferentially dunking noodles and potato pieces in blueberry yoghurt in order to flavor their food.