Its scientific name relates to the area in which it was first found, the Fitzroy River[1] and its common name comes from Gregory Mathews, the Australian ornithologist who first identified it as a subspecies in 1912.

[2][3] It is white, with a significantly long yellow crest.

[1] This subspecies differs from the greater sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita galerita) in that they have a pale blue eye ring instead of white, the yellow feathers are slightly darker, and the crest feathers are longer.

[4] It is distributed between the Fitzroy River and the Gulf of Carpentaria of North Australia.

During the 1930s the birds were released in Perth region, where there is now a considerable population.