In the wild, the salmon-crested cockatoo inhabits lowland forests below 1000 m. Its diet consists mainly of seeds, nuts, and fruit, as well as coconuts.

Some additional evidence shows that they eat insects off the ground, and pet Moluccan cockatoos have tested positive for anemia if their diets do not include enough protein.

The salmon-crested cockatoo was formally described in 1788 by German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae.

[9] The salmon-crested cockatoo is endemic to the Seram archipelago in eastern Indonesia, and has been introduced to the Hawai'ian island of Oahu, where a small population has become established.

[11] The salmon-crested cockatoo is an endangered species,[12] and has been listed on appendix I of CITES since 1989, which makes commercial international trade in wild-caught birds prohibited.

The salmon-crested cockatoo can no longer be imported into the United States because it is listed on the Wild Bird Conservation Act.

The salmon-crested cockatoo is widely considered to be one of the most demanding parrots to keep as a pet due to their high intelligence, large size, potential noise level (some of the loudest birds in the world, with calls up to 129 decibels),[13] and need to chew.