Carnaby's black cockatoo communicates by auditory and visual displays. The voice is generally noisy with several calls; loudest and most frequent is a wailing "wy-lah", which is uttered by both sexes and often heard before the birds themselves are seen. There is usually an interval of 0.4 seconds before the call is repeated. This call is made by birds in flight, before taking off and returning to the nest. Carnaby's black cockatoos that are not in flight may answer with this call when they hear it. The call is often shortened or chopped off three-quarters of the way through as the bird takes off. The call varies between individual Carnaby's black cockatoos, and older nestlings can distinguish their parents' calls. Saunders labelled a variant of the "wy-lah" as the "interrogative call"—it is drawn out and ends with an inflection. Birds often utter a soft "chuck" call when alone. Females make a whistling call composed of two notes of varying volume when perched or about to take off. They also utter a softer version that is 0.6 seconds long, as well as a long single-noted whistle when alone. The male makes a soft shot "wy-lah" call in similar situations. Birds may also make a harsh screeching alarm call when they notice something is out of place. They squawk loudly in disputes with their own kind, when other animals enter breeding territory, or when they are handled by people in captivity. Males can utter a harsh chattering squeak when arguing with other males.