During the last breeding season, we were out and about surveying potential Black-Cockatoo breeding hollows as part of our collaboration with Birdlife. To successfully identify these locations, we covered more than 580 hectares of remnant vegetation with GoPro cameras mounted on telescopic poles. This helped us to identify where some of the Black-Cockatoo breeding areas were and gave us the opportunity to enlist local landholders as an on-ground support crew in preserving these iconic birds.
Finding a new address
The aim of this project is to support increased nesting and feeding habitats in and around the areas where they are already breeding.
Black-Cockatoos are facing increased habitat loss and competition for natural hollows from both feral bees and other birds, such as Corellas and Galahs. This, combined with a range of other factors, has secured the Black-Cockatoos spot on the threatened species list.
Establishing additional nesting structures and artificial hollows will support the birds’ natural habitat with a view to improving their trajectory within the Avon River Basin.
A home with rustic charm
At this time of year, the Black-Cockatoos are likely to be out prospecting so it was a great to time for our team to be visiting identified sites and installing Cockatoo tubes for nesting on priority trees.
These tubes are designed to be less appealing to other bird species with the open top being less attractive to competitors, such as the bees.
Calling on community
We’re calling on our community to get involved in improving the trajectory of the Black-Cockatoos. If you’re seeing these beautiful birds, we’d love to hear from you. Jump on board the conservation effort by downloading Survey123 and reporting your sighting.
Community support comes in all forms and we want to thank Verlindens Electrical Service for the loan of their vehicle and helping us get to that hard-to-reach real estate.
The project is supported by funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.