Flocking to help the red-tailed black cockatoo
An impressive black bird with a rowdy call is capturing the hearts of rural communities in southern Australia.
Red-tailed black cockatoo
© WWF-Canon/Martin HARVEY
Between 700 and 1000 south-eastern red-tailed black cockatoos survive in small pockets of forest and woodland in south-western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia.
p>Many of the buloke and stringybark trees that the cockatoo exclusively feeds on and the river red gums in which it nests have been cleared for agriculture. The survival of the endangered bird now largely rests with the private landholders who manage about 30 per cent of the cockatoo's remaining habitat."Landholders are crucial to conserving the cockatoo because we need them to fence off the trees that remain and plant more trees on their properties for the birds to use in the future," says Julie Kirkwood.
We are helping to protect the cockatoo in several ways, working closely with the Red-tailed Black Cockatoo Recovery Team. Our Threatened Species Network (TSN) Community Grants Program recently funded a telephone survey of 500 landholders to discover what they understood of the cockatoo and the efforts to protect its habitat.
Many landholders did not know that the red-tailed black cockatoo has a more common, and less fussy, cousin - the yellow-tailed black cockatoo - with which it can easily be confused. Some were also unaware that red-tails fed on stringybark as well as buloke seeds.
Armed with this information, the TSN is now looking at ways that it can improve awareness about the cockatoo's plight and support landholders. An additional TSN grant will soon assist landholders to incorporate cockatoo habitat protection and management into their farm plans. We'll also be looking at how we can pitch in more practically - with dollars and elbow grease - to help farmers revegetate their land and fence habitat and nesting trees to exclude stock.
The encouraging news is that more than 100 landholders responding to the telephone survey said that they admired the bird and wanted to be able to see more of them on their properties. With farmers' support, and the involvement of natural resource management agencies and community groups, we hope to realise that goal.
And in coming to the rescue of the red-tailed black cockatoo, we also hope to benefit less flamboyant native species, like the endangered Buloke woodlands of the Riverina and Murray Darling Depression and a suite of declining and threatened woodland birds, including the white-browed babbler and barn owl.
How you can help if you live within the cockatoo's habitat:
- Report any sightings of the south-eastern red-tailed black cockatoo by telephoning the toll-free hotline 1800 262 062.
- Volunteer your time for the annual cockatoo count held each April. For more information, contact recovery team extension officer Tania Rajic on mulga@icisp.net.au
- Help with vegetation and habitat protection efforts in your region. Contact TSN coordinator Julie Kirkwood for more info on 03 9341 6507.
