Ecology l Recovery Project l How you can help

Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo is a large white-tailed black cockatoo found only in the south west corner of Western Australia. It has a number of aliases – Ngoolark, its Noongar name (after its call), white-tailed black-cockatoo and short bill cockatoo. Its scientific name Calyptorhynchus latirostris roughly translates to hidden bill, wide bill.

Once numerous, the charismatic and highly mobile Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo is now classified by the Western Australian Government as ‘rare or likely to become extinct’ and by the Australian Government as Endangered. The last 50 years has seen a 50% decline in the population and their range has been reduced by up to one third.

It is one of three black cockatoos found in south west WA. The others are Baudin’s Black-Cockatoo  and a subspecies of the Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo. These birds are endemic to the area, meaning that they are found nowhere else in the world. All three are threatened. Because the cockatoos are long lived birds (up to 50 years) and they raise few chicks to adulthood it is highly likely that the birds we see today are an ageing population. Therefore protecting remaining habitat as well as the birds themselves is critical for the species survival.

Birds Australia has been running the Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo Recovery Project since 2001. We work with various land managers, government and non-government agencies, NRM groups and volunteers to undertake recovery actions for this iconic species. If you would like to be involved, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

What do they look like?

How can you help?

• Protect and conserve known nesting areas by fencing or excluding stock, protecting woodlands against firewood collection, leaving old or dead trees standing and altering fire management
• Protect and conserve known feeding areas by fencing or excluding stock, controlling weeds and preventing removal of vegetation
• Revegetate around known feeding and nesting areas with appropriate local species
• Learn how to repair old and damaged nesting hollows with assistance from the Birds Australia Hollow Repair Team
• Why not become part of the Recovery Project by working on projects such as monitoring of breeding pairs and nesting activity, revegetation of feeding and nesting areas and much more
• If you would like to record sightings, please download the sightings form at the bottom of this page or email Raana Scott

Top

Contact

Project Manager, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 0427 707 047 or 08 9076 2203

Downloads

About Carnaby's Recovery Project

Sightings Forms
General Form (for recording sightings from various locations)
Annual Form (presence and absence over a year from a static location)

Newsletter
Cocky Notes June 2010

Research
The Biology of the Short-Billed Form of the White-Tailed Black Cockatoo, Calyptorhynchus funereus latirostris Carnaby, 1967. PhD thesis by Dr. Denis Saunders, former Chief Scientist of the CSIRO (14.3mb)

Assessing and Quantifying Canola Crop Damage by Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris in the south-west of Western Australia, 2009. University of Sydney, Masters thesis by Chris Jackson. (3.7mb)
New research showing that Carnaby’s have almost no impact on canola crops.

Conservation of Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo on the Swan Coastal Plain, WA, 2006. BAWA, Project report by Bansi Shah (3.8mb)

Symposium Proceedings
Proceedings of the Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo Conservation Symposium 2009 (1mb)
Presentations Appendix from CBC Conservation Symposium 2009 (7.8mb)
Proceedings of the Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo Conservation Symposium 2003 (2.2mb)

Top

Ecology

What do they eat?
Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo feed on flowers and seeds of proteaceous species such as hakea, grevillea and banksia as well as insect larvae associated with these plants. They also feed on the gum nuts of the Marri tree.

Remnant patches of heath are majorly important for feeding. During the non-nesting seasons raucous flocks roam more coastal areas in large foraging groups while in the nesting season these large flocks break off into small breeding flocks and rely on heath in further inland. Adequate foraging resources are required within 12km of nesting sites for a pair to successfully raise a chick. This is because the male is the sole provider to the female while she incubates the egg for around a month and spends a further two weeks ensuring the chick is well fed.

Carnaby's has also adapted to feed on introduced species such as wild geranium (corkscrew), wild radish and nuts from pine cones and other exotic trees.

Nesting
Carnaby's typically nest in Eucalypt woodland, with 350-700mm annual, in the highly degraded wheatbelt of Western Australia. They will return to the same nesting site each year, sometimes using the exact same hollow.

Salmon Gum and Wandoo are typical eucalypt species for Carnaby's to nest in. These slow growing trees need to grow to a suitable size and develop a large enough hollow to fit the large hen and her chick, and need to be at least 120-200 years old. Hollows that are dead, alive or repaired will be used. Females prepare the hollow by stripping wood chips from the inside of the hollow.

Factors limiting hollows include: natural senescence of trees combined with no or very little recruitment of young trees, competition for hollows from invasive feral species such as European honey bee which can render the hollow unusable for many years once bees move on or are eradicated, and abundant native species such as Galahs and Corellas that have expanded their range due to altered land use, including the increase in year round watering points.

Breeding
Breeding begins between four and seven years of age and pairs mate for life. Research has shown females continue to breed at more than 21 years of age. The known populations of Carnaby's may not be of breeding age as these birds are thought to live for up to 50 years.

Eggs are laid in a hollow lined with wood chips from early July to mid October each year. The clutch is usually two eggs but very rarely do both chicks survive. Only the female incubates and broods for the 29 days of incubation, during which she is totally reliant on the male for food. Once the nestling hatches it is brooded almost continuously by the female for the first 10 days, both still reliant on the male for food. Once brooding ceases at about four weeks both adults feed the chick although the female does so most commonly.

Adequate food and water needs to be in close proximity to nesting sites for the male to sustain himself, the hen and the young chick. A number of nesting sites with adequate hollows have become unusable for the species due to insufficient foraging resources.

After 70 to 80 days of brooding, the chick fledges from the hollow, fully grown but with short tail feathers. From this time the fledgling is fed by both parents for four months or more and is dependent on its parents for up to one year. Sometimes parental feeding can last for a full year and there are records of parents resuming care of a juvenile after an unsuccessful breeding attempt in the interim.

Distribution
Carnaby’s are found nowhere else in the world except south west Western Australia. Their range extends from north of Geraldton to east of Esperance and inland to the western edge of the Great Western Woodlands. This semi-migratory species utilizes two geographically distinct habitats throughout its range at specific times of the year.

During the non-breeding phase of the year (January-August), the cockatoos form large feeding flocks that roam more coastal areas, feeding on proteaceous heath and introduced species such as pines (Pinus spp.). During the annual nesting season (July– February), the breeding age cockatoos break into smaller flocks and move inland to drier eucalypt woodlands.

Seasonal movement
January-August* is spent roaming coastal and higher rainfall areas in large flocks searching for food. These flocks are a mix of males and females, juveniles, adults and post breeding age birds.

July-February* is when the population breaks into smaller nesting flocks and returns to the dry inland nesting sites. However, you may still see flocks of birds in coastal areas at this time. These are non-breeding birds, either pre or post-breeding age. It is believed that there are year round resident populations that remain in the vicinity of their nesting sites and do not migrate to the coast. Research into these populations is ongoing.

*Flocks in the north of the species range tend to nest earlier than those in the south, hence the overlapping of timeframes.

Behaviour
Carnaby’s are gregarious birds with a strong social structure. Pairs are usually monogamous for life. During the nesting season, small flocks return to nesting sites. These sites are usually the natal ground of the female and they will return to the same site and sometimes the same tree each year. Strong pair bonds are important as the female is totally reliant on the male for food and water until the chick is old enough to spend periods alone when both parents can take time to forage.

Top

Recovery Project

Threats

• Fragmentation of the landscape and loss of connectivity of remnant bush places heightened stress on populations by:

o Land clearing for urban development in metropolitan coastal, removing feeding and roosting vegetation.
o Historical and on-going land clearing for agriculture in regional nesting areas- removing nesting trees, food sources and important fly ways.

• Competition for nesting hollows from species such as Galah, Corella and feral bees.
• Lack of nesting tree recruitment and degradation of remaining nesting trees through stock trampling
• Poaching for illegal sale of birds
• Persecution
• Road strike

Project History
In 1999 a Recovery Plan was written and in 2000 a Recovery Team was convened by the Department of Environment and Conservation (formerly CALM) and since this time Birds Australia had operated the Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo Recovery Project.

Unlike other less mobile bird species, Carnaby’s is widespread and its range covers many different land tenures and vegetation types. Birds Australia has been working with local communities, landholders and land managers to secure the protection and conservation of the their habitat.

In collaboration with WWF-Australia, and with support from Natural Resource Management groups, the Department of Environment and Conservation and the National Heritage Trust, we work to implement Recovery Actions as stated in the Recovery Plan.

Primary activities include:

• Identification and prioritization of nesting sites for recovery actions
• Community engagement programs and education
• Supporting private landholder to preserve and restore priority remnant vegetation
• Provision of funds to support fencing, revegetation, weed control and competitor control
• Data collection and nest monitoring
• Repairing damaged or degraded nesting hollows. Since 2004 a volunteer team has repaired over 150 damaged or degraded nesting trees. This is a simple and inexpensive way to increase the chances of breeding
• Monitoring of repaired hollows. During the nesting season repaired hollows are checked to see whether the Carnaby’s are using the hollow or not
• Assistance is given for grant applications to facilitate Voluntary Management Agreements and Conservation Covenants, helping to solidify commitment to conservation and secure habitat for the species into the future