Saving WA's black cockatoo

A familiar screech rings out through the air, followed by a fluttering of black wings and the flash of a red or cream-coloured tail feather.

Watching a flock of Western Australia’s black cockatoos take flight is an arresting scene.

But watching their majestic flight is tempered by the knowledge that these beautiful and unique birds are under serious threat.

However tracking technology could be the key to securing their future. For the past five years, researchers at Murdoch University have been attaching tiny satellite and GPS tags - fitted with micro antennae and solar panels - to endangered Carnaby’s and Baudin’s cockatoos, and vulnerable forest red-tailed black cockatoos.

The world-first study is recording, with unprecedented accuracy, the species’ movements, habitats and daily activities.

"We’ve been able to obtain ecological information that was previously unobtainable,” says Kristin Warren, an associate professor of wildlife, zoological and conservation medicine at Murdoch, who believes creating maps of their travels and pause points will help save the shrinking wilderness they need to survive.

"We now know what the birds are doing and how they move across the landscape. We can also identify their critical habitat areas," she says.

It takes about 40 minutes to fit the birds with their tiny trackers.

"We anesthetise the birds. The satellite tag is sutured to their two central tail features and lasts for a year and will malt out naturally with the feathers,” says Warren.

“The GPS tag is attached to the feathers on each bird’s back. It’ll be secure for weeks to months. It means each bird has about $4000 worth of bling on them.”

Tracking for survival

The cockatoos sporting these high-tech devices are rescue birds that have been rehabilitated at the non-profit, volunteer-powered Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre in the Perth Hills, which has successfully released 388 birds and cares for 200 more which are unfit to return to the wild. 

Many birds are brought in after being hit by vehicles or poisoned by polluted water sources – two major factors in their decline, along with the biggest one: the widespread clearing of the environments they live in. 

Tracking the birds has shown that rehabilitation has excellent outcomes, with birds re-joining flocks and even pairing up with wild partners. “It’s pretty rare to be able to track animals post-release, and show they survive and integrate and do really well,” says Warren. 

The birds are monitored as they move along the Swan Coastal Plain and in the area around Borden, about 100km north of Albany in the Great Southern.

Researchers can also see when and where the birds are foraging, flying or roosting, with the information shared with the Department for Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, in the hope it will lead to the protection of remaining habitats, particularly breeding areas.

Pairs only raise a chick every 18 months to two years, so the old trees bearing hollows for nesting shelters are “important from a conservation perspective,” says Warren.

There have been some surprise discoveries, particularly with the distances black cockatoos cover.

“The red tails were thought to be quite residential, but we’re finding they can travel up to 60km over a month, particularly through forest block areas. They’ll move hundreds of kilometres to the breeding grounds,” she says.

The other surprise discovery is how habitual black cockatoos are. “Our findings indicate they have a cultural knowledge of the habitat,” says Warren. “Different flocks use the same roost and nature reserves year in, year out.”

As well as favouring remnant coastal vegetation, the tracking has shown that black cockatoos use roadsides heavily for foraging, drinking from rain puddles and feeding on grain spills during harvest.

Caring for the cockatoos

Kaarakin volunteer coordinator, Cathie Dewhurst says that’s where the public can help. If drivers slow down before passing this large, heavy breed of bird – which normally lives for between 25 and 50 years - she says many injuries will be avoided and lives spared.

“The birds have to take off into the wind.

"They’re like a B52 bomber, they’re very slow and they don’t fly straight up, they often go across the road first. So if you see them on the roadside, please slow down.”

Her other tips are to plant native vegetation and retain mature trees as roosting spaces.

Dewhurst feels a particular affinity for the birds, as one of the 120 volunteers who care for injured cockatoos during rehabilitation. She says getting the birds back in the air can take weeks, months or even years.

Those with the worst damage spend their final six weeks in a 64m-long release-aviary at Kaarakin to ensure their flying muscles are strong enough to carry them long distances.

As local science fills in vital knowledge gaps on the black cockatoos, Dewhurst hopes WA’s endangered species will be saved from extinction.

“There’s a lot stacked against them,” she says. “But we’re hoping the numbers may even out, and eventually stop declining.”

If you find a hurt bird, call the 24-hour Wildcare Helpline on 9474 9055. To contribute to Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre, visit their website for more details. 

Photos supplied to RAC by Karen Riley from Murdoch University 

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