The birds live in seven main flocks, and 75 percent of the population lives in the western and northern parts of the island, where the fires have been particularly disastrous.Īlthough it’s still too early to assess the total damage, there is no question that the recent fires are a huge setback for the past two decades' conservation efforts. By protecting nest hollows from predatory possums, erecting artificial nest boxes, and planting food trees, conservationists helped cockatoo populations spike to nearly 400 individuals by 2016. In 1995, what is now considered one of Australia’s most successful recovery programs began. Originally, scientists thought the island’s she-oak woodland could support at least 600 of the birds, but a population count of merely 150 individuals in the early 1990s caused alarm. On Kangaroo Island, though, similar habitat remained intact, and by the 1970s, the subspecies had been effectively forced off of the mainland. Stands of mature eucalyptus trees, which provide the natural hollows the birds require for nesting, suffered the same fate. But starting in the 1800s, European settlers began wiping out large swathes of drooping she-oak trees-the seeds of which the Glossy Black-Cockatoos rely on for food-for agriculture and housing. With nowhere to go, resident species like the koala, southern brown bandicoot, pelican spider, and the critically endangered Kangaroo Island dunnart have all likely suffered major losses, but the island’s population of endangered Glossy Black-Cockatoos, a southern subspecies of the bird that has seen a comeback in recent decades, is also a major concern for conservationists.Ĭrow-size birds with brownish-black bodies and red tail bands, the cockatoos were once abundant across the southern mainland of Australia. Located off the southern coast of Australia, nearly half of this 1,700-square-mile island has been engulfed in flames since December 20, when fires first broke out on the western part of the island. “It’s just black sticks poking above the ground, and that’s about what’s left in certain areas,” says Gabriel Crowley, an environmental scientist at the University of Queensland in Australia. On Kangaroo Island-one of Australia’s most treasured tourism destinations and a biodiversity hub-the impacts have been particularly devastating. So far, they’ve killed 30 people, and more than one billion animals are now feared dead. Fueled by extreme drought conditions and record temperatures, many fires continue to rage across the country. Usually only one chick survives which fledges after 28-29 days and remains with the parents until the next breeding season.Since September, hundreds of bushfires have blazed through Australia, leaving behind at least 24 million acres of charred land and skies polluted with smoke. Two eggs are laid and incubated by the female only. The nest is a large tree-hollow lined with a bed of woodchips. Larvae are extracted from the stems of trees by using their large bills to tear strips of bark away from the trunk and gauge deep into the wood.īreeding occurs from October to March in South Australia. They have learnt to extract seeds from the cones of exotic pines by tearing the cones apart. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos feed on seeds and insect larvae. Although regarded as “Vulnerable”, large flocks of up to 200 birds or more may nevertheless be regularly seen in winter in the Mount Lofty Ranges. Their distinctive flight silhouette with a large rounded head, deep leisurely wing beats, and echoing “whee-la” calls make them easy to recognise. Sightings of small groups of these magnificent birds became increasingly common in suburban and rural areas after they learnt to exploit the cones of exotic pines as a food source. A pair of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, with female in front.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |