Conservationists are celebrating the rare discovery of nests of one of Australia’s most-threatened cockatoos.
For the first time in more than 20 years, glossy black cockatoo nests have been discovered on the New South Wales’ Mid North Coast.
NSW Department of Planning and Environment senior threatened species officer Brian Hawkins said it was an amazing find after almost half of the glossy black cockatoo habitat in the region was burnt in the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires.
“It’s a massive step forward … glossy black cockatoos are among the most-threatened species of cockatoos in Australia and are listed as vulnerable in NSW,” Dr Hawkins said.
“When their habitat burns, their feed trees — which are she-oaks — often get killed, which means the birds have a lot less food available, and the hollow-bearing trees where they like to nest often get knocked down in fires as well.
“Finding nests means we can learn whether the birds are breeding successfully.
“It’s a great foundation that will help us study the bird and work out the best way to conserve them.”
Three nests were found after the efforts of citizen scientists involved in a project called Glossy Squad, with a focus on the Nambucca, Bellingen, Coffs Harbour and Clarence Valley local government areas.
The Glossy Squad is a component of a broader collaborative conservation project, led by the NSW government’s Saving our Species program, called Biliirrgan, which is the Gumbaynggirr word for glossy black cockatoo.
“The project area covers Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung and Yaegl country in northern NSW, but most of it is in Gumbaynggirr country,” Dr Hawkins said.
Dr Hawkins said the nests had been found in three separate locations after tip-offs from people who suspected glossy black cockatoos were breeding near where they lived.
He said reports from residents contributed significantly to the conservation of the iconic species.
“It’s really hard to find them and the only way to do it is to have ears and eyes on the ground, a network of community members and citizen scientists who love the birds and pay attention to what the birds are doing on the ground,” he said.
“[The discovery] is the culmination of over 1,000 hours of volunteer time from more than 60 citizen scientists.”
