A report released by BirdLife Australia (BirdLife Partner) and the Department of Environment and Conservation shows that the numbers of Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoos decreased in the Perth Region in the last year by 37%. Habitat clearance and fragmentation is the biggest threat to this cockatoo.

Carnaby's Black Cockatoo - Calyptorhynchus latirostris - is a cockatoo endemic to south-western Australia.

Description

It is mostly dark-grey with narrow vague light-grey scalloping, which is produced by narrow pale-grey margins at the tip of dark-grey feathers. It has a crest of short feathers on its head, and it has whitish patches of feathers that cover its ears. Its lateral tail feathers are white with black tips, and the central tail feathers are all black. The irises are dark brown and the legs are brown-grey. Adult males have a dark grey beak and pink eye-rings. The adult female has a bone coloured beak, grey eye-rings, and its ear patches are paler than that of the male. Juveniles have a bone coloured beak, grey eye-rings, and have less white in the tail feathers.

Call

High-pitched and drawn out whistle. Alarm call harsh screech. Fledged youngsters emit constant wheezing sound.

Food

They feed primarily on seeds, flowers and occasionally invertebrates.

Breeding

They nest in large hollows in tall, living or dead eucalypts. Clutch-size is two eggs or, more rarely, one. The eggs are white or creamy white and are incubated by the female only, for a period of 28 to 29 days. Nestlings are brooded by the female and fed by both parents.  Wandoo and salmon gum woodlands are an important breeding area for Carnaby's Cockatoo. There is competition for nesting hollows with invasive species such as the Western Long-billed Corella, the Galah, and the European honeybee.

Conservation Status – Endangered

Major threats to Carnaby's Cockatoo include clearing of their feeding and breeding areas, destruction of nesting hollows (e.g. during firewood collection), competition with other species for nesting hollows, and illegal poaching.

Birdwatching

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