GLOSSY BLACK COCKATOOS IN FRED CATERSON RESERVE

The Glossy Black-Cockatoo, Calyptorhynchus lathami, is one of Australia’s rarest cockatoos. At a size of only 45-50 cm in length and height they are the smallest of the five Black-Cockatoo in Australia. The name ‘Glossy’ is a little misleading as they aren’t particularly Glossy in appearance at all. Male Glossies have a more uniform black/brownish head colour, whereas the female Glossies have distinctive speckles and irregular patches of yellow over their head and neck.

Colouration of the tail also differs between the sexes and can vary with age. In adult males there is a bright solid red colour in their black tail. In contrast, tails of adult females have more of a reddish-yellow panel separated by horizontal black barring. Compared to other Black-Cockatoos, Glossies have a really broad bulbous bill, a small rounded crest and a much softer call.

The Glossy Black-Cockatoo has a very restricted diet, feeding almost only on the seeds in cones of she-oaks (Casuarina and Allocasuarina). They are one of the friendliest birds and are not easily disturbed when feeding. They will sit quietly and the only noise you will hear is the soft sound of cracking cones and people often do not even realise they are there. They will return to the same food tree time and time again, often ignoring nearby trees that are full of cones - this pattern of feeding is poorly understood. Each bird can process around 500 cones a day. They can fly as much as 10 to 15 kms to reach feeding areas.

The Glossy Black-Cockatoo is known to have a life span that can exceed 30 years. These birds mate for life, with pairs maintaining their bond all year round. The female prepares the nest hollow and incubates the egg, only leaving the nest to feed after about 90 days when the newly hatched nestlings are a week old. Males feed the female and nestlings throughout the incubation and brooding period.

Female Glossy Black Cockatoo 

Photo: Lisa Suykens

Male Glossy Black Cockatoo 

Photo: John Porter

Breeding occurs often only every two years with usually a single egg being laid in late January to early June with a longer nesting period than any other cockatoos (up to 90 days). The young are fed by both parents for up to four months and usually stay with the parents for at least 12 months.

Nesting hollows are typically in old, large, eucalypt trees (living or dead), with an entrance 20–25 cm wide and located 10–20 metres above the ground. Glossy Black-Cockatoos often choose nesting hollows close to a drinking site and usually return to the same nesting hollow over successive seasons. It can take as much as 200 years for a tree hollow to form before it can be used by Glossy Black-Cockatoos, or other hollow nesting birds and animals, emphasising the need to retain remnant vegetation and old trees, and just as importantly to retain food trees.

The Glossy Black-Cockatoo's populations have declined, with local extinctions and range contractions. This is because of land clearing practices that have removed food sources and nesting sites. More frequent and intense fires in south-eastern Australia since European settlement have also reduced suitable habitat. Both grazing, which suppresses casuarina regeneration, and forestry practices that remove casuarina have also contributed to declines. They are one of the more threatened species of cockatoo in Australia and are listed as vulnerable under NSW legislation and listed as endangered Federally.

The Hills District is very fortunate to have Glossy Black-Cockatoos in the Fred Caterson Reserve and they should be supported by preventing further loss of their habitat.

Information provided by BirdLife Southern NSW in conjunction with BirdLife Australia's Birds in Backyards Program