The Great Cocky Count 2011

On the evening of Thursday, 7 April, hundreds of volunteers will head to various sites across the South West from Geraldton to Esperance and inland to the Wheatbelt.  Their mission?  To record sightings of Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo, in the Great Cocky Count 2011.

This magnificent bird, once numbering in the tens of thousands, has suffered from the effects of land clearing, shooting and nest robbing; in the last 50 years there has been a 50% decline in the population.  Their range has been reduced by up to one third.  Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo is now an Endangered species. 

Scientists are collecting data to try to work out more precisely how many birds are around, where they roost and where they feed.  This is a vital step to help protect the species from further decline.  This is where the volunteers come in!  Many volunteers, each collecting a little bit of data, make this project much easier to accomplish.  The volunteers in the Great Cocky Count will each go to a designated roost site 30 minutes before dusk and then tally the birds that come to the site until 30 minutes after dusk.  Simple! 

Would you like to help?  Check out the Birds Australia link to see how you can get involved.

If you're local to Ellenbrook or nearby, and you'd like to come out with me to count cockatoos, please contact me on my mobile: 0421 735 731.   Or email me - ldalgliesh at hotmail dot com.

 

The Great Cocky Count - debriefing

I headed out yesterday afternoon to my designated observation site near The Vines to take part in The Great Cocky Count.  It was beautiful weather; clear skies with almost no cloud, and comfortably cool (around 22 degrees Celsius).  The site was in a Bush Forever area, and a quick walk around it revealed large mature paperbark trees (mostly Melaleuca rhaphiophylla) as well as Marri (Corymbia calophylla) and other gum trees, surrounding a natural spring.  I chose a place on top of nearby earthworks, about 180 metres away, to view the site as dusk approached.  Two kangaroos bounded past, startled.

It was a quiet evening.  I waited impatiently for Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) to make an appearance.  Usually flocks of these birds can be heard from several hundred metres away, but I heard only a few magpies and butcherbirds carolling the sunset.  I watched the colours changing on the Perth Hills with the fading light, and picked a few more ticks off my socks.  Commercial jets droned overhead on their early descent to Perth airport, all flashing lights and brightly-lit tails.  But no flocks of big black birds arrived.  It soon became obvious that Carnaby's might not be coming to roost on this occasion.  

At 6:40pm, I packed up my binoculars and notepad.  My count for the evening was zero.  From a scientific viewpoint, this is still a result, and however disappointing, it's important that it's included in the survey.  I hope the other volunteers had more impressive counts!

 

NEEDED - field assistants for The Great Cocky Count 2010

Wednesday April 7th is marked on our calendars for the next Great Cocky Count - a day when dedicated birdwatchers "stake out" at likely places to watch Carnaby's Black-Cockatoos as they come in to roost.

Although flocks of hundreds of birds are sometimes seen, the numbers of Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo have fallen by 50% over the last forty years.  Many areas of cockatoo food plants have been cleared, and the cockatoos face competition from feral animals for nesting sites. 

This survey helps scientists to work out what is happening with this Endangered species, and hopefully show local government and other groups which areas of bushland need to be retained for the species' survival.  The survey is a joint project between Birds Australia and the Department of Environment and Conservation.

The Great Cocky Count is an excellent way to help our local biodiversity.  If you would like to join Fat Bobbie for the Great Cocky Count, and help her with recording the numbers of birds coming in to roost, please send an email to ldalgliesh at hotmail dot com with your name and contact details.  First in, best dressed!  The evening's "stake out" will start around 5:30pm, and you will need to be fit enough to walk about 2km across rough terrain (and in the dark!) to the survey site and back.  

Read more about the Great Cocky Count in my Community, and about the biology of Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo on Wikipedia and the Threatened Species Day website.