After the local council labeled the birds ‘pests,’ thousands of native Australian cockatoos were trapped and murdered using modified garbage bins. The special wheelie bins are the most recent instrument in Rockingham Council’s $8,000-per-year corella culling program, which started with non-lethal means. The council, located 50 kilometers south of Perth, claims that the population has […]
Tag: cockatoo
Rare Australian cockatoo will be listed as a threatened species after a large decline in its numbers due to the climate crisis and the bushfire disaster
After a huge drop in population due to the climate crisis and the bushfire disaster, the gang-gang cockatoo, the animal emblem of the Australian Capital Territory, will be officially designated as an endangered species. Sussan Ley, Australia’s environment minister, has accepted the vulnerable species scientific committee’s proposal that the little cockatoo be protected under the […]
One in six Australian birds are now threatened, landmark action plan finds
One in six Australian birds are now threatened, according to a once-in-a-decade study that finds the climate emergency is pushing species closer to extinction. The action plan for birds is a major scientific study led by Stephen Garnett of Charles Darwin University, with input from more than 300 bird experts. It finds 216 out of […]
To spot wild-caught birds in pet trade, researchers zoom into isotopic detail
For pet enthusiasts, buying an exotic, rare or endangered species can be done legally, and many pet owners want to obey the law. The problem is that illegally obtained animals, captured from the wild, are often mixed in with legally obtained animals, making them indistinguishable to a buyer. Moreover, sellers sometimes lie about a pet’s […]
Avian eye: how to take photos of birds that stand out from the flock
Taking good photos of wildlife can be hard, especially birds, as they often move in three dimensions. The right equipment certainly helps, but like most photography, it’s never just about that. Composition and storytelling Whatever equipment you have (and I’ll get to that), the first thing to think about is trying to be at eye […]
Powerful owls are gentle giants stalking our suburbs, but they are also on the edge
For the past several months, I’ve kept a slightly uneasy vigil on a pair of breeding powerful owls in inner Brisbane, just a couple of kilometres from home. In that time they’ve seen off crowds of curious onlookers, and a determined eviction attempt by sulphur-crested cockatoos, to raise one confident and healthy-looking chick, which will […]
An encounter with a wedge-tailed eagle filled me with awe and a sense of danger
Over the past few years, my amateur bird watching has escalated into more of an obsession, one that occasionally pulls me out to more remote areas of Australia. Several months ago on one such trip, I had cause to think about what drew me to birds. On that particular day, I was walking in the […]
Australian Palm Cockatoos Threatened with Extinction
Palm cockatoos are one of the largest cockatoos, reaching 1.2 kg and 65 cm (25.6 inches) in length. Also known as Cape York cockatoos, great palm cockatoos, black macaws, goliath cockatoos or great black cockatoos, they occur in lowland New Guinea, the Aru Islands, and Cape York Peninsula north of 14.5°S on mainland Australia. These birds […]