Insulated nesting boxes for cockatoos

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Many of Australia’s native creatures are being threatened with extinction. One of the reasons numbers are declining is because of the loss of habitat and food. In the case of the glossy black cockatoo population on Kangaroo Island off South Australia’s coast, conservationists have been supplying nesting boxes for the birds. Glossy black cockatoos are a subspecies and have a wide and broader beak to better feed on the seeds of the drooping she-oak. Numbers were down to around 150 in the 1990s. As well as supplying nesting boxes, researchers placed tin around the base of trees and trimmed canopies to deter predation by possums. It’s estimated that 80% of breeding pairs use the boxes to raise their chicks. However, the increasing number of hot days means the eggs are susceptible to ‘cooking’. Work is now being done on how best to insulate the boxes given he birds’ penchant for chewing whatever is around. Dozens of drooping she-oak seedlings are being planted to provide more foraging for the birds. We used to see red- and white-tailed cockatoos in Donnybrook. Very occasionally, I hear white-tails here in Perth. The photo is mine.