City becoming less welcoming for black cockatoos
A BONUS, so I’m told, of gardening in winter is the opportunity it provides to do a spot of birdwatching.
This must surely have been the case when a flock of black cockatoos drifted low over Belmont, causing a gardener to pause in his labours.
There were at least 80 of these graceful birds flying over at little more than treetop height — indeed, a small number landed in some neighbouring trees.
Since the 1990s, the cockatoos have become regular autumn-winter visitors to Geelong, often in these large flocks. Their main destinations are the old pine trees that early settlers in the town saw fit to plant in public and private gardens.
Here the cockatoos find a rich source of food in pinenuts, a substitute to their native food.
Where they go in spring and summer we aren’t really sure.
Most likely some settle in the Otway forests to nest and raise their families, but there are few breeding records.
That they do raise young is certain, for often juveniles with their rasping voices are heard, begging food from their parents.
What the long-term future holds for the birds is not clear as they need large, hollow trees in which to nest, and adequate food.
Neither is guaranteed, for despite much of the Otway forest being a national park, appropriate management of the forest is vital. And as old pine trees gradually die out or are cut down because they are a danger to us humans, the birds’ main food source vanishes.
It would be a tragedy to lose these superb birds that are now so much a part of Geelong’s birdlife. Wildlife information and questions can be sent to ppescott@gmail.com