Lee Dorahy said “On Thursday we took out a group of interested community members to learn about the vulnerable Glossy Black-Cockatoos and I believe that we drove back into town with people that now have the knowledge to identify the bird and have the passion to look for them.”

 

Rachel Lyons, Burnett Mary Regional Group stated “This workshop was part of a project funded by the Burnett Mary Regional Group and the project is a key community awareness action for threatened species in our region.”

 

We started off the day by visiting a stand of black she-oak (Allocasuarina littoralis), one of the Glossy Black-Cockatoos favoured food trees.

 

Adrian Caneris from Biodiversity Assessment and Management Pty Ltd, described the feeding habits “Glossy Black Cockatoos have a very restricted diet, feeding only on seeds in cones of she-oaks. They are very particular birds only feeding on approximately 1% of the available she-oak trees in a landscape”.

 

After learning all about Black she-oak and the Glossy Black-Cockatoo’s lifestyle we drove to the Homestead to have lunch, examine property maps, bird books and other Glossy Black-Cockatoo information. As we arrived at the homestead we had the pleasure of witnessing two Yellow tailed Black-Cockatoos fly past and circle the house. The Yellow tailed Black-Cockatoos and another common cockatoo the Red tailed black-Cockatoo are often mistaken for the Glossy Black-Cockatoo. To find out the differences between the Black-Cockatoos visit www.glossyblack.org.au . Glossy Black-Cockatoos are a smaller and quieter bird that you will usually walk straight past.

 

After lunch we visited a stand of Forest she-oak (Allocasuarina torulosa), to our delight we found two male Glossy Black Cockatoos feeding. Some of the group got to watch the birds feeding and flying between feed trees. The two males had a good feed and left the usual mess which gave the group a chance to examine the evidence that the Glossy Blacks leave behind.

 

Lee Dorahy, Natural Resource Officer stated “The workshop was a very enjoyable day and seeing two male Glossy Black-Cockatoo’s made it very special as well. On a property the size of Goondicum our chances of seeing the bird was very slim, so having them show up was a real treat”.

 

“Searching for Glossy Black-Cockatoos is infectious, once you start looking for them it is impossible to stop.” said Lee.

 

For more information on the Glossy Black Cockatoo or other Threatened Species please contact Lee Dorahy on 41655406 or email nro@mundubbera.qld.gov.au

 

 

 

 

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