Forests, Woodlands, and Wetlands of the South West

Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo - (south-eastern)
Calyptorhynchus banksii graptogyne

In Victoria, [see map below] the South-eastern Red-tailed Black Cockatoo occurs from Portland in south-east to just north of the Little Desert, while in South Australia it is found from Bangham-Francis to Mt Gambier. Its former distribution may never have been much greater than this, but the extent of occurrence within this range has declined significantly due to habitat loss (c. 60% of habitat in Vic and 80% in SA has been destroyed). The current population is around 700 to 1,000 birds.

Much of the feeding habitat used by these birds is protected in State Forests. However, nesting habitat on private land is disappearing rapidly as a consequence of tree dieback, felling of potential nest trees for firewood, and the general intensification of farming (i.e change from grazing to farm forestry, cropping etc.). [see typical habitat above of Brown Stringy Bark Woodland with sandy soil a heath under-storey.] According to the Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000, the south-eastern subspecies of the Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo is endangered.[above Red-tailed' chick]

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- Map

-Threatened Species

-Campaigns

Details from Costermans 1994

Feeding Habitat
Food species: the fruits (seeds) of Brown/Desert Stringybark Euc. baxteri/arenacea (72% of feeding records by Joseph 1982); and the cones (seeds) of Buloke Allocasuarina leuhmannii (28% of records by Joseph 1982).

Feeding season: RTBCs are observed feeding in stringybark at all times of year. By contrast, Buloke seems to be used only in summer/autumn when new Buloke cones are produced.[see below left]  

Protect Habitat Trees
The best thing we can do right now is to protect all existing Red-tail habitat. This includes Stringybark forest and buloke woodland. To protect these important areas we need to fence out all stock. This improves the health of the trees (stops ringbarking by stock) and allows regeneration by the existing trees, when their seed drops.
One of the main costs here is fencing materials, but the recovery team can help here. If you want information on obtaining financial assistance to protect Red-tail habitat a contact email is shortly forthcoming.

1. Stringybarks both brown and desert (Eucalyptus baxterii and arenacea).
   These trees grow in the poorer sandy soils and form the main diet of the Red-tail.
2. Buloke (Allocasuarina leuhmanii).
   These trees grow in the clay based soils normally found north of Edenhope and form an important food supply when they fruit in late summer.
3. 3. Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensus).
   These trees are often used by Red-tails to roost in over night. When the trees are older, maybe 100 years old, they may form the large hollows that Red-tails nest in. If you can, go out and collect your own local seed. This is easily done and will ensure that the plants you get grown or grow yourself are the right ones for your area.
   
   To collect seed from your own trees simply cut off a bunch of fruit (you need to collect Buloke prior to Febuary) put it in a paper bag and store in dry warm spot. As the fruit dries it will open the pods and the seed will fall out into the bag.
   There are pictures of Buloke and Stringybark fruit on the gallery page.

Some times these trees are removed for firewood, but normally only by inexperienced wood gatherers, as nest trees have hollows and therefore do not hold anywhere near the quantity of wood that a solid tree does. Always avoid knocking over trees with hollows, they have poor firewood value and are the homes of a whole suite of critters, many of which are of benefit to farmers as well. Nests are also under threat from predation by possums. By placing old corrugated iron (about 1.2m long) at about chest height, possums will not be able to get a grip and thus not have access to nests.