Our staff protect every known nest from possum predation by installing and maintaining tree collars around nest trees. Predation of eggs and nestlings by abundant brushtail possums.The main threats to the population, and the management we undertake, are: The egg is incubated for 30 days, and after hatching the nestling is cared for by its parents for a further 90 days before it fledges. They lay a single egg in a clutch and can only rear one clutch to fledging per year. Glossy black-cockatoos are also unique, in that they have a very low reproductive rate. The 2019-2020 bushfires have now meant that a great deal of both feeding and nesting habitat have been lost. The population has more than doubled but glossies still depend on habitat restoration and nest protection to survive, and are conservation dependent, meaning without our help they will likely become extinct. Recovery efforts for the species began in 1995, when the population was at a low of 158 individuals. Being a dietary specialist, this species is highly sensitive to changes in the amount or quality of sheoak seeds, and only occur where drooping sheoak is plentiful. This subspecies feeds almost exclusively on the seeds of the drooping sheoak ( Allocasuarina verticillata), and nests in hollows in large old-age Eucalyptus species. The glossy black-cockatoo we have on Kangaroo Island is a separate sub-species to those found in eastern Australia ( Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus) and is classified as Endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
(Image: Mike Barth) Helping Kangaroo Island glossy black-cockatoos
Image above: A young glossy black-cockatoo (centre) with it's parents.
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