Citizen science case study – Priority Bird Species Red-tailed Black-cockatoo (South-eastern) (Calyptorhynchus banksii graptogyne)

EPBC Status - Endangered

Red-tailed black cockatoo. Photo: Jean and Fred Flickr CC BY 2.0

When conservation organisations The SERTBC population has These citizen science events that draw are charged with planning recovery dwindled to only 600-700 breeding on a snap shot in time approach are activities for threatened species, pairs, which for a long-lived species useful to give a better understanding that require public participation, puts it at high risk of extinction. of how and where the species is all too often they are attempting As with many of Australia’s using the landscape across its range. to popularise a species that lacks threatened species, their decline is In addition to the annual count, the charisma and public appeal. the result of habitat loss, particularly general public can contribute data Fortunately for the South-eastern large hollow-bearing trees that about the SERTBC all year round, via Red-tailed Black-cockatoo (SERTBC), the species requires for breeding. an online reporting tool. All of the this is not the case! A large and Additionally, this sub-species is a data provided by volunteers aids in strikingly beautiful bird, the SERTBC fussy eater! They eat the seeds BirdLife Australia and the Red-tailed is the subject of one of the longest of three species of trees; two Black-Cockatoo Recovery Team running threatened species focused Eucalyptus and one Allocasuarina. making informed decisions about citizen science programs in Australia. All three of these food trees have tiny where conservation efforts for the The Red-tailed Black-cockatoo seeds, making a reduction in food species are best directed and ensuring comprises five sub-species, two of availability especially problematic the SERTBC can continue to be the which are nationally threatened. for these fussy cockatoos. charismatic and iconic part of the The Forest Red-tailed Black-cockatoo Australian landscape, in all As far back as 1998, annual one- (Calyptorhynchus banksii naso) is four corners of the continent. day counts for the SERTBC were found in the South West of Australia. coordinated by a volunteer recovery The SERTBC (Calyptorhynchus team for the species. These annual Further information banksia graptogyne) is, counts are now a big event on the www.redtail.com.au unsurprisingly, found in the South birding calendar, with 172 volunteers East, from south-western Victoria www.birdlife.org.au/projects/red- participating in the count in 2017, into south-eastern South Australia. tailed-black-cockatoo-recovery recording 810 birds at 154 sites.

This project is supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National

AUSTRALIA Environmental Science Program.