CockyNotes article

The lovely folks over at Birdlife Western Australia recently asked me to write a short article to contribute to the Summer 2018/19 edition of CockyNotes. CockyNotes is a bi-yearly newsletter filled with all things cockatoo in south-western Western Australia. As all three species of black-cockatoo in WA are threatened Birdlife has several ongoing projects focusing on helping the cockies, and the newsletter is a way to update everyone on their progress. There are also researchers like myself working on the black-cockatoos, and we sometimes contribute to the newsletter to provide updates about our research.

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Habitat: urban Perth

Large native trees surrounding a sports oval in urban Perth.

In this short post I aim to give people unfamiliar with Perth a look at the different landscapes present in the city, and how it functions as habitat for the forest red-tailed black-cockatoo.

Habitat: the Jarrah forest

This short post aims to give people unfamiliar with the Jarrah forest a look at the forest, and how it functions as habitat for the forest red-tailed black-cockatoo.

So, what is a black-cockatoo anyway?

When early European explorers first landed on the shores of Australia all those years ago they were doubtless very confused not only by the strange, hostile landscape, but also by the whacky animals. This continues today as tourists flock to our country to see the weird and wonderful wildlife. The stars include the iconic marsupials such as kangaroos and koalas, as well as some of our more colourful bird species, like the rainbow lorikeet. I doubt many tourists come to see the black-cockatoos, in fact most have probably never heard of them, as they tend to avoid urban centres, and are quieter and more subdued than some of our other cockatoos (e.g. the raucous sulphur-crested cockatoo).

HELP! Fruit collection for Cockatoos in the Hood.

Urban fieldwork can be tricky, especially when you need to access trees that are on private property, behind fences. Hopefully Citizen Science can come to my rescue! Scroll to the bottom if you just want the instructions without my waffle.

How to: BioCollect mobile

Hello hello!

The cockies have been visiting the cape lilac tree at uni, which has given me the perfect opportunity to test out the BioCollect mobile app. It’s super easy (possibly easier than using a computer), so here’s a quick guide on how to enter a cockatoo sighting using the BioCollect Mobile app!

How-to: enter a BioCollect sighting

Hello everyone! I thought I’d put together a quick How-to post about how to enter a sighting into the BioCollect database. There is also a mobile app, but I’ll write a separate post for that.