Australia's Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
By Lloyd Marshall

Australia's Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife would like for American aviculturists to be able to buy aviary-bred red-tailed black cockatoos, calyptorhynchus banksii, from Australia. Darwin bird breeder Peter McGrath and Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife conservation management officer Simon Stirrat are keen to see the export trade get underway.

McGrath has been involved with the birds since 1989, when he started applying for permission to catch wild birds so that he could establish a captive breeding program. In 1992 he began building aviaries on a mango farm outside Darwin, the capital of Australia's Northern Territory. He now has around 130 birds on the property - 40 breeding pairs, 35 youngsters and around 15 unmated birds.

The 60 aviaries housing the red-tailed black cockatoo - 7 meters by 2.4 meters by 3 meters (about 23 feet by 8 feet by 10 feet) high suspended breeding cages and 7 meters by 4 meters by 2.7 meters (about 23 feet by 13 feet by 9 feet) holding cages have reticulated water and a full-time caregiver who also looks after the mango trees on the farm.

McGrath, experienced with many bird species, became interested in the red-tailed black cockatoo when a fellow who grows rice south of Darwin complained to him about the birds getting into his crops.

"They were causing quite a bit of damage and it was getting worse as farms expanded, destroying the birds' habitat," Mcgrath said.

Stirrat said he can see little difference between commercial operators harvesting crocodile eggs from the wild, then incubating and raising them to commercial size before sending the skins overseas for processing. Australia's federal government says it is OK to export parts of a dead protected animal, but not the animal itself, which means it is OK to harvest a native species, but it isn't acceptable to export it while it is alive.

"I would like to see a situation where farmers were paid for each egg or young bird taken from their farms, which would encourage them to maintain the birds' habitat," Stirrat said.

"Royalty fees levied by the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission assist in the management of the harvested wildlife," Stirrat added. "We are currently looking at a proposal to harvest other species on a similar basis to the crocodiles and it is likely that approval will be given."

Stirrat said the government wants to encourage harvesting black cockatoos from the wild for export purposes, because this would ensure that benefits go back to the landowners, giving them an incentive to retain the birds' habitat.

"This is the first step before exporting," Stirrat said, "and if we can export legally, the illegal trade can be controlled."

Latest surveys indicate that there are more than 60,000 red-tailed black cockatoos in the Northern Territory, and they are not threatened.

"However this may not be the case in 20-30 years time," Stirrat said, "and now is the time to lay the groundwork to ensure the birds are OK in the future."

McGrath's research indicates that the hen lays again soon after an egg is taken from the nest. "This means that harvesting eggs, then breeding from those young for the export market will have absolutely no effect on the wild population," he said.

His cages are not pretty, but they are very functional, serviced by reticulated water and food at the front, with a door at the rear, adjacent to nesting hollows. They contain one pair, and the female lays one egg, which she incubates for around four weeks, with the youngster leaving the nest at 10-12 weeks.

Pairs are fiercely territorial, hissing and displaying aggressively at strangers who approach their cage. When McGrath removed a feathered youngster from a log, the hen perched nearby, flapping her wings and screeching until the baby was replaced and Peter left the cage.

Breeding logs are placed at the back of the cage for easy access and perches are renewed as soon as the birds destroy them. "The breeding logs come from the rice farms, where the trees are being knocked down," McGrath said, "so there has been no need to think about providing man-made alternatives."

A hardy species, red-tailed black cockatoos require very little attention and can be left largely to their own devices. Aviaries must be large and wooden frames and walls should be avoided, because these cockatoos like to chew. Hand-raised birds are very affectionate and like to play with and chew anything they can pick up.

It took McGrath a few years to work out the best diet to successfully breed red-tailed black cockatoos. His birds get a basic seed diet of parrot mix and sunflower all year round. In the breeding season they also are fed fruit, fresh peas and corn as well as leafy vegetables, cabbage and celery. A vitamin deficiency problem was overcome by supplying high protein puppy food. "They now feather better and more quickly," he said, "but it took me several years to get it right."

McGrath's knowledge of the Northern Territory's wild populations of black cockatoos is so extensive that he is called on to help with university research projects, including when wild birds are captured for research.

He has never sold a bird - although he occasionally swaps surplus cocks for hens - because he is building up numbers so that when export is legalised he will be in a position to offer a continuing supply. "There's no point in legalising export, then not being able to keep up with the demand," McGrath said.

A state-of-the-art security system protects his property, where the caregiver lives on a full-time basis with several dogs.

Red-tailed black cockatoo breeder John Roberts, who lives near Perth, the capital of Australia's Western Territory houses his birds as a flock, with 15 pairs in a 25-meter-wide (about 82 feet) hexagonal aviary which is 17 meters (56 feet) high and contains huge branches and clumps of grass. Birds sitting at the top of the cage are so far away that they are hard to see.

Nest logs line the aviary's rear walls, which are similar in appearance to boxes in a lovebird aviary, exept that the nests are considerably larger.

Roberts raises usually 13 youngsters a year, some of which are left with their parents, while others are removed for hand-rearing, with the parents sometimes laying again.

The flock will not tolerate the introduction of adult birds into the aviary and Roberts sometimes has problems with young birds hitting the wire before they can fly properly, resulting in injury and death.

Additional Red-tailed Black Cockatoo Information

The red-tailed black cockatoo, Calyptorhynchus banksii, has four subspecies, which are found in various parts of Australia and vary in size from 500 millimeters to 610 millimeters (about 20 inches to 24 inches) long, including a large, rounded tail.

The northern species is the largest of the four. It has a large beak and is found across the top of Australia and down the upper half of the eastern seaboard. It feeds on the seeds of a wide variety of trees, shrubs, grasses, mangroves and in rice plantations. The other three species are slightly smaller.

The southwestern subspecies, which has a large beak, is found in the jarrah forests of southwest Western Australia. It lives in the forest canopy, feeding on seeds of the marri eucalyptus tree.

The western wheatbelt subspecies, which has a small beak, is found in the wheatbelt areas of Western Australia and further inland, along gum tree-lined river systems. This bird is a ground forager, feeding on proteas, casuarinas and other small trees.

The southeastern subspecies has a small beak and the females are brilliantly marked. It is found in the stringybark forests of eastern South Australia and southwestern Victoria, where it feeds on the seeds of stringybark trees.

Mature male red-tailed black cockatoos are totally black except for a band of bright red approximately half-way down the tail. Females and young birds are a brown/black color, with numerous yellow speckles on the head neck and shoulders. Feathers on their underparts are barred with yellow and yellow/orange.

Red-tailed black cockatoos become sexually active at four years, when youngsters moult into adult plumage.

Flocks of up to 200 birds can be found throughout their range. They are an impressive sight when flying, with slow, almost casual wingbeats and a nasal, almost yelping call.

They nest in any tree which has a suitably-sized hollow, which must be around 180 millimeters (about 7 inches) across at the entrance and larger at the floor of the nest. Nest height from the ground varies from two meters (about six and a half feet) above the ground in areas where trees do not grow very tall to 30 meters (99 feet) high in southwestern Australia's karri forests.

The inside of the nest is chewed, making a layer of wood chips on which a single egg is laid. The female does all the incubating and is fed by the male. Chicks are fed morning and night by both parents, with the adults entering the nest backward.

Lloyd Marshall is an aviculturist and journalist in Western Australia.