Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo

Photo by David Cook

These are my favourite bird! They fly over frequently, always paired up and much less raucous than the other common parrot the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo.

So when I saw that a pair had made a nest behind my shed, and that it had a large chick in it, I gasped with delight! As I observed it later in the day I witnessed a number of interesting things:

• when a crow flew into a tree near my chickens, the chickens sent out alarm cackles which set off the cockatoo chick who also squawked. I had no idea crows are considreed such threats.
• I could see a ring tail possum tail sticking out of this same nest. Was it dead? Are they sharing? Is there such a shortage that a possum and cockatoo will share the same tree hollow? Later in the day the tail retreated into the hollow.

This dead branch has a nest for a pair of Yellow tailed black cockatoos

Those with some understanding of Australian fauna, know that many birds and mammals need tree hollows to make nests to reproduce and with tree clearing  accelerating around here, homelessness is not just a human problem.

Nest in the dead branch

Trees need about 100 years before hollows start to be formed, so if we keep cutting down the big ones its obvious what will happen.

On my 6 acre bush block which is nearly all forest, there are only around 30 trees old enough to have hollows. Like much of the Daylesford area, the area was cleared of forest for mining in the late 1800's.

This candlebark below has many hollows, Rosella's and possums are the current residents, with European wasps also calling it home.

Candlebark with many hollows

Many years ago I wanted to make nest boxes for Feather tailed gliders and possums, which I knew were here, and I put a a couple of these home made nest boxes up. The photo shows clearly why this is not the right way to attach a nest box.

How not to attach a nest box

The metal strapping that I nailed into the tree is hindering the growth of the tree and is creating a wound. Now I know that the nest box needs to be hung rather than attached.