Satellite tracking of rehabilitated wild Baudin's cockatoos, Calyptorhynchus baudinii: a feasibility trial to track forest black cockatoos
Lian Yeap A E , Jill M. Shephard B , Anna Le Souef A , Carly Holyoake A , Christine Groom C , Rick Dawson C , Tony Kirkby D and Kristin Warren AA Conservation Medicine Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.
B Environmental and Conservation Sciences, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.
C Department of Parks and Wildlife, 17 Dick Perry Avenue, Technology Park, Western Precinct, Kensington, WA 6151, Australia.
D Western Australian Museum, 49 Kew Street, Welshpool, WA 6106, Australia.
E Corresponding author. Email: L.Yeap@murdoch.edu.au
Pacific Conservation Biology 21(2) 163-167 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC14917
Submitted: 4 March 2015 Accepted: 26 May 2015 Published: 26 June 2015
Abstract
Baudin’s cockatoo, Calyptorhynchus baudinii, is a threatened forest black cockatoo species, endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. In this study we fitted tail-mounted satellite transmitters to two female Baudin’s cockatoos that had undergone treatment and rehabilitation at Perth Zoo and Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre to investigate the feasibility of satellite tracking this species. Both birds were released in Kelmscott, Perth, into an area frequently visited by a flock of wild Baudin’s cockatoos. Both telemetry units provided reliable datasets, with one bird moving ~250 km south from the release site. The success of this trial opens the way to address key objectives in the Forest Black Cockatoo Recovery Plan, including: postrelease survival of rehabilitated birds, flock movement, habitat use, and the identification of critical feeding and breeding habitat. Most importantly, it demonstrates that satellite transmitters can be successfully used to locate and track forest black cockatoo species, which are otherwise difficult to monitor.
Additional keywords: distribution, habitat, recovery plan, satellite telemetry.
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