Artificial nesting hollows for the conservation of Carnaby’s cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris: definitely not a case of erect and forget
Denis A. Saunders
A , Rick Dawson B and Peter R. Mawson C *
A Retired.
B Independent Consultant.
C Perth Zoo, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, WA 6151, Australia.
Pacific Conservation Biology 29(2) 119-129 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC21061
Submitted: 17 September 2021 Accepted: 18 January 2022 Published: 1 March 2022
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Context: Loss of nest hollows in eucalypt woodlands is a major cause of decline for a range of Australian native birds including Carnaby’s cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris, resulting in fewer nest sites for this species. Provision of artificial nesting hollows for Carnaby’s cockatoo is a recent part of approved environmental offsets under Western Australian and Australian government environment approvals processes.
Aims: We examined the continuing utility of natural and artificial nest hollows over time at Coomallo Creek, WA.
Methods: Data collected included the location of natural hollows, and their rates of utility and decay. We also installed artificial hollows and measured their use over time, as well as costs associated with their installation and maintenance.
Key results: Both nest types require repairs on average every 3–4 years. Repairs extend the working life of natural nest hollows and ensure that any artificial nest hollows established for conservation management purposes should continue to fulfil their purpose. Our results demonstrate the importance of regular maintenance to ensure hollows remain available for breeding cockatoos.
Conclusions: Artificial nest hollows provide a short-term solution to a larger problem of loss of native woodlands, but will only serve that purpose if current and future artificial nest hollows are monitored and repaired on a regular basis, and that adequate funds are provided to ensure that those nest hollows remain serviceable.
Implications: Provision and maintenance of large numbers of artificial hollows in association with restoration/replanting of woodlands in breeding areas is the only long-term solution to loss of breeding habitat.
Keywords: Calyptorhynchus, conservation offsets, cost of hollow maintenance, monitoring artificial hollows, monitoring natural hollows, natural hollow loss, nesting hollow repairs, Zanda latirostris.
References
BirdLife Australia Western Australia (2021) Southwest Black-Cockatoo recovery program. Available at https://birdlife.org.au/projects/southwest-black-cockatoo-recovery [Accessed 16 September 2021]BirdLife International (2020) Species factsheet: Zanda latirostris. Available at http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/short-billed-black-cockatoo-zanda-latirostris [Accessed 6 August 2021]
Bull, JW, Suttle, KB, Gordon, A, Singh, NJ, and Milner-Gulland, EJ (2013). Biodiversity offsets in theory and practice. Oryx 47, 369–380.
| Biodiversity offsets in theory and practice.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Commonwealth of Australia (1996) ‘State of the environment: Australia 1996’. (CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood, Australia)
Cowan, MA, Callan, MN, Watson, MJ, Watson, DM, Doherty, TS, Michael, DR, Dunlop, JA, Turner, JM, Moore, HA, Watchorn, DJ, and Nimmo, DG (2021). Artificial refuges for wildlife conservation: what is the state of the science? Biological Reviews 96, 2735–2754.
| Artificial refuges for wildlife conservation: what is the state of the science?Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 34269510PubMed |
Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment (2021) Threatened species strategy 2021–2031. Available at https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/e5a59d43-c034-4117-8dcb-3ffc5c465683/files/threatened-species-strategy-2021-2031.pdf. [Accessed 16 September 2021]
Department of Environment and Conservation (2012) ‘Carnaby’s Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) recovery plan’. (Department of Environment and Conservation: Perth, Western Australia). Available at http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/recovery-plans/calyptorhynchus-latirostris-recovery-plan. [Accessed 16 September 2021]
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Populations and Communities (2012) ‘Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 Environmental Offsets Policy’. (Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities: Canberra). Available at https://www.awe.gov.au/environment/epbc/publications/epbc-act-environmental-offsets-policy [Accessed 25 November 2021]
Government of Western Australia (2011) ‘WA Environmental Offsets Policy’. (Government of Western Australia: Perth). Available at https://www.epa.wa.gov.au/policies-guidance/wa-environmental-offsets-policy-2011-and-guidelines [Accessed 25 November 2021]
Gibbons P, Lindenmayer D (2002) Tree Hollows and Wildlife Conservation in Australia. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
IUCN (2014) ‘Biodiversity offsets technical study paper’. (International Union for Conservation of Nature: Switzerland). Available at https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/44900 [Accessed 16 September 2021]
IUCN (2016) ‘Policy on biodiversity offsets’. (International Union for Conservation of Nature: Switzerland). Available at https://www.iucn.org/downloads/iucn_biodiversity_offsets_policy_jan_29_2016.pdf [Accessed 25 November 2021]
IUCN (2021) The IUCN red list of threatened species. Version 2021-1. Available at https://www.iucnredlist.org [Accessed 31 August 2021]
Lack D (1954) ‘The natural regulation of animal numbers’. (Clarendon Press: Oxford)
Lindenmayer, DB, Welsh, A, Donnelly, C, Crane, M, Michael, D, Macgregor, C, McBurney, L, Montague-Drake, R, and Gibbons, P (2009). Are nest boxes a viable alternative source of cavities for hollow-dependent animals? Long-term monitoring of nest box occupancy, pest use and attrition. Biological Conservation 142, 33–42.
| Are nest boxes a viable alternative source of cavities for hollow-dependent animals? Long-term monitoring of nest box occupancy, pest use and attrition.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Lindenmayer, DB, Crane, M, Evans, MC, Maron, M, Gibbons, P, Bekessy, S, and Blanchard, W (2017). The anatomy of a failed offset. Biological Conservation 210, 286–292.
| The anatomy of a failed offset.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Mawson, PR, and Long, JL (1994). Size and age parameters of nest trees used by four species of parrot and one species of cockatoo in South-west Australia. Emu – Austral Ornithology 94, 149–155.
| Size and age parameters of nest trees used by four species of parrot and one species of cockatoo in South-west Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Newton, I (1994). The role of nest sites in limiting the numbers of hole-nesting birds: a review. Biological Conservation 70, 265–276.
| The role of nest sites in limiting the numbers of hole-nesting birds: a review.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Richards, B, Sullivan, M, and Mawson, PR (2020). A case study of environmental offsets for the endangered Carnaby’s Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris). Pacific Conservation Biology 26, 269–281.
| A case study of environmental offsets for the endangered Carnaby’s Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Saunders, DA (1979). The availability of tree hollows for use as nest sites by White-tailed Black Cockatoos. Australian Wildlife Research 6, 205–216.
| The availability of tree hollows for use as nest sites by White-tailed Black Cockatoos.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Saunders, DA (1982). The breeding behaviour and biology of the short-billed form of the White-tailed Black Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus. Ibis 124, 422–455.
| The breeding behaviour and biology of the short-billed form of the White-tailed Black Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Saunders, DA (1990). Problems of survival in an extensively cultivated landscape: the case of Carnaby’s cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus latirostris. Biological Conservation 54, 277–290.
| Problems of survival in an extensively cultivated landscape: the case of Carnaby’s cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus latirostris.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Saunders, DA, and Dawson, R (2018). Cumulative learnings and conservation implications of a long-term study of the endangered Carnaby’s Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris. Australian Zoologist 39, 591–609.
| Cumulative learnings and conservation implications of a long-term study of the endangered Carnaby’s Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Saunders, DA, and Ingram, JA (1998). Twenty-eight years of monitoring a breeding population of Carnaby’s Cockatoo. Pacific Conservation Biology 4, 261–270.
| Twenty-eight years of monitoring a breeding population of Carnaby’s Cockatoo.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Saunders, DA, Smith, GT, and Rowley, I (1982). The availability and dimensions of tree hollows that provide nest sites for cockatoos (Psittaciformes) in Western Australia. Australian Wildlife Research 9, 541–556.
| The availability and dimensions of tree hollows that provide nest sites for cockatoos (Psittaciformes) in Western Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Saunders, DA, Smith, GT, Ingram, JA, and Forrester, RI (2003). Changes in a remnant of salmon gum Eucalyptus salmonophloia and York gum E. loxophleba woodland, 1978 to 1997. Implications for woodland conservation in the wheat-sheep regions of Australia. Biological Conservation 110, 245–256.
| Changes in a remnant of salmon gum Eucalyptus salmonophloia and York gum E. loxophleba woodland, 1978 to 1997. Implications for woodland conservation in the wheat-sheep regions of Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Saunders, DA, Mawson, PR, and Dawson, R (2014a). One fledgling or two in the endangered Carnaby’s Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris): a strategy for survival or legacy from a bygone era? Conservation Physiology 2, cou001.
| One fledgling or two in the endangered Carnaby’s Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris): a strategy for survival or legacy from a bygone era?Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 27293622PubMed |
Saunders, DA, Mawson, PR, and Dawson, R (2014b). Use of tree hollows by Carnaby’s Cockatoo and the fate of large hollow-bearing trees at Coomallo Creek, Western Australia 1969–2013. Biological Conservation 177, 185–193.
| Use of tree hollows by Carnaby’s Cockatoo and the fate of large hollow-bearing trees at Coomallo Creek, Western Australia 1969–2013.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Saunders, DA, Dawson, R, Mawson, PR, and Cunningham, RB (2020). Artificial hollows provide an effective short-term solution to the loss of natural nesting hollows for Carnaby’s Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris. Biological Conservation 245, 108556.
| Artificial hollows provide an effective short-term solution to the loss of natural nesting hollows for Carnaby’s Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Valera, F, Václav, R, Calero-Torralbo, MÁ, Martínez, T, and Veiga, J (2018). Natural cavity restoration as an alternative to nest box supplementation. Restoration Ecology 27, 220–227.
| Natural cavity restoration as an alternative to nest box supplementation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Vaughan, C, Nemeth, N, and Marineros, L (2003). Ecology and management of natural and artificial scarlet macaw (Ara macao) nest cavities in Costa Rica. Ornitologia Neotropical 14, 381–396.
