Fauna Spotters logo

Glossy Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami)

The Glossy Black Cockatoo is a small Australian black cockatoo that feeds almost exclusively on sheoak cones and nests in large tree hollows. It occurs across eastern Australia, with the endangered Kangaroo Island subspecies restricted to Kangaroo Island, so clearing, fire, hollow tree removal and fragmentation require careful controls on development sites.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Endangered.

Queensland, Nature Conservation Act 1992: Vulnerable.

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Vulnerable.

Victoria, Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988: Vulnerable.

South Australia, National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972: Endangered.

Australian Capital Territory, Nature Conservation Act 2014: Vulnerable.

Breeding season

Timing varies across the range. The clearest supplied breeding data are for Kangaroo Island, where laying is recorded from January to July, mostly before the end of March. The ACT account records hatching from April to September.

For project timing, confirm local breeding records and recent feeding or nest signs before works. The supplied documents do not establish one breeding calendar that applies uniformly across every Australian population.

  • Breeding: Eggs are laid from January to July on Kangaroo Island, with most laid before the end of March. January to March is the peak laying period in the supplied account.
  • Young: Hatching is recorded from April to September in the ACT account. Nestlings remain in the hollow for about 3 months, followed by at least 3 to 4 months of post-fledging dependence.
  • Movement and flocking: Birds occur on Kangaroo Island throughout the year. Flock size increases in late winter after breeding and decreases in late summer as the breeding season begins. Traditional communal roost use is particularly noted in spring.
  • Highest clearing risk: Clearing from January to March can affect laying and active nests. Clearing from April to September can affect eggs, nestlings and dependent fledglings. Hollow trees, sheoak feeding habitat and roost stands may be used outside these periods as well.

Identification

The Glossy Black Cockatoo is the smallest Australian black cockatoo. It is quiet and unobtrusive compared with several other cockatoos, and feeding sign can be easier to detect than the bird itself.

It is a small black cockatoo with a small crest, brown tinging on the head and a red panel in the tail. The male has a distinctive red tail panel. The female has large yellow patches around the head and neck, with orange-red and black horizontal barring across the tail. Juveniles can show yellow wing spots and yellow barring on the underparts.

Body length: About 48 cm.

Weight: Not stated in the supplied documents.

Identification: Distinguishing features

On Kangaroo Island there are no similar species identified in the survey guidelines. Elsewhere, compare it with the larger Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, which has a larger crest and louder, more discordant calls. The Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo has a yellow ear patch and yellow tail panel.

Identification: Field signs and detection

Feeding birds may be located by the clicking of the mandibles, calls and the sound of falling cone debris. The species often flies off when approached closely, but may spend hours feeding in one tree.

Freshly chewed sheoak cones are useful field evidence. White cones are generally from the previous 24 hours, cream cones from within about a week, orange cones from within about six weeks, and brown or grey cones may be up to a year old.

Nests are in tree hollows, commonly in dead spouts or limbs of living or dead eucalypts. The nest hollow is about 26 cm wide and can be up to 1.4 m deep. There are no tracks, scats, sloughs or eyeshine indicators described in the supplied documents.

Detection periods: The first or last 2 hours of daylight are generally the most productive for calls and active birds.

  • Search sheoak stands on foot for recently chewed cones and listen for mandible clicking, falling debris and contact calls.
  • For the Kangaroo Island subspecies, the survey guideline recommends 5 hours of area searching over 1 day for each area of 50 ha or less, and 20 hours over 4 days for targeted searches for feeding signs or nests.

Distribution: National range

The species occupies the eastern part of Australia, from coastal forests to tablelands and inland woodland patches. The Kangaroo Island subspecies is geographically isolated from the mainland population.

The nominate subspecies occurs through the eastern one-third of New South Wales, from the coast to the tablelands, with further populations on the western slopes and plains. In New South Wales it occurs from areas such as Pilliga and Goonoo to the Weddin Mountains, and in an isolated Riverina population.

The species also occurs in south-eastern Queensland and Victoria. The central eastern Queensland population is the subspecies C. l. erebus. In the Australian Capital Territory it occurs in open forest and woodland, including reserves around Canberra, generally up to about 1,000 m elevation.

The Kangaroo Island subspecies, C. l. halmaturinus, now occurs only on Kangaroo Island. It was formerly present on the South Australian mainland, and occasional mainland reports are unconfirmed in the supplied survey account.

Distribution: Strongholds and subpopulations

In the ACT, major nesting and feeding areas include Mount Majura and Mount Ainslie. Other recorded ACT sites include Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve, the Pinnacle Nature Reserve, the Australian National Botanic Gardens, Kowen Forest Park and Rob Roy Nature Reserve.

The Kangaroo Island population is loosely divided into six flocks. In New South Wales, most of the population is associated with state forests and the National Park Estate, while the inland Riverina population is isolated.

Distribution: Population estimates and trend

Population estimates vary between the supplied sources and should be treated as broad estimates. The ACT factsheet estimates about 10,000 adults remain in the wild across Australia. The NSW review estimates about 12,000 mature birds globally for the nominate subspecies, with low reliability, including about 8,400 in New South Wales. The 2005 recovery plan estimated 290 to 300 birds for the Kangaroo Island subspecies, including about 200 mature individuals.

Estimated Australian adults: About 10,000, according to the ACT factsheet.

Nominate subspecies mature individuals: About 12,000 globally, with low reliability; about 8,400 were estimated in New South Wales.

Kangaroo Island subspecies: About 290 to 300 birds, including about 200 mature individuals, in the 2005 recovery plan.

Trend: The Kangaroo Island population was reported as stable or gradually increasing after conservation management. The nominate subspecies was assessed as decreasing with medium reliability in the NSW review, although reporting rates had not changed significantly over the assessed period.

Habitat: Habitat types

Glossy Black Cockatoos need a combination of sheoak feeding habitat and hollow-bearing eucalypts. They can use intact woodland, isolated paddock trees and remnant patches, but fragmentation can increase the distance between food and nest sites.

The species inhabits eucalypt open forest and woodland with hollow-bearing trees and a sheoak midstorey. It also uses isolated trees in remnant patches surrounded by cleared agricultural land.

On Kangaroo Island, habitat is usually dominated by Drooping Sheoak, Allocasuarina verticillata, for feeding, with large hollow-bearing eucalypts for nesting and roosting. In New South Wales, key food trees include Forest Sheoak, A. torulosa, Black Sheoak, A. littoralis, Drooping Sheoak and Belah, Casuarina cristata.

Habitat: Structure and elevation

Retain mature sheoak stands, mature and near-mature eucalypts, dead limbs and standing dead trees where safe to do so. Suitable nest trees are often more than 100 years old, so replacement planting does not provide an equivalent nesting resource for well over 100 years.

The species occurs in open forests and woodlands of the coast and Great Dividing Range to about 1,000 m elevation in the ACT account. No narrower climate limit is given in the supplied documents.

Recorded elevation limit: Up to about 1,000 m in the ACT.

Important nest trees on Kangaroo Island: Sugar Gum, Eucalyptus cladocalyx, and South Australian Blue Gum, E. leucoxylon.

Habitat: Development site implications

Assess both feeding and nesting habitat. A site without a currently occupied nest may still be important if it contains sheoak stands, recently chewed cones, hollow-bearing eucalypts or traditional roost trees.

Avoid clearing connected feeding and nesting habitat where possible. Where clearance cannot be avoided, the South Australian recovery team specified legal protection of remaining habitat and additional planting under legal protection that produces a net gain of habitat critical to survival.

  • Map all sheoak stands, hollow-bearing eucalypts, dead spouts, nest trees, roost stands and recent feeding sign before clearing.
  • Keep feeding patches connected to nest and roost resources where practicable, because long commuting distances can reduce foraging efficiency and breeding productivity.

Foraging habitat: Diet and food plants

Glossy Black Cockatoos are specialised sheoak feeders. They select particular trees and cones, and may remain in one feeding tree for hours.

The species feeds almost exclusively on sheoak seeds taken from cones in living trees. Key food plants include Forest Sheoak, Allocasuarina torulosa, Black Sheoak, A. littoralis, Drooping Sheoak, A. verticillata, and inland Belah, Casuarina cristata. Other recorded inland food plants include Stringybark Sheoak, A. inophloia, A. diminuta, A. gymnanthera and sometimes Buloke, A. luehmannii.

Food trees are obligate seeders that are generally killed by fire, except for mature Forest Sheoak. Drought can greatly reduce cone production, reducing food supply and the seedbank available for regeneration.

Foraging habitat: Foraging behaviour and range

Foraging is arboreal and birds are highly selective of both trees and cones. They often return to particular trees and spend most of the day feeding, especially during the breeding season.

Pairs may move up to 12 km between breeding and feeding areas. The species can disperse up to 60 km, while occasional movements between Kangaroo Island flocks may reach 70 km. Most movements are local, but fragmented habitat can make commuting energetically inefficient.

Local breeding to feeding movement: Up to 12 km.

Dispersal capacity: Up to 60 km.

Kangaroo Island movement between flocks: Occasionally up to 70 km.

  • Search beneath sheoaks for chewed cones and check their colour and condition to estimate how recently feeding occurred.
  • Retain mature sheoak stands and the trees used repeatedly for feeding, including stands near known nest trees and roost sites.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding depends on large hollow-bearing eucalypts near reliable sheoak feeding habitat. Pairs defend the immediate nest area but range widely while feeding.

Glossy Black Cockatoos breed semi-colonially. A pair generally raises no more than one chick per year if successful. The nestling remains dependent after fledging, and young may stay with their parents until the next breeding season or until the following year's young fledge.

Breeding season: Eggs are laid from January to July on Kangaroo Island, mostly before the end of March. The ACT account records young hatching from April to September.

Clutch size: Usually one egg.

Incubation: About 1 month.

Nestling period: About 3 months.

Post-fledging dependence: At least 3 to 4 months; young may remain with parents until the next breeding season or longer.

Age at maturity: Not stated in the supplied documents.

Lifespan: More than 15 years.

Generation length: Estimated at 15 years.

Breeding habitat: Nest habitat

Nests are placed in hollows in living or dead eucalypts, commonly in a dead spout in a living tree. On Kangaroo Island, nests are usually in 20 to 40 m tall living Sugar Gums or South Australian Blue Gums, although hollows in stumps, limbs and trunks are also used.

Nest hollows are about 26 cm wide and up to 1.4 m deep. Many nest trees are reused in successive years, and up to three active nests may occur in one tree. Pairs defend only the immediate area around the nest hollow.

Typical nest tree height on Kangaroo Island: 20 to 40 m.

Nest hollow width: About 26 cm.

Nest hollow depth: Up to 1.4 m.

  • Retain occupied and unoccupied hollow-bearing eucalypts, including dead limbs and standing dead trees where safety requirements allow.
  • Protect the surrounding sheoak feeding habitat and the movement route between nest trees and feeding patches.
  • Treat mature and near-mature eucalypts as future nesting resources, because suitable hollows form over long periods.

Sheltering habitat: Roosts and refuge trees

The species roosts in trees and uses traditional communal roost sites, particularly during spring. Large eucalypts provide both nest hollows and roosting structure.

Glossy Black Cockatoos roost communally. Traditional roost sites are used particularly in spring, and most documented Kangaroo Island roosts are in Sugar Gum stands.

The supplied documents do not provide a standard roost tree diameter, hollow entrance dimension beyond nest hollows, or a defined roost buffer. Retain mature eucalypt stands near feeding habitat and avoid unnecessary night-time or early morning disturbance.

Typical documented roost habitat: Sugar Gum stands on Kangaroo Island.

Season of particular roost use: Spring.

  • Inspect mature eucalypt stands for repeated roost use before clearing or major construction.
  • Schedule noisy work away from known roosts where practicable, especially during spring flocking and the breeding season.
  • Retain hollow-bearing trees and large dead limbs where they can be made safe without removal.

Threats: Clearing and fragmentation

The main project risks are loss of sheoak feeding habitat, removal of hollow-bearing eucalypts, fragmentation, frequent or intense fire and disturbance of small or isolated populations. Disease and nest predation also require attention, particularly for the Kangaroo Island subspecies.

Clearing for agriculture, settlements, subdivision, infrastructure and urban expansion removes both food trees and nest hollows. Fragmentation increases the distance between feeding and breeding sites and may reduce foraging efficiency, chick growth and breeding productivity.

On Kangaroo Island, all remnant Drooping Sheoak was defined as habitat critical to survival in the recovery plan. Large eucalypts with suitable hollows were also identified as critical habitat components.

  • Avoid clearing sheoak stands, hollow-bearing eucalypts, known nest trees and traditional roost stands.
  • Map and protect habitat in existing subdivisions and retain links between feeding, nesting and roosting areas.
  • Do not treat newly planted eucalypts as an equivalent short-term replacement for mature hollow-bearing trees.

Threats: Fire and drought

Frequent fire can remove sheoak seedbanks, reduce regeneration and destroy nest trees. Climate change may increase fire frequency and intensity, while drought reduces cone production and breeding rates.

An intense 2007 fire in Goonoo National Park burned 40 per cent of the park and destroyed all 24 known nest trees in the reserve.

  • Keep known feeding and nesting habitat locations available to fire management authorities.
  • Prevent unnecessary high-frequency burning in sheoak feeding habitat and protect hollow-bearing trees during fire planning where practicable.

Threats: Predators, nest competition and disease

On Kangaroo Island, unprotected nests have a high failure rate, principally because of Common Brushtail Possum predation. Habitat fragmentation can also increase nest predation and competition for hollows from common cockatoos such as galahs and corellas.

Psittacine beak and feather disease has been detected in Glossy Black Cockatoos. The Australian Government rates the risk as high for the small, isolated Kangaroo Island population.

Documented nest predator: Common Brushtail Possum.

PBFD risk for Kangaroo Island population: High, because the population is small and isolated.

  • Avoid actions that increase access to active nests or disturb protective nest management.
  • Use hygiene and quarantine procedures when handling birds, nest materials, equipment or captive and rehabilitated parrots, following current wildlife disease protocols.

Threats: Other project risks

The supplied documents do not identify a species-specific road mortality pattern or hydrology change as a principal threat. They do identify visitor pressure, grazing that suppresses sheoak regeneration, Phytophthora spread through soil movement, and land clearance as relevant risks on Kangaroo Island.

  • Keep vehicles and earthmoving equipment out of sheoak stands and known nest or roost areas where practicable.
  • Manage soil movement and hygiene to reduce the risk of transferring Phytophthora into Glossy Black Cockatoo habitat.
  • Control livestock access where grazing is preventing sheoak regeneration.

Survey methodology: 1. Area searches and transects

Survey design must match the local population and habitat. For the Kangaroo Island subspecies, the Australian Government guideline recommends area searches and targeted searches in drooping sheoak habitat, supported by observations of birds, calls and feeding signs.

Search on foot through areas of sheoak for birds, calls, feeding sounds and recent feeding sign.

For the Kangaroo Island subspecies, search each area of 50 ha or less for 5 hours over 1 day, with morning and evening observation periods.

Give priority to the first and last 2 hours of daylight, when birds are most active.

Record chewed sheoak cones, noting that white cones are usually from the previous 24 hours, cream cones are usually less than 1 week old, orange cones are usually up to about 6 weeks old, and brown or grey cones may be up to 1 year old.

Use quiet movement and listening because the birds can be unobtrusive, although feeding birds may be located by the clicking of their mandibles and falling cone debris.

Survey methodology: 2. Targeted searches for feeding and nesting habitat

Undertake targeted searches for feeding signs, nest hollows, roosts and suitable hollow-bearing trees where clearing could affect sheoak or eucalypt habitat.

For the Kangaroo Island subspecies, use 20 hours over 4 days for targeted searches.

Inspect sheoak stands and remnant trees in cleared areas because the birds may use isolated trees and small remnant patches.

Search large living or dead eucalypts for hollows, including dead spouts, hollow limbs and trunk hollows used for nesting.

Treat repeatedly used nest trees and traditional communal roost sites as high priority features for retention and protection.

Survey methodology: 3. Observation and call detection

Watch from suitable ground vantage points and record flying birds, feeding birds, pairs, family groups and flocks.

Listen for contact calls before and during flight, and for the sound of breaking cones and falling debris.

Interpret absence cautiously because non-breeding birds may rest quietly during the middle of the day.

For the Kangaroo Island subspecies, survey throughout the year if required because birds are present on the island year round, but give particular attention to the breeding period and the first and last 2 hours of daylight.

Survey methodology: 4. Account for movements and habitat use

Survey both feeding and nesting areas because birds may move locally between them, usually by up to 12 km on Kangaroo Island and, in some cases, up to 70 km between flocks.

Map sheoak feeding stands, hollow-bearing eucalypts, nest trees, roosts and links between retained patches.

In eastern Australia, consider that birds can disperse widely, with movements of up to 60 km reported, but that long commutes between feeding patches may reduce foraging efficiency.

Record survey date, start and finish time, weather, observer effort, search area, habitat condition, birds detected and all feeding or nesting signs.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Use the Australian Government survey effort guide for the Kangaroo Island subspecies where that subspecies may occur: 5 hours over 1 day for each area of 50 ha or less, or 20 hours over 4 days for targeted searches.
  • Do not treat the guideline as a substitute for site-specific survey design where the project may affect important feeding, nesting or roosting habitat.
  • Survey at suitable times and conditions, document any departures from the guideline, and explain why the alternative method is fit for purpose.
  • Submit confirmed sightings, feeding signs, nest records and survey results to the relevant state or territory wildlife database, and provide records required by the project approval or fauna management plan.

Before habitat disturbance: 1. Avoid and minimise habitat loss

Avoiding habitat loss is the first control. Glossy Black-Cockatoos depend on sheoak seed sources and hollow-bearing eucalypts, and slow regeneration means that replacing mature trees with seedlings does not provide an equivalent short-term resource.

  • Retain mature sheoak stands and individual sheoak trees used for feeding.
  • Retain large hollow-bearing eucalypts, including live and dead trees, near feeding areas and retain near-mature eucalypts that can form hollows in the future.
  • Avoid clearing nest trees, communal roosts and habitat links between feeding and nesting areas.
  • Design the project to retain connected woodland patches and minimise the distance between retained feeding and nesting habitat.
  • Do not rely on planting eucalypt seedlings as an equivalent replacement for mature hollow-bearing trees, because suitable hollows may take well over 100 years to form.

Before habitat disturbance: 2. Confirm approvals and plan the works

  • Check whether the proposed action may significantly affect the nationally listed taxon and obtain advice on referral under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 before works begin.
  • Check the relevant state or territory listing, development controls, vegetation clearance rules, wildlife permit requirements and fauna handling authorisations.
  • Prepare a fauna management plan that maps feeding habitat, nest trees, roosts, retained vegetation, access routes, exclusion areas, stop-work triggers and the authorised fauna spotter catcher.
  • Stage clearing so that retained sheoak stands and hollow-bearing eucalypts remain available while works proceed in other areas.
  • Schedule works to avoid the breeding period where site information indicates that breeding birds, active nests or dependent young may be present; the Kangaroo Island guideline records egg laying mainly from January to July, mostly before the end of March.

Before habitat disturbance: 3. Prepare the site

  • Complete a pre-clearance survey using area searches and targeted searches for birds, feeding sign, nest hollows, roosts and suitable hollow-bearing trees.
  • Mark all retained sheoak, nest trees, hollow-bearing eucalypts, roosts and habitat links before machinery enters the site.
  • Install exclusion fencing or other clearly visible controls around retained habitat where they can be maintained safely during construction.
  • Brief machinery operators, supervisors and the fauna spotter catcher on the marked exclusion areas and the procedure for stopping work.
  • Inspect the work area each day before clearing because birds can move between feeding and nesting areas and may use habitat at different times.

During habitat disturbance: 1. Daily work controls

Clearance should proceed under direct ecological control. The fauna spotter catcher must have authority to stop work when a bird, active nest or previously unrecorded habitat feature is found.

  • Complete a daily pre-start inspection of the work zone, retained habitat, marked trees, exclusion fencing and access tracks.
  • Keep machinery outside marked exclusion areas unless the fauna management plan specifically allows entry and the fauna spotter catcher is present.
  • Use a slow, staged approach to clearing so the fauna spotter catcher can inspect vegetation and observe bird movement before each tree or patch is disturbed.
  • Stop work if a Glossy Black-Cockatoo enters the active work area, if an active nest or dependent young is found, or if an unmarked hollow-bearing tree, roost or feeding stand is identified.
  • Obtain approval from the project ecologist or relevant wildlife authority before changing the approved clearing method or removing a retained habitat feature.

During habitat disturbance: 2. Fauna spotter catcher procedures

  • Keep the fauna spotter catcher in a position where machinery movements, felled vegetation and the escape path can be observed.
  • Do not chase, catch or handle a healthy free-flying bird unless handling is authorised and necessary to prevent immediate harm.
  • If a bird is found, pause the activity, keep people and machinery back, allow the bird to leave naturally where safe, and record its location and behaviour.
  • Use only an appropriately authorised person for capture, examination, transport or release.
  • Release a captured healthy bird only into nearby retained habitat that is safe, suitable and approved under the fauna management plan.

During habitat disturbance: 3. Hollows and other habitat features

  • Treat hollow-bearing eucalypts as high priority habitat features and do not fell them unless the approved action specifically allows it.
  • Inspect any approved hollow-bearing tree before disturbance for birds, eggs, chicks and other fauna, using a suitably qualified person and the methods approved for the project.
  • If a tree containing an active nest, chick or dependent young is identified, stop work and obtain species-specific ecological and wildlife authority advice before proceeding.
  • Retain felled sheoak material and other suitable woody debris where approved, because sheoak trees provide the species' food resource and habitat structure supports local use.
  • Do not move logs, rocks, burrows or other fauna habitat features unless the fauna management plan specifies how they will be checked, moved and reinstated.

During habitat disturbance: 4. Injured animals and records

  • Place an injured bird in a quiet, secure container only if the handler is authorised and capture is necessary for its welfare.
  • Transfer an injured bird promptly to an avian veterinarian or approved wildlife carer, and record the receiving organisation and time of transfer.
  • Record each fauna interaction, including date, time, location, habitat feature, action taken, handler, outcome and any photographs or permit details.
  • Report a death, injury, nest failure, suspected disease or repeated disturbance to the project ecologist and the relevant wildlife authority.
  • Apply the stop-work trigger whenever the authorised fauna spotter catcher cannot safely inspect the next clearing area or cannot maintain control of the work zone.

After habitat disturbance: 1. Complete post-clearance checks

Controls remain in place until the work area is checked and the retained habitat is secure. Post-clearance records should show whether the project affected feeding, nesting or roosting use.

  • Inspect the cleared area and retained habitat for injured or displaced birds, active nests, chicks, damaged hollows and newly exposed feeding signs.
  • Check that all marked sheoak, hollow-bearing eucalypts, nest trees, roosts and habitat links were retained as approved.
  • Remove exclusion fencing only when the project ecologist confirms that machinery, vehicles and construction activities no longer threaten the retained habitat.
  • Document all departures from the approved clearing footprint and investigate any damage to retained trees or habitat.

After habitat disturbance: 2. Monitor retained habitat

  • Monitor retained sheoak feeding stands, hollow-bearing eucalypts, nest trees and roosts at the frequency and duration set by the approval or fauna management plan.
  • Use repeat area searches, observations, calls and fresh chewed cones to detect continued use.
  • Record breeding activity, nest use, flock movements, tree damage, fire impacts, grazing, weeds and changes in sheoak regeneration.
  • Review monitoring results with the project ecologist and change site controls if birds stop using retained habitat or new impacts are detected.

After habitat disturbance: 3. Reporting and offsets

  • Submit the final fauna and habitat report to the approval authority and relevant state or territory wildlife database where required.
  • Report confirmed Glossy Black-Cockatoo records, nests, roosts, feeding signs, injuries and deaths with accurate coordinates and dates.
  • Apply any approved offset or compensation requirement only after avoiding and minimising clearing, and ensure the measure protects habitat under the relevant legal mechanism where required.
  • For South Australian habitat, use the recovery program's stated offset approach where applicable: legal protection of remaining habitat where practicable and additional planting under legal protection that produces a net gain of habitat critical to survival.

Rehabilitation actions: 1. Restore feeding habitat

Rehabilitation should restore the food trees and nesting structure used by the local population. It must be planned over decades because sheoak regeneration and hollow formation are slow.

  • Plant the locally appropriate sheoak food species used by the population, including Drooping Sheoak, Allocasuarina verticillata, for the Kangaroo Island and South Australian context.
  • For eastern populations, use the local food species recorded for the site, such as Forest Sheoak, Allocasuarina torulosa, Black Sheoak, Allocasuarina littoralis, Drooping Sheoak or Belah, Casuarina cristata, as appropriate to the region.
  • Prioritise plantings near retained feeding areas, known nests and habitat links rather than creating isolated patches.
  • Protect plantings from grazing, repeated burning, browsing and weeds until natural regeneration is established.
  • Monitor survival, canopy development, cone production, regeneration and fresh feeding sign, and replace failed plantings where the approved rehabilitation plan requires it.

Rehabilitation actions: 2. Retain and develop nesting structure

  • Protect mature and near-mature Sugar Gum, Eucalyptus cladocalyx, South Australian Blue Gum, Eucalyptus leucoxylon, and other locally suitable hollow-bearing eucalypts.
  • Retain standing dead trees where they are safe because Glossy Black-Cockatoos use hollows in live or dead eucalypts.
  • Do not assume that artificial hollows or nest boxes will replace natural nest trees; the South Australian recovery plan records that birds on eastern Kangaroo Island had not successfully bred in artificial hollows.
  • If nest boxes or artificial hollows are proposed, obtain species-specific advice, place them only under an approved plan, and monitor occupancy and breeding success.

Rehabilitation actions: 3. Manage fire, grazing and disease risks

  • Use a fire regime that avoids repeated or excessively frequent burning of sheoak stands and protects hollow-bearing trees.
  • Include wildfire response planning for mapped feeding, nesting and roosting habitat, and brief fire authorities on those locations before the fire season.
  • Exclude livestock from regenerating sheoak and other rehabilitation areas where grazing would suppress recruitment.
  • Prevent soil and equipment movement that could spread Phytophthora into South Australian Glossy Black-Cockatoo habitat where that risk is identified.
  • Apply hygiene, quarantine and wildlife handling procedures that reduce the risk of psittacine circoviral disease, particularly for the isolated Kangaroo Island population.

Rehabilitation actions: 4. Measure rehabilitation success

  • Set site-specific targets for retained mature sheoak area, sheoak survival and regeneration, protection of hollow-bearing trees, connectivity between retained patches, and use by Glossy Black-Cockatoos.
  • Use repeat searches for birds, calls, fresh chewed cones, nest occupancy and roost use to assess whether the restored area is being used.
  • Monitor for at least the period required by the approval, recognising that planted eucalypts will not provide replacement nest hollows for well over 100 years.
  • Record failures caused by drought, fire, grazing, weeds, disease or poor establishment, and implement corrective actions through the rehabilitation plan.

Sources