The Glossy Black-Cockatoo (Kangaroo Island) is a medium-sized cockatoo about 48 cm in length and 510 to 515 g in weight, with a wing-span of approximately 90 cm. The adults are mainly black, with black-brown colouring on the head, neck and underbody, and panels of red (in males) or orange-red with black bars (in females) in the tail. The adult female also has conspicuous yellow patches on the head. These patches are absent from most males, but they may be expressed weakly in a few individuals. Juveniles of the Glossy Black-Cockatoo (Kangaroo Island) are similar in appearance to the adult male, but have tiny yellow spots on the head; yellow spots or bars on the breast, belly and flanks; yellow or orange spots on the wing (mainly on the underside); red or orange-yellow panels with black barring in the tail; a pale (rather than dark) grey bill; and a pale pink-grey (rather than dark grey) ring of skin around the eye. The Glossy Black-Cockatoo (Kangaroo Island) usually occurs in pairs, or in groups of three, which comprise a breeding pair and their offspring. Solitary males and small groups of juvenile males are also observed, as are loose flocks, which typically consist of 25 birds or less, but may comprise 50 or more birds in the post-breeding period
Kangaroo Island Glossy Black-Cockatoo |
Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus
Status: Endangered on the EPBC Act list
Government evidence of impact of climate change:
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Australian Government, Conservation Advice, Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus
Climate change may impact this subspecies in a number of ways.
Threats such as reduced resource availability; Phytophthora cinnamomi dieback and invasive weeds may also be amplified by climate change.
Climate change Increased likelihood of extreme Status current future Temperature in Australia has events (i.e.; heatwave; and drought) Confidence known increased by around 1.4 C since 1910; and is expected to continue to Consequence severe rise (BOM CSIRO 2020 IPCC Trend increasing 2021).
Climate change has led to and will continue to increase the likelihood of extreme events such as drought and heatwave (BOM CSIRO 2020); which may have adverse impacts on the subspecies; such as reducing the carrying capacity of Kangaroo Island due to increasing extreme events rendering the habitat unsuitable for the subspecies (Berris et al. 2020c).
Climate change Refine current revegetation strategy to identify and prioritise areas that are likely to continue to receive adequate rainfall to support foraging and nesting habitat in the long term (e.g. 50 100 years).
Results showed that climate change is likely to be a substantial threat to the subspecies.
An analysis done by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Threatened Species Recovery Hub also shows that a large proportion of the range of Kangaroo Island glossy black cockatoo was affected by the 2019 2020 fires 51 was burnt in high to very high severity fire; and a further 12 was burnt in low to moderate severity fire (Legge et al. 2021).
Despite the widespread severe fires; post fire surveys demonstrated that only one of the seven flocks (see Distribution) experienced significant mortality as a direct result of the fires; and that relative to the census conducted up till 2016; the overall population has continued to increase (Berris et al. 2020).
The loss of large hollow bearing trees from processes such as land clearing and wildfire is extremely problematic for the Kangaroo Island glossy black cockatoo as these large hollows may take over 100 years to form (Mooney Pedler 2005).
Habitat loss and degradation Inappropriate fire regimes Status current future Increase in frequent; large extent; Confidence known high intensity wildfires Consequence severe Wildfire is the most prominent threat currently faced by Kangaroo Trend increasing Island glossy black cockatoo.
Proposed changes include increased wildfire prevention works such as prescribed burns; mechanical vegetation removal and increased asset protection zones and buffer zones (BirdLife Australia 2021; pers comm 02 July).
An analysis by the NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub also shows that a large proportion of the range of Kangaroo Island glossy black cockatoo was affected by these fires 51 was burnt in high to very high severity fire; and a further 12 was burnt in low to moderate severity fire (Legge et al. 2021).
Despite the widespread severe fires; post fire surveys demonstrated that only one of the seven flocks (see Distribution) experienced significant mortality as a direct result of the fires; and that relative to the census conducted up till 2016; overall population has continued to increase.
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