"Endangered"

In March this year, the wonderful Gang-gang Cockatoo, Callocephalon fimbriatum, was added to the list of  endangered birds in the Commonwealth Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Gang-gangs were recently recorded at Longwarry North during the FoDT bird surveys

The Gang-gang was added to the ever-growing list of threatened species due to its decline in numbers from 1999 to 2019. It is estimated that in those 20 years, the population of Gang-gang Cockatoos declined by 69%. This decline was recorded BEFORE the 2019-220 bushfires when around 30% of the bird’s natural range was impacted. Researchers estimate the fires reduced the population of Gang-gangs by a further 10% at least.

The Gang-gang Cockatoo is endemic to south-eastern Australia where its preferred habitat is temperate eucalypt forests and woodlands. Gang-gangs feed on flowers, seeds and fruits of a wide range of native trees and shrubs from the families of eucalypts, acacias, hakeas, etc. They are also known at times to eat seeds and fruits of non-native plants in urban parks and gardens.

Gang-gangs rely on fairly large tree hollows for nesting. The same family of birds will often use the same hollows for several years in a row before moving to a different set of hollows for several seasons and returning to their original trees later on. This procedure is thought to be a means of avoiding nest parasitism.

From the EPBC Act Conservation Advice: “Gang-gang Cockatoos are adversely impacted by a range of threats including habitat loss, wildfire, climate change and competition for suitable nesting hollows.”

Female Gang-gang

The ongoing loss of suitable tree hollows due to land clearing (timber harvesting, urban development, pastoral enterprises), wildfire and inappropriate fire regimes is considered the principal cause of the decline in Gang-gang numbers.

A decision has been made at Government level to produce a recovery plan for the Gang-gang Cockatoo. This promises to be an involved and lengthy process. In the meantime, at the local level WE NEED TO SAVE OUR BIG TREES!