The corella problem

We have three species of corella in Australia: Little Corella, Cacatua sanguinea; Long-billed Corella, Cacatua tenuirostris; and Western Corella, Cacatua pastinator. The Little Corella is the most widespread and the most common species here in West Gippsland. The Long-billed Corella is mostly found in the south-east corner of SA and inland western Vic. The Western Corella is restricted to a small part of south-west WA. The three corellas are members of the cockatoo family and closely related to the familiar Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. 

The Little Corella is a small (35-39cm) white ‘cockatoo’, with a short erectile crest. It has some bare skin around the eye and some barely perceptible pink flush between the bill and the eye. 

It seems the Long-billed Corella is becoming more frequently sighted in our district with most large flocks of ‘Littles’ containing a few ‘Long Bills’ these days.

 

The Long-billed Corella (38-41cm) has a long, slender upper mandible, a distinctive red-pink bar between the bill and the eye, and an obvious pink flush on the throat and upper chest.

Corellas need fairly large tree hollows in which to nest. They mostly eat fallen seed on the ground, fruit and they particularly like to dig for corms and tasty roots of various grasses (a golf course greenkeepers nightmare!). It is not unusual to find flocks of hundreds around grain silos. 

Perhaps their most annoying characteristic, in urban situations at least, is that especially in the mornings, they collect in large noisy flocks and can damage garden trees and shrubs, orchards, crops, sporting fields, even buildings, with their chewing. 

Their presence in specific localities appears to be a seasonal thing. Eventually the flock will move on to ‘pastures new’. In the meantime, their raucous belligerence, for the most part, has to be endured. 

The Victorian Wildlife Act 1975 reminds us that “It is illegal to willfully disturb or to destroy protected wildlife”, and all native animals are protected. In theory, legally we can’t even disturb them! DEECA, the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, has fact sheet available Guidelines for Reducing Cockatoo Damage - Wildlife Management Methods, which details things you can do (practically – not much) and things you can’t do (heaps). 

Mid Murray Council SA, has a fact sheet, Little Corella Management on Private Property which perhaps gives the most practical advice for most urban dwellers at least: “… using strobe lights and flashing torches at roosting birds. This will disturb and scare birds which will cause them to seek other sites”. In other words, send them off to disturb someone else in the next suburb! 

It’s worth noting here, that in Victoria, a slingshot or shanghai, is a prohibited weapon under the Control of Weapons Act 1990. 

The German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, is known to have said “Enjoy when you can, endure when you must” or something like that – seems appropriate.

We need more trees

Biodiversity

As a nation, Australia is losing biodiversity at an alarming rate.

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water states that Australia supports somewhere between 600,000 and 700,000 species, a large proportion being endemic. Over the past 200 years we have lost more mammal species than any other country – we are world leaders! There are probably numerous species that have recently gone extinct that we don’t even know about because we are very bad at surveying and reporting our native flora, fauna and fungi populations.

Trees provide habitat

In a report in January this year, the Biodiversity Council listed the main causes of nature loss in Australia as: habitat loss or fragmentation due to land clearing and urbanization, introduction of invasive species, modification of our rivers and wetlands and climate change.

From 2000 to 2017 more than 7·7 million ha of habitat in Australia was cleared, with more than 90% of it NOT being referred to the (ineffective) Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act for approval – Society for Conservation Biology – “This noncompliance means that potential habitat for terrestrial threatened species, terrestrial migratory species, and threatened ecological communities have been lost without assessment, regulation, or enforcement under the Act.”

Credit: Carbon Positive Australia

Trees are the basis for an overwhelming variety of terrestrial ecosystems - they are the pillars of biodiversity.

Climate Change

Surely everyone by now is aware of the human effect on global warming – we are pumping too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a major greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, causing the planet to heat up.

Trees are natural carbon storage machines. Through photosynthesis, they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and lock up the carbon in their leaves, branches, trunks and roots. “… the restoration of trees ranks among the most effective strategies for climate change mitigation available today.” – Zurich Insurance Group.

“A mature eucalypt woodland can store between 70 and 195 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per hectare”  - ‘Farming Carbon’ Qld Govt..

Research conducted for Environmental Science and Policy found “From 1844 to 2010, extreme heat events have killed at least 5332 people in Australia. Since 1900, they have killed more people than the sum of all other natural hazards.”

Credit: The Coversation

Cities around the world have shown that the urban heat island effect is mitigated by planting trees that provide shade and evapotranspiration.

Urban trees provide shade

Tree planting is a simple nature-based method of cooling our urban spaces. Why oh why aren’t we doing more?

Post Script: The World Meterological Organisation has just announced that 2024 is likely to be the hottest year on record. The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, describes it as 'climate breakdown'.

 

 

Merry Christmas Blue Spruce

December 2023

May 2024

December 2024

Here's hoping