Iconic birds get housing relief in their own accommodation crisis as old growth trees face the axe

One of WA’s most iconic birds is battling its very own housing crisis, as old growth trees continue to face the axe across the State.

In response to the crisis, residents of one South West community who are at the forefront of forest clearing have offered their own treetops to help house endangered black cockatoos.

Residents of Gelorup joined with Carnaby’s Crusaders last month to install 10 cockatoo nesting tubes across the suburb with one also going to the Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School to house the growing population of displaced cockatoos.

These tubes mimic the hollows found in old growth trees which are vital for cockatoos to nest and breed and have cameras installed to monitor nesting cockatoos.

The suburb has seen old growth trees destroyed since 2022 when more than 70ha of forest was removed to make way for the construction of the Bunbury Outer Ring Road.

Since the clearing, residents say they have seen a rise in the number of cockatoos competing for the few hollows which remain in the area.

Gelorup resident and Voices for Forrest independent candidate Sue Chapman said she and the community felt compelled to help provide alternative nesting hollows for the iconic birds.

“Our critically endangered black cockatoo species are being driven closer to extinction by large scale clearing of habitat and loss of breeding trees,” she said.

“Our communities of Gelorup and Stratham have noticed an increase in bird activity on local properties after the clearing of 78ha of critical feeding and nesting in our areas.”

Dr Chapman said she was hopeful ongoing monitoring would show success with the installations and the tube on site at the school would give the future generations the opportunity to admire the birds.

Carnaby’s Crusaders founder Dean Arthurell said installing the artificial nesting tubes intended to mitigate the loss of 200-year-old tuart, jarrah and muri trees which housed the natural hollows.

“What mother nature takes 200 plus years to produce, we can produce and replicate very quickly,” he said.

Mr Arthurell said the success rate of the hollows varied and they had not always proved successful.

But, of the 345 tubes he installed last year alone, they saw 90 breeding attempts from cockatoos with 76 Carnaby’s successfully hatching fledglings.

With each tube costing more than $600, the collection of 10 came with a hefty price tag for the community.

Resident Steph Crowe whose property now hosts a hollow, said it felt good to do something positive for the birds after seeing so much of their habitat destroyed.

“I think little people can make a difference, and this is hopefully going to make a difference for these birds,” she said.

Gelorup resident Neil Davies also had one of the tubes installed in his property and said he was immediately onboard when the opportunity arose.

“Once we heard this was happening we wanted to be involved because with the amount of unnecessary clearing that has gone on for the (Bunbury) Outer Ring Road we have lost a lot of big trees which had the nesting hollows required for this species,” he said.

“We’re just trying to replace what’s very close to us and has been take away. So, with these artificial tubes, hopefully we can help out.”

Mr Arthurell said from his knowledge, Gelorup was the first place around Bunbury to have the tubes installed, which was especially fortunate as the suburb is known to host all three species of black cockatoo.

“These tubes are incredibly successful with Carnaby’s,” he said.

“There are examples where red tails have used these tubes as well, but there seems to be a smaller uptake with red tails in this format, but we are constantly learning and trying new designs to see if we can improve uptake.

“There’s currently no example of a Baudin’s cockatoo breeding in any artificial vessel, so we are working on that with other projects to refine our hollow design.”

Mr Arthurell said land clearing was the single greatest impact to all Australian species.

“Seeing a large patches of remnant bushland like that around Gelorup disappear has had a monumental impact on every single species, including these beautiful black cockatoos,” he said.

Mr Arthurell said populations in the South West were overall in a stronger position compared to northern populations, with more food available and environments which are still intact in areas across the region.