Justification Despite this species having a moderately small population, only about 10% of individuals make up the breeding population, and numbers are in decline. The species is therefore listed as Endangered.

Family/Sub-family Psittacidae

Species name author Lear, 1832

Taxonomic source(s) Christidis and Boles (1994), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)

Identification

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

1,000-2,499

decreasing

6,000 km²

Yes

Range & population Calyptorhynchus baudinii occurs in the south-west of Western Australia, Australia, mostly between Perth, Albany and Margaret River. Breeding occurs in the far south of the range, from Nornalup north to near Bridgetown, though sometimes further north to Lowden and Harvey¹. The species has disappeared from c.25% of its range, and is thought to have declined in density over at least another 25%. Surveys during 1995-2004 suggest that the population is probably 10,000-15,000 individuals but that only c.10% of those birds make up the breeding population in any year². Many birds thought to be this species in the far south of its range are in fact Carnaby's Black-cockatoo C. latirostris, which occurs in the forest areas at a ratio of 5:1 with respect to C. baudinii². Populations are believed to be declining in response to ongoing threats.

Important Bird Areas Click here to view map showing IBAs where species is recorded and triggers any of the IBA criteria.

Ecology: Restricted to moist, heavily forested areas dominated by marri Eucalyptus calophylla, karri E. diversicolor and jarrah E. marginata. Its overall non-breeding range may be determined by distribution of marri, though it does occur in apple and pear orchards and occasionally in wandoo E. wandoo woodland¹. The species mainly feeds on the seeds and flowers of marri, as well as the seeds of Banksia, Hakea and Dryandra species, Erodium botrys and jarrah, and additionally takes insect larvae⁴. It also feeds on apple and pear seeds⁴ and is considered a pest owing to the damage it causes when extracting seeds from crops in commercial orchards^3,4. Damage to commercial fruit crops is thought to be higher during local or seasonal shortages of marri seeds, and could be related to destruction of this habitat⁴. The species may live for 25 to 50 years in the wild⁴. It breeds in large hollows of old karri, marri and jarrah^1,4 within heavily forested areas¹, although recent work suggests that there are very few nest sites, that breeding occurs very infrequently and that many nest hollows are being taken over by feral bees². Breeding data has indicated that pairs raise, on average, 0.6 chicks each year. In years of poor marri seed production, the population may fail to raise any young at all⁴. The species has a strong association with very large (greater than 1.5m diameter) and old (230-300 years) marri trees, which may exacerbate declines².

Threats Up to a quarter of the species's habitat has been cleared for agriculture, with 8,933,294 m³ of marri harvested during 1976-1998². The past and present impacts of logging for marri, initially for woodchips and now for furniture grade sawlogs, are reducing the availability of food and nesting trees. The impact of logging and woodchipping has not been quantified. Although logging of old growth forest in the south-west has now stopped, habitat loss is still likely to be causing population declines, and a sawlog industry based on marri has now been proposed with a projected minimum bole log harvest of 286,000 m³ per annum². Feral bees have been found to occupy many potential nest sites, and are known to have caused the loss of chicks and killed a brooding female². Although the species has been fully protected since 1996, illegal shooting by orchardists still occurs^2,3. It is not known whether losses from shooting exceed productivity². Continued loss of forest to mining in some areas is also an issue, since revegetation will have no impact on conservation outcomes within the lifespan of this species². Competition for nests from Wood Ducks Chenonetta jubatta is thought to be increasing as duck numbers increase in the south-west².

Conservation measures underway CITES Appendix II. Protected under Australian law since 1996. Forest management has now changed so that woodchipping apparently ceased in 2003. Research into the breeding biology of the species is ongoing but is hampered by difficulties in finding nests². An information sheet was produced by the Government of Western Australia in 2007, outlining the status of the species and promoting non-lethal control methods by orchardists, e.g. exclusion netting⁴.

Conservation measures proposed Prevent illegal shooting in and around commercial orchard areas and more vigorously enforce anti-shooting legislation. Assist orchardists in developing a non-lethal damage mitigation strategy. Continue to raise awareness of the species's status amongst orchardists and promote non-lethal control methods³. Develop and implement a feral bee control strategy. Retain mature and over-mature marri trees as nest and food sources as part of forest management prescriptions². Develop a repeatable population monitoring technique. Initiate monitoring in different parts of range.

References Garnett and Crowley (2000). P. Mawson in litt. (2003). 1. Higgins (1999). 2. P. Mawson in litt. (2004). 3. Chapman (2007). 4. DEC, Western Australia (2007a).

Further web sources of information

Australian Govt - Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000 - Recovery Outline

Text account compilers Phil Benstead (BirdLife International), Stephen Garnett (Charles Darwin University), Stephen Garnett (Birds Australia), Matt Harding (BirdLife International), Rachel McClellan (BirdLife International), Joe Taylor (BirdLife International)

Contributors Tamra Chapman (Department of Environment & Conservation, WA), Stephen Garnett (Charles Darwin University), Peter Mawson (Western Austr. Dept of Conserv. & Land Management)

IUCN Red List evaluators Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Guy Dutson (Birds Australia), Stephen Garnett (Charles Darwin University), Joe Taylor (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Calyptorhynchus baudinii. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/2/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

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