PERTH Hills author and academic Christine Groom has just released a book titled Creating Black Cockatoo Friendly Suburbs inspired by her personal experience of her own garden in Stoneville.

“I often see black cockatoos visiting our garden to feed on our marri trees or on the banksias and hakeas planted for them,” Dr Groom said.

“There’s a pair of Carnaby’s cockatoos that breed at this time of year in an artificial hollow that was put up in the reserve at the end of our street following the Parkerville fires and they often visit to drink from our bird bath.

“It is great to hear their loud calls and the sounds of them feasting including the crunch and pop of nuts breaking in their beaks and the sounds of dropped honkey nuts hitting the tin roof of our shed.”

Dr Groom, an adjunct research fellow at the University of Western Australia and a member of Birdlife Australia, completed her PhD on Carnaby’s cockatoos in urban Perth by satellite tracking study birds and following their daily movements, and in 2020 was awarded a diploma of landscape design.

“Being able to see and hear these birds is important to me and from all the stories I have heard whenever I talk about my PhD or book, I can tell they are important to the community too,” she said.

“Carnaby’s cockatoos are part of the environment, and part of Perth Hills living, and I hope they can continue to be into the future. Their loud calls, messy feeding habits and endearing personalities make them easily recognisable to anyone living or visiting the suburbs of Perth.”

But Dr Groom warns that their numbers are declining as their habitats are lost to development and other threats.

“To help secure the future of Carnaby’s cockatoos our suburbs need to be better suited to their needs.

“Planning, landscaping and gardening with black cockatoos in mind will not only help the species but it will also create greener, cooler suburbs for everyone to enjoy.”

Creating Black Cockatoo Friendly Suburbs provides the how-to in a user-friendly way to bridge the gap for planners, policy makers, scientists, home gardeners and naturalists to help the survival of Carnaby’s cockatoos and enhance urban biodiversity.

The book takes scientific research and transforms it into an easy to read and visually pleasing practical guide that anyone can pick up and learn from, and approaches landscape design from the perspective of cockatoo ecology by considering the five main landscape needs of cockatoos: foraging, drinking, roosting, breeding and commuting.

Her book will appeal to readers interested in Australian birds, such as Carnaby’s cockatoos, the environment, landscaping, rewilding, native plants, biodiversity, conservation, home gardening, and urban planning.

Creating Black Cockatoo Friendly Suburbs is published by UWA Publishing and is available from all good bookstores and www.uwap.uwa.edu.au