CARNABY’S rescuer Leisa Hutchings says she has noticed fewer Carnaby’s arriving on the Swan Coastal Plain after breeding, like the birds usually do.

“What normally would happen, come January, we get a lot of rescues of Carnaby’s,” Ms Hutchings said.

She said the birds would usually have cockatoo hindlimb paralysis syndrome, otherwise known as CHiPS, which is a result of cockatoos eating seeds which have been sprayed with a pesticide or herbicide.

“Effectively they get poisoned.

“That means their legs don’t work, so they can’t perch.

“But that usually starts to hit once they’ve hit the Swan Coastal Plain.

“Very few CHiPS cases and not a lot of Carnaby’s are being seen around the area.”

Ms Hutchings said she became fascinated with the birds when she neared retirement but was already aware of them throughout her childhood.

“I’m a child of the 60s, so I was one of those who grew up seeing the big black clouds of Carnaby’s fly over and you got told that means the rain’s coming.”

She said she learned more about the birds after 2010 and got involved with protests which campaigned for cockatoos.
Environmental scientist Simon Cherriman said there are no statistics to indicate a decline in the number of Carnaby’s along the Swan Coastal Plain.

However, based on his personal observations, Mr Cherriman said he had noticed fewer birds at his local roost in Mount Helena.

“I keep an eye on it orally because birds when they wake up from the roost, wake me up so I hear whether the flock is there or how big it is.

“I’ve got a register and do it formally as well.

“And it’s certainly quiet from where I live.

“We’ve had a flock of maybe 20 Carnaby’s at our local site.

“And that’s certainly low.

“That’s a roost that should be having a couple of hundred birds in it but I’m just waiting to see what happens.

“It’s too early to call.”

Mr Cherriman said the Great Cocky Count (GCC) scheduled on April 6 would help provide information into the numbers.

“I did note that last year there were very low numbers of Carnaby’s cockatoos especially when the cockatoo count happened.

“But then several weeks later, more birds arrived.”

BirdLife black cockatoo program manager Tegan Douglas said the GCC would be an opportunity to truly assess whether numbers are really going down or whether the low numbers in one area could be accounted for by an increase in another area.

She said factors such as food, water, the distance between them, weather and long-term climatic changes influence bird movements.

“We do know that the hot 2023-2024 summer and subsequent vegetation die-off, combined with dry 2024 autumn meant birds had a late start to their breeding season last year, and with some birds deciding conditions were too poor to attempt breeding at all.

“We don’t know what the flow-on effects might be to this year, but that’s part of what the GCC will tell us.

“We don’t want to speculate on what we think we’ll see as we don’t want to influence people’s counting or participation on the night,” she said.

Ms Hutchings said she and other Carnaby’s enthusiasts have contacted the federal government numerous times to address their concerns.

“We have written loads of questions and sent them off to the government,” he said.

“We don’t always get a reply, or we get waffle back.”

However, with party business suspended due to the state and federal elections, Ms Hutchings said their questions were left unanswered.

Mr Cherriman said monthly cockatoo counts instead of an annual count would provide more accurate insight into the numbers.

“Which no one is going to do unless there are institutions that’s got funding to do that.

“It’s like going to the doctors and getting a health check,” he said.

“You don’t want to leave it and do it once every 10 years.”