Hello all,
I have some exiting information to share with you all and some cute photos!! Enjoy!
By Michael Mulvaney and Larissa Dann
Like the Gang-gang Cockatoo, there are very few nest trees of the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo in our region and little is known of its nesting ecology, other than that obtained by observing caged birds. Thus it was very exciting for those of us that experienced the fledging of a boy this May from a hollow in a large Apple Box tree on Red Hill.
They nest in large hollows and usually lay two eggs but only one nestling is reared to maturity. Eggs take about 30 days to hatch and nestlings take about 90 days to develop. The breeding season is variable with eggs laid as early as March and a late as January – which was the case on Red Hill.
After the leaving the nest, the adults feed young for many months and in this case a juvenile female sibling was present during all feeding visits by the adults to the nestling. Lets hope that the family of four does well over our winter. They are likely to join up in small family flocks. Males are recognised by the red rim around their eyes.
Video and images by Larissa Dann
