Trialing Palm cockatoo nesting hollows in the Apudthama reserve

Due to the large size of the Palm cockatoo, they need large nesting hollows that can only be accommodated in trees up to 300 years of age. Unfortunately, suitable hollows are limited in the landscape, causing a housing crisis for these birds.

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The People For Wildlife team, Apudthama Land and Sea Rangers , Traditional Owners, and Palm cockatoo expert, Dr. Christina Zdenek, spent 3 weeks on the Apudthama Land Trust this month creating nesting habitat for Palm cockatoos, and saving existing habitat, as part of a 24-month research program that aims to fill knowledge gaps for this iconic species in Cape York. 

 

The field work began with 5 days navigating remote locations through Apudthama, surveying for evidence of nesting of this rare and cryptic bird. Using a combination of Dr. Christina’s knowledge acquired over 16 years working with Palm cockatoos, and modern surveillance technology, the team identified 3 main sites on which they would focus their efforts for this breeding season

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Joining the team in the field was environmental arborist and tree climber, Alexander Jardine from Heartwood Habitat, who spent ten days with the team teaching them how to create artificial wooden nesting hollows from fallen old growth trees. Alex also put the team through their paces during tree-climbing training, and taught intricate rope and pully setups for hoisting hardwood nesting hollows exceeding 200kg into the canopy.

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