Red-tailed black cockatoo

thumb|Female, Northern Territory

thumb|Male, Northern Territory

The red-tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii) also known as Banksian- or Banks' black cockatoo, is a large black cockatoo native to Australia. Adult males have a characteristic pair of bright red panels on the tail that gives the species its name. It is more common in the drier parts of the continent. Five subspecies are recognised, differing chiefly in beak size. Although the more northerly subspecies are widespread, the two southern subspecies, the forest red-tailed black cockatoo and the south-eastern red-tailed black cockatoo are under threat.

The species is usually found in eucalyptus woodlands, or along water courses. In the more northerly parts of the country, these cockatoos are commonly seen in large flocks. They are seed eaters and cavity nesters, and as such depend on trees with fairly large diameters, generally Eucalyptus. Populations in southeastern Australia are threatened by deforestation and other habitat alterations. Of the black cockatoos, the red-tailed is the most adaptable to aviculture, although black cockatoos are much rarer and much more expensive in aviculture outside Australia. commemorating English botanist Sir Joseph Banks. The red-tailed black cockatoo also has the distinction of being the first bird from Eastern Australia illustrated by a European, as a female, presumably collected at Endeavour River in north Queensland, was sketched by Banks' draughtsman Sydney Parkinson in 1770. For many years, the species was referred to as Calyptorhynchus magnificus, proposed by Gregory Mathews in 1927 as Shaw's name had predated Latham's 1790 description. For several decades, Mathews' proposal was accepted by many authorities, although it was unclear whether the original Port Jackson reference had actually referred to the red-tailed black or, more likely, the glossy black cockatoo. In 1994, an application to conserve Calyptorhynchus banksii as the scientific name was accepted by the ICZN. The red-tailed black cockatoo is the type species of the genus Calyptorhynchus, The change was first made by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest in 1826.

In 1827, Jennings proposed the name Psittacus niger for the bird. The binomial combination had already been used by Carl Linnaeus for the lesser vasa parrot in 1758, and by Johann Friedrich Gmelin for the palm cockatoo in 1788; it was thus invalid even though both other species were already known by different names at the time. Alternate common names include Banks' black cockatoo, Banksian black cockatoo, or simply black cockatoo. Ngarnarrh or karnamarr are terms used by the Kunwinjku of Arnhem Land. In Central Australia, southwest of Alice Springs, the Pitjantjatjara term for the subspecies C. b. samueli is iranti. Karrak is a Noongar term derived from the call for the southwestern race C. b. naso. In the language of the Bungandidj of south-eastern South Australia and western Victoria this bird was called treen.

Classification

The red-tailed black cockatoo's closest relative is the glossy black cockatoo; the two species form the subgenus Calyptorhynchus within the genus of the same name.

A 2008 mitochondrial and nuclear DNA phylogenetic study of the parrots, cockatoos and related taxa by utilizing among others the yellow-tailed black cockatoo, provides confirmatory evidence for a Gondwanaland origin of the ancestral parrots in the Cretaceous period, and an Australasia divergence of the ancestral cockatoos from the parrots in either late Cretaceous (66 mya) or Paleogene (45 mya) periods depending on baseline assumptions.

Five subspecies are recognised; they differ mainly in the size and shape of the beak, the overall bird size and female colouration:

C. b. banksii is found in Queensland and, rarely, in far northern New South Wales; it is the largest subspecies by overall body size and has a moderate-sized bill. known as the south-eastern red-tailed black cockatoo, is found in southwestern Victoria and southeastern South Australia in an area bordered by Mount Gambier to the west, Portland to the south, Horsham to the northeast and Bordertown to the north. The smallest of the five subspecies, It is predominantly dependent on stands of Eucalyptus baxteri (brown stringybark), Eucalyptus camaldulensis (river redgum) and Allocasuarina luehmannii (buloke) for feeding and nesting. These tree species have been all threatened by land clearing and most remaining are on private land; possibly only 500–1000 individuals remain. The subspecies and its habitat are the subject of a national recovery plan. In 2007 local landowners are being reimbursed for assisting in regenerating suitable habitat.
C. b. macrorhynchus, given the name great-billed cockatoo by Mathews, is found across northern Australia. Although thought to be widespread and abundant, this subspecies has been little studied. It is also large and has a large beak, as its subspecific name implies. Females lack red colouration in their tails. is known as the forest red-tailed black cockatoo and is found in the southwest corner of Western Australia between Perth and Albany. This form has a larger bill, and favours marri (Corymbia (formerly Eucalyptus) calophylla), jarrah (E. marginata) and karri (E. diversicolor). Two of the most significant threats to this subspecies are illegal shooting and feral honeybees.
C. b. samueli exists in four scattered populations: in central coastal Western Australia from the Pilbara south to the northern Wheatbelt in the vicinity of Northam, and inland river courses in Central Australia, southwestern Queensland and the upper Darling River system in Western New South Wales. Birds of this subspecies are generally smaller with smaller bills than the nominate banksii.

Juvenile red-tailed black cockatoos resemble females until puberty, which occurs around four years of age, but have paler yellow barred underparts.

Several calls of red-tailed black cockatoos have been recorded. The bird's contact call is a rolling metallic krur-rr or kree, which may carry long distances and is always given while flying;

Distribution and habitat

right|thumb|Red-tailed black cockatoo (juvenile male), [[Darling Scarp, Roleystone, south-west Western Australia]]

The red-tailed black cockatoo principally occurs across the drier parts of Australia. It is widespread and abundant in a broad band across the northern half of the country, where it has been considered an agricultural pest, with more isolated distribution in the south. It is found in a wide variety of habitats, from shrublands and grasslands through eucalypt, sheoak and Acacia woodlands, to dense tropical rainforests. In other parts of the country cockatoo seasonal movements tend to follow food sources, a pattern recorded in Northern Queensland, and New South Wales. In southwest Western Australia, both extant subspecies appear to have a north–south pattern; northwards after breeding in the case of subspecies naso, while movements by subspecies samueli in the wheatbelt can be irregular and unrelated to the seasons.

Behaviour

thumb|right|In flight

thumb|right|Red-tailed black cockatoo in flight, [[Healesville Sanctuary]]

Red-tailed black cockatoos are diurnal, raucous and noisy, and are often seen flying high overhead in small flocks, sometimes mixed with other cockatoos. Flocks of up to 500 birds are generally only seen in the north or when the birds are concentrated at some food source. Otherwise, they are generally rather shy of humans. In northern and central Australia, birds may feed on the ground, while the two southern subspecies, graptogyne and naso, are almost exclusively arboreal. Nesting takes place in large vertical tree hollows of tall trees. Isolated trees are generally chosen, so birds can fly to and from them relatively unhindered. The same tree may be used for many years. Hollows can be 1 to 2 metres (3–7 ft) deep and 0.25–0.5 metres (10–20 in) wide, with a base of woodchips. A clutch consists of one or two white, lustreless eggs, although the second chick is in most cases neglected and perishes in infancy.

File:Th RedTailBlackCcockatoo1hourback.jpg|Chick at 1 hour old

File:RedTailAt1Day.jpg |Chick at 1 day old

File:RedTailAt1WeekOld.jpg |Chick at 1 week old

file:RedtailBlackCockatoo2Weeks.jpg | Chick at 2 weeks old

File:RedtailBlackCockatooAt3Weeks.jpg | Chick at 3 weeks old

File:RedTailBlackCockatoo4weeks.jpg | Chick at 4 weeks old

File:RedTailBlackCockatoo5Weeks.jpg| Chick at 5 weeks old

File:RedTailBlackCockatooAt6Weeks.jpg|Chick at 6 weeks old

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Feeding

File:Red-tailed black cockatoo (Male).jpg

File:Red-tailed black cockatoo (Female).jpg

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Although red-tailed black cockatoos feed on a wide variety of native and introduced grains, the mainstay of their diet is eucalyptus seeds. There is a specific relationship between the species and larger-fruited species of gums. These vary across Australia but include the marri in Southwest Western Australia, Darwin woollybutt E. miniata across the north of the country, E. baxteri in Victoria and the bloodwood species Corymbia polycarpa and C. intermedia in Queensland. Cockatoos bite off branchlets with clusters of seed capsules, then hold them with their feet while chewing and harvesting seeds before littering the ground with debris. Among other seeds and nuts consumed are those of Acacia, Allocasuarina, Banksia, Grevillea and Hakea, as well as berries and fruits. Cockatoos have adapted to eating some introduced plants such as the doublegee (Emex australis). There is some evidence of consumption of wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum), wild turnip (Brassica tournefortii) and melon (Citrullus or Cucumis).

Conservation status

right|thumb|A juvenile male red-tailed black cockatoo feasting on the seeds of a [[Casuarina tree on McMinn St, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia]]

The red-tailed black cockatoo is protected under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Wildlife Protection) Act 2001.

These birds are listed internationally under Appendix II of CITES, which allows international trade in live wild-caught and captive-bred specimens, if such exports are not detrimental to wild populations. However, the current Australian restrictions on commercial exports from Australia are not imposed by CITES. and is the smallest of the species. Though a June 2012 count of approximately 1500 individuals is a notable increase from the 2007 count of just 1000, it remains in danger of extinction.

C. b. graptogyne is also listed as threatened on the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. Under this Act, an Action Statement for the recovery and future management of this species has been prepared. However, it should also be noted that the red-tailed black cockatoo is listed under this Act under its previous Latin name, Calyptorhynchus magnificus. On the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria, this subspecies is listed as endangered.
The red-tailed black cockatoo is listed as vulnerable on the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995

Like many Australian cockatoos and parrots, the red-tailed black cockatoo is threatened by the thriving illegal trade in bird smuggling. High demand and high transit mortality mean that many more birds are taken from the wild than actually sold.

The Northern Territory government's plan for a restricted harvest was supported by a group of biologists who argued that a 'do-nothing approach' had failed to address illegal trafficking and that limited public funds were available for species or habitat conservation. They felt that a catastrophic collapse in the Northern Territory population was highly unlikely, and that the cockatoo would benefit from increased awareness and a greater understanding of its ecology by local landowners. There would also be a valuable contribution to the science of sustainable utilisation of wild resources.

Other experts raised serious concerns with the management plan; the famed psittacine biologist Joseph Forshaw opposed it on several grounds. He expressed concerns that, given the birds' long lifespan, recruitment problems may be masked for many years, by which time recovery of the cockatoo population may be impossible. He also feared that increasing supply would lower prices and hence lower profitability for those involved. Other groups such as the Avicultural Federation of Australia (AFA) raised concerns that populations may be aging due to lack of breeding sites, so they may be especially vulnerable to loss of juveniles which, again, may not be apparent for many years. They also feared that since adults mate for life, a bird whose partner was taken may not mate again.

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The Australian Senate inquiry into the Commercial Utilisation of Australian Native Wildlife concluded in early 1998 that routine capture and commercial use of adult wild birds should be prohibited.

Aviculture

thumb|right|Adult tame female of subspecies samueli

In the late 1990s, red-tailed black cockatoos fetched prices of $1750 in Australia and $8900 (~US$6000) overseas. Hand-raised birds can be bought for anywhere between $15,000 to $40,000 in the United States, where they are seldom seen in aviculture. Hand-reared birds are able to learn a few words and can be quite affectionate, although males may become imprinted and unlikely to breed. The red-tailed black cockatoo is the most commonly seen of the black cockatoos in captivity,

Cultural depictions

thumb|upright|Banksian Cockatoo by [[Thomas Watling, the first professional European artist to paint in New South Wales ]]

A red-tailed black cockatoo, named Karak, was the official mascot of the 2006 Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne. Promotion coincided with an implementation of initiatives to ensure the survival of the south-eastern subspecies graptogyne, as well as increased environmental awareness at the games.
A traditional story from western Arnhem Land tells of Black Cockatoo and her husband Crow, who are Bird-people, sprouting black feathers after becoming afflicted with a sickness from across the sea to the north. In fear of being buried underground, they transform into birds and fly high in the sky.
In the folklore of the Tiwi people, the red-tailed black cockatoo is said to accompany the dead to heaven.

References

Notes

Cited texts

Garnett, S. (1993) Threatened and Extinct Birds of Australia. RAOU. National Library, Canberra.

External links

World Parrot Trust Parrot Encyclopedia – Species Profiles
Website of Conservation Program of South-eastern Red-tailed Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii graptogyne)