Tagged cockies get own Facebook page as fans track their movements
Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 0:53 
High life … Party Boy and his sulphur-crested friend live it up over Sydney, where he's no stranger to Charles Miller's Kirribilli balcony.MR SQUIGGLE (016) was seen in Manly Vale. Pina Colada (005) has been chilling in North Sydney. Watermelon (011) dined in Mosman on Monday. And Party Boy (027) and his mates have been hanging out in Kirribilli.
It has always been assumed that the large flock of sulphur-crested cockatoos living in tree hollows in the Royal Botanic Gardens move through the region in search of food.
But only now, as more birds are tagged, named and numbered, are researchers - increasingly helped by public ''spotters'' - beginning to understand the extent of their movements.
''Cockatoos have always been regarded as highly mobile, and early results reflect this,'' wildlife management officer John Martin says, checking the latest sightings posted on a special cockatoo Facebook page.
Although the research project - a joint venture between the gardens and the University of Sydney - was launched only recently and with minimal promotion, Mr Martin has been amazed by the public feedback. Reports are running at 50 times the number received for a similar ibis-tagging project.
''Clearly, people feel proprietorial about cockies. They see the tags, Google to find out what they're about, and get in touch,'' Mr Martin says.
The Facebook page has been filling fast with sightings of birds with names such as Jimmy, Sharapova and CockaStu. Many come with photos.
Charles Miller snapped Party Boy on the balcony of his seventh-floor Kirribilli unit, which is visited by as many as 10 birds at a time. ''If we leave the door open, they wander inside looking for something to eat,'' he says.
Surprisingly, given their iconic status, there has been little scientific study of the famously raucous, playful, destructive birds, says joint project leader Adrian Davis, a PhD student writing a thesis on urban parrots.
Mr Martin and Mr Davis - who is nicknamed ''the cockatoo whisperer'' - hope tagging will enable monitoring of the birds, possibly over decades.
They can understand why the birds are regarded with some ambivalence by Sydneysiders, who see them damaging balconies, decks and even cars.
Mr Davis is philosophical. ''That's what cockatoos do. They do it to keep their beaks healthy.''
Although the birds cause little damage to the gardens' plants, its buildings are not immune.
A much-damaged information board opposite the gardens' offices, reads: ''We're glad the cockatoos are eating this sign instead of our building.''