Breeding baby Red-tailed Black-cockatoos

1468 South-eastern Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos have have been recorded in the annual count. Image by Bob McPhersonThe distinctive sound of juveniles squawking coupled with a shift in gender ratio, and it looks like the South-eastern Red-tail Black-Cockatoo is breeding again.

Early results from the annual South-eastern Red-tail Black-cockatoo count show that the male population has decreased to 41 per cent from a previous 50:50 ratio, indicating signs of breeding success for the endangered bird.

South-eastern Red-tail Black-Cockatoo recovery project coordinator, Bronwyn Perryman, says this year the initial results from the count are looking a lot better than previous years.

"Early indications show we might have a good year, and it's especially good because lots of people have reported recognising the sound of the juvenile," she said.

Still compiling results from flock counts, it is difficult to get an exact ratio because of the identical appearances of females to juveniles.

Instead, birds are counted compared to males with an assumed ratio of 50:50, but since the number of males appears to be less coupled with the presence of the juvenile squawk, it looks like signs of breeding success.

Results from the recent count have also shown the highest number of birds recorded since it first commenced in 1996.

"This year we've had an excellent count result and the biggest so far," said Perryman of the 1,468 birds counted on the day.

Every year large groups of volunteers from the South East set out on a designated day to search for the elusive bird in stringybark habitats.

On 5 May 2012 a team of 160 volunteers covered more than 2600 kilometres of forest across more than 60 sites.

The Red-tail range extends to a large area from Mount Gambier to Lucindale and up to Keith in South Australia across the border from Nhill to Portland.

"We're pretty happy given that the last three years we've had pretty low counts."

Each year from 2008 there have been less than 850 birds counted, making 2012's count a welcome result, however, Perryman doesn't believe the numbers have increased, just that in previous years people went out in the day and missed birds.

"They can easily be missed, they camouflage well in the stringybark," she said.

Volunteers search in designated search zones, mostly in state forest reserves, so birds feeding on private properties can also affect the count.

"If the landholder doesn't report them, they can easily be missed.

"This year was great though, one of our landholders rang in and he had 166 birds on his property alone, so that's really important," said Perryman.

While the system may appear elusive much like the birds, Perryman is confident it is fairly accurate.

"The count gives us a minimum number to be alive, I don't think there will be too many more," she said.

Classified as nationally endangered and protected under state and federal legislation, the bird count must be over 2,500 in order to be off-list.

"Despite good numbers, it's important to remember they are threatened and that we must protect their habitats," warns Perryman.

Different from their sub-species found in other parts of Australia, the South-eastern Red-tail Black-Cockatoo feeds exclusively on seeds of brown and desert stringybark and seasonably on bull-oak.