Volunteers Jason Kuczek, Di Reynolds, Dave Little and Ray Turner checking mature trees. KNOCKING heard in the woods around Yanchep in coming months is unlikely to come from woodpeckers.

Yanchep National Park volunteers are tapping on the trunks of mature trees to find roosting spots of Carnaby’s black cockatoos.

Co-ordinator Kerstin Koeller said a group of five regular volunteers, and others as available, knock on mature trees to see if cockatoos are roosting there instead of migrating during the non-breeding season, from July to November.

“Usually the cockatoos go into the Wheatbelt during the non-breeding season,” she said.

“If there are any cockatoos in the hollows, they look out.”

The volunteers go out to a set transect every other Wednesday and knock on certain trees, and Miss Koeller said so far this season they had seen a couple of galahs but no cockatoos.

She said the birds, which live up to 50 years and mate for life, generally roosted in tuart trees.

“They usually nest in hollows of mature trees, not young trees because it takes 100 years for a hollow to form,” she said.

The Department of Environment and Conservation employee said the birds, which have an endangered species conservation status nationally, faced worrying challenges.

“In WA they are a schedule one – rare or likely to become extinct,” she said.