Bird-watchers use iPhones to track cockatoos
Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at 1:37 
Cockatoo at the Sydney Botanical Gardens. Image by DavidGeenSydney-siders have been asked to assist in tracking sulphur-crested cockatoos using an iPhone app.
Bird-watchers have been asked to participate in a study into Sydney's surging population of sulphur-crested cockatoos.
New South Wales Environment Minister Robyn Parker says the birds were rare in Sydney 50 years ago, but their screeching presence is now commonplace.
"The sulphur-crested cockatoo is very well known in Sydney today, and not always for its good behaviour,” says Robyn. “Surprisingly for such a common bird, we really don't know a lot about it.”
Tracking cockatoos with iPhone app
Robyn says members of the public have already tracked 70 tagged cockatoos that frequent the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney, using an iPhone app called Wingtags.
So far, over 5000 sightings of these noisy parrots have been reported.
The birds tend to stay fairly close to the botanic gardens but have also been spotted taking a day-trip to the Northern Beaches or stopping over in the Sutherland Shire.
This week, the government also launched a fundraising drive to build an Android app to involve more people in the project.