Concern for cockatoos

The local population of Carnaby’s cockatoos has evidently decreased with roost sites dropping to 10, causing alarm for the survival of the species.

Baldivis Landcare Group president Jeff Anderton said he believed Carnaby’s cockatoos would be extinct in Baldivis within a decade due to lack of sustainability planning within the area.

‘‘Carnaby’s need nesting sites, they always go for the tallest trees,’’ he said. ‘‘They need a food source and a foraging area and that is what we are losing in Baldivis. We are also losing the linkages for them to travel across.’’

Mr Anderton said major urban projects needed to integrate with the environment.

‘‘All urbanisation should go on cleared land — we should have kept large tracts of land not only for the Carnaby’s but for all animals,’’ he said.

‘‘We should have kept linkage areas from the coast to the inland.

‘‘We see the odd Carnaby now, whereas before we would see flocks of 30.’’

Bird Life black-cockatoo conservation officer Tamara Kabat said results from the Great Cocky Count in April showed decreasing numbers of active roost sites in the area.

‘‘We had 10 active roosts in 2012, compared with 19 in 2010,’’ she said.

‘‘Two of the confirmed roosts in Baldivis have been cleared since the first GCC survey in 2006.’’

Ms Kabat said two roost sites were empty, whereas they previously shared more than 100 cockatoos.