Culture, community and cockatoos are the subjects of a free black cockatoo training workshop being delivered by the Peel-Harvey Catchment Council (PHCC) in partnership with the Shire of Murray and Birdlife WA.
The workshop will be held at Bindjareb Park on Sunday March 20 from 2.30-5.30pm, and will cover identification, habitat needs and food resources.
The PHCC’s Rivers 2 Ramsar project officer Jo Garvey said the program focused on enhancing the environment for black cockatoos.
“We are emphasising the importance of protecting and enhancing existing native vegetation and biodiversity to create wildlife corridors in the wider landscape, with a focus on the threatened black cockatoos,” said Jo.
The event includes a walk and talk with a representative from Murray Districts Aboriginal Association (MDAA), Karak (red-tailed black cockatoo) Dreamtime storytelling by Karrie-Anne Kearing and the chance to share some bush tucker prepared by the MDAA.
Workshop participants will have the opportunity to see some installed ‘cockatubes’ (artificial cockatoo nests) and will gain skills to identify and record black cockatoo numbers.
They are then encouraged to join in this year’s annual Great Cocky Count on April 3.
Birdlife WA cockatoo co-ordinator Adam Peck said the workshops will highlight how community members can manage bushland and enhance biodiversity to increase food, habitat and breeding sites.
“The training workshops will address actions identified in the Cockatoo Recovery Plan by offering members of the community the chance to make an informed contribution to identifying and managing threats to these birds and monitoring their population and distribution,” he said.
W.A’.s endemic black cockatoos – Carnaby’s cockatoo, Baudin’s cockatoo and the forest red-tailed black cockatoo – all live and rely on breeding sites, food and shelter across the whole Peel-Harvey Catchment. All three are listed as threatened species under state and federal legislation.
The project is supported by the Peel-Harvey Catchment Council through funding from the Australian Government. To register by March 16 call 08 6369 8800 or email admin@peel-harvey.org.au.
