To increase and relink vital habitat for the threatened Red-Tailed Black-Cockatoo, we are working in southwest Victoria to re-establish 149 hectares of Stringybark woodland. In addition to helping the cockatoos, our on-ground work will also benefit many other threatened species in these areas, such as buffering habitat for the nationally endangered Growling Grass Frog.

The Challenge

Since European settlement, South-eastern Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos have lost almost half of their feeding habitat due to land clearing. Occurring as only a single population in southeast South Australia and southwest Victoria, the endangered native bird has an estimated population of just 1,000. The cockatoos are specialist feeders who rely almost entirely on the seeds of Brown and Desert Stringybark, and seasonally on Buloke seeds. They also require very old, large, hollow eucalypts for nesting, and roosts in clumps of tall eucalypts. Food shortages have been identified as the main threat to the long-term survival of the species, with ongoing habitat loss posing another significant threat.

The Solution

To increase critical food sources for South-eastern Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos, we are establishing over 36,000 plants including Stringybarks across three sites in southwest Victoria – Rennick State Forest, Killara, an area of public land located near the township of Casterton, and the privately owned Eaglehawk Waterhole. The seeds of the Stringybark’s availability is one of the critical factors in ensuring the birds’ long-term survival. The new plantings will also serve to link 1,000 hectares of surrounding habitat to further increase the benefits of our work.

Restoration work to help the Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo will have a halo effect, benefitting a host of other threatened species with similar conservation needs. One of these is the nationally endangered Growling Grass Frog (Litoria raniformis). Also known as Southern Bell Frog, this is one of the largest frog species in Australia, with females reaching up to 104 mm in length. The amphibians vary in colour and pattern but in general are olive to bright emerald green, with irregular gold, brown, black or bronze spotting and a pale green mid-dorsal stripe. This species is found mostly amongst emergent vegetation including reeds and sedges, or at the edges of still or slow-flowing water bodies such as lagoons, swamps, lakes, ponds and farm dams. Revegetation will assist the species by acting as an important buffer between their habitat and local farms.

Efforts to re-establish habitat for the Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo contribute to Habitat 141, a fifty-year vision to restore and reconnect the iconic landscapes along the 141st longitude. This biodiversity hotspot stretches from the wild coast of South Australia, along the Victorian border, and up to the rugged rangelands of New South Wales.  We are working to restore and reconnect habitat within this highly fragmented agricultural landscape to enable species to move easily across it once again.

The project is funded through the Australian Government’s 20 Million Trees Programme (part of the National Landcare Programme).