New Zealand Cockatoo Populations

[OwenM]

Hi Jake, Thanks for the info on the cockatoos at Kakariki and Eketahuna. Regarding the Pohangina valley, I don’t think it’s as much of a hotspot as it once was, although I haven’t personally been there, and there could be some cockatoos hiding deep into that valley

[AlfieB77]

A flock has been present south of Owaka in the Catlins (Otago) since at least the 1980s as well, high count of 12 in 2018 but usually 10 or 11 birds.

Do you know where exactly these birds are in Owaka? I’d be keen to have a look.

[Oscar Thomas]

A flock has been present south of Owaka in the Catlins (Otago) since at least the 1980s as well, high count of 12 in 2018 but usually 10 or 11 birds.

Do you know where exactly these birds are in Owaka? I’d be keen to have a look.

Usually just south of Catlins Lake. Check eBird for the latest sightings.

[Hypno]

Was in looking at the Banks peninsula Cockatoos in Prices Valley a week back, noted they seemed harder to find and numbers lower. I asked a local resident, they told me a neighbor had "Gone war on them" They estimated numbers went from 120 to 20 or 30, and the birds understandably tend to now spend more in another valley.

[bombaydave2]

There are lots around franklin from Port waikato to kaiaua.

[chris]

Very sad to hear about the cockatoos in prices valley.i always people in for a look on the way back from kayak fishing or surf trips. The locals I've spoken to there seemed very proud of them. As do people in the wider area. I have seen them on the port hills,3, akaroa,1,birdlings flat,4,that sort of reckless behavior seems to fly in the face of the nature loving community of the area. I suggest that the neighbor might be better off moving to an area more industrialized,with low biodiversity, polluted and degraded rather than a place where threatened ecosystems,flora and fauna have survived the ecological genocide that was banks peninsula, by the tips of its fingers and where responsible locals take pride in the work they have done to restore ecological balance for the benefit of the moana, whenua, awa,tangata. Who wants their tamafreakies growing up in a sterile world. And let's not forget. The origin of this flock has still not been determined. I put out a challenge to any students out there seeking a career the rural or ecogical field to go in and find out where these birds came from.

[Nick Allen]

Before we demonise the person/people who have likely brought the numbers down in Prices Valley there is another side to the issue.

Numbers in this small valley had grown to a flock of over 130 and I was told they were doing significant damage (degradation) to a reserve in the valley where they nested and roosted, and trees elsewhere. Environment Canterbury has the species on its pest list https://www.ecan.govt.nz/pest-search/fe ... -cockatoo/

[chris]

They said the same thing when kaka first appeared in wellington. The damage they were apparantly doing even made the six o'clock news. As usual. Unverrified, unscrutinised, exagerrated and as it turned out in the end completely overstated b.s. and I challenge the truthfulness of those numbers.130 would come close to the entire population of s.c.c,s in the Whitsunday Islands mainland rainforest. Thats primary rainforest folks. Not infested and degraded second growth. I suspect the truth is far less complicated. Plain selfish intolerance.

[Nick Allen]

Here are the high count lists on eBird for Christchurch (Prices Valley) and the state of Victoria for Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.

https://ebird.org/atlasnz/checklist/S119306107
https://ebird.org/checklist/S57157218

Michael's Prices Valley count was from an area the cockatoos often fed in. I believe the main roost was a bit further up the valley. It's not too much of a stretch that another 20-40 or so were elsewhere in the valley at the time to add onto the 80 he saw.

I don't know about how much damage they were doing to the area, but the guy I was talking to didn't sound too impressed by the damage he thought they were doing, and he knew the area well.

I didn't go up the valley that much, though cockatoos did get easier and easier to find, on the times I did make a detour there from my usual birding spots, over the years.

I have to admit to being a bit ambivalent about the issue, especially without proof that the birds are native and not from escapes/releases.

[andrewcrossland]

Hi all, the species is listed from what I understand on the ECAN "surveillance" list but it is not actually declared as pest in Canterbury - this is what it says in the web link Nick posted as well.

There's no doubt that the cockatoos do damage trees, including podocarps in the Prices Valley Reserve , which is a pretty special place as accessible tall podocarp forest is now rare on Banks Peninsula. So Nick highlights some good points to consider.

But there's also an argument that the Cockatoo are simply doing something similar to what Kaka would do and there's a bunch of invertebrates that are probably benefitting from the micro-habitats being created.

At CHCH City Council we take a different view to some other agencies and consider the birds as part of the landscape now, even providing ecological services to the forest remnant. We don't see a reason why they should be exterminated. We've been approached many times over 10+ years by a local conservationist who is anti-cockatoo and strongly advocates for their extermination on Banks Peninsula. We've not been convinced by her arguments, but perhaps folks in other agencies have agreed with her concerns about plant damage? Perhaps there's also some level of prejudice against Australian birds colonising NZ? But its been happening for thousands of years.

I for one think, on balance, that its more likely that this strong-flying, dispersive species that has colonised most other satellite islands of Australia came to Banks Peninsula in 1986 as a Trans-Tasman vagrant (when over 30 turned up at once and other flocks were reported elsewhere in Canterbury), than the likelihood of someone releasing such a big number of birds, and watching thousands of dollars fly out of the window of their car?!

Surely the simple way to find out is to examine the feather lice/mites of these shot cockatoos? That should confirm a captive or wild origin.

Funnily enough, if they do turn out to be captive-origin birds then I wonder what the disease risk they pose to other birds would be? Maybe someone can explain? cheers