Gang-gang Cockatoo

Queanbeyan Landcare has previously supported actions that sustain and preserve the habitat of our local native birds. We have been involved with the Glossy Black Cockatoo program in 2013 and the Small Birds Stepping Stones project in 2015 with significant community support for both projects.

See Our History & Achievements

Current Project

The Gang-gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum) is the official faunal emblem for the Australian Capital Territory, and only found in coastal and tablelands areas in SE Australia south of the Blue Mountains. Populations have declined by 70% over the last 3 decades due to habitat loss, in particular the removal of mature eucalypts with potential nesting hollows, and climate change.

With Gang-gang Cockatoos now listed as a threatened species, Queanbeyan Landcare is supporting ACT-led research aiming to halt further population decline.

At an initial presentation in Sept 2022, Dr Michael Mulvaney, a leader of a citizen science project in the ACT that has added considerably to our knowledge of Gang-gang ecology, provided a comprehensive summary of what is known about Gang-gang behaviour and preferences and provided this protocol now used to monitor nesting outcomes in the ACT each spring/summer breeding season:

Stage 1 in September and October 2022 involves locating and monitoring tree hollow activity;  

Stage 2 during late October/early November 2022, an endoscope on an extended pole can be used to confirm nesting in any of the identified hollows;  

Stage 3 involves close watching, around fledging time, of the hollow to determine the number of chicks that fledge and their sex.

Michael also spoke of the protocol for identifying and submitting Gang-gang feathers for DNA testing (Gang-gang Cockatoo feather collection project - Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate - Environment (act.gov.au)) and the importance of recording sightings on Canberra Nature Map - Callocephalon fimbriatum sightings - NatureMapr which contains photos and locations of the Gang-gang population recorded so far in the ACT and surrounding areas.

Queanbeyan Landcare supported this project in 2022 by coordinating the efforts of local volunteers to extend the study area into the greater Capital Region surrounding the ACT. Over 50 volunteers now report sightings and receive a regular update about Gang-gang activity reported during each breeding season. In September 2023, Dr Mulvaney and Dr Laura Rayner, Senior Ecologist with ACT Parks and Conservation Service, updated us on recent results on nesting hollow architecture, preferences, and competition observations, and further local volunteers joined the Capital Region Gang-gang Network. Read their presentation here.

A comprehensive guide prepared by the Red Hill Regenerators for those undertaking Gang-gang observations can be found here.

If you wish to be involved in this project please contact us at secretary@queanbeyanlandcare.org.au

More general information can be read across these links below.