In this short post I aim to give people unfamiliar with Perth a look at the different landscapes present in the city, and how it functions as habitat for the forest red-tailed black-cockatoo.Perth is located in the southwestern corner of Western Australia, and is the capital of the state. It has a population size of just over 2 million and covers approximately 6500 sqkm. The majority of the native bushland and banksia woodland has been cleared for urban development, resulting in scattered bushland remnants and a few large native parks such as Kings Park and Bold Park.
Suitable cockatoo roosting habitat is found wherever there are large trees, often Eucalypt species, but not always. Examples include trees around sports parks and ovals, schools, university campuses, and parks.
Water is much more readily available in urban areas than in the forest. Cockatoos drink from birdbaths in peoples gardens, and frequently puddles that form on roads. The latter unfortunately makes then susceptible to car strike.Food is plentiful in urban areas, and has been the focus of my PhD research. Cockatoos feed on many native and non-native foods in urban Perth, which are scattered across the landscape. Older suburbs are usually more cockatoo friendly. Streets are lined with large trees, and many backyards will have a large old tree as well. Newer suburbs or new developments within old suburbs either have young trees that are yet to reach a useful height, or have had no trees planted at all. Examples of this can be seen in the photos below. Street trees are incredibly important for urban cockatoos (as well as other species, including humans!), but are often not prioritised in the process of urban development.
