Glossy Black-Cockatoo Birding Day (SEQ, NE NSW)

I received a forwarded copy of the following email. It may be of interest to conservation minded birders in the region. Details are available at www.glossyblack.org.au

Regards, Laurie.

Dear Glossy Black-Cockatoo enthusiasts

was National Threatened Species Day which is held on 7 September each year to commemorate the death of the last Tasmanian tiger in Hobart Zoo in 1936. Threatened species day is the precursor to a range of activities for Threatened Species Week and here in Queensland there are a number of activities that have been planned for the coming days. This year also has the theme”Time for Action” associated with the events of the week and it is therefore an opportune time to let everybody know about the plans for holding a second Glossy Black-Cockatoo Birding Day where you can be active in a regional conservation initiative. As many of you will be aware the Glossy Black-Cockatoo is listed as ‘vulnerable’ under both Queensland and NSW legislation, but we still have very little information about the actual status and trends within these regional populations.

Last year many of you were involved in the inaugural Glossy Black- Cockatoo Birding Day that was held on the Gold Coast in May. This event was very successful and provided the first assessment of the status of the cockatoo population on the Gold Coast. To summarise the sterling efforts made by our volunteers we recorded 51 individuals from surveys of 62 km² of habitat. The results of the survey were eagerly awaited, and gained much support from members of the Glossy Black Conservancy (www.glossyblack.org.au). For those interested in the details I have attached a PDF report that was compiled summarising the results from this inaugural survey.

This year the event has been moved to October (31 October to be precise) hence the extended silence in case you were wondering whether there would be another survey. There have however, been some significant changes to the surveys planned for the birding day. The most notable of these is that the coverage of the survey has been extended beyond the boundaries of the Gold Coast to include neighbouring council regions within SEQ and northern NSW. The desire to extend the survey to include these additional areas is a testament to the benefits information gathered on the species from such an intensive birding day can provide.

One of the other changes stemming from the extended coverage in SEQ and northern NSW is that these LGAs will each have their own regional coordinator who will oversee the registration of volunteers interested in participating in this years event. I will still be coordinating the event for the Gold Coast and would be very happy to hear from any of you should you wish to assist again in October. The survey will be conducted following similar procedures to the 2009 survey (e.g. surveying a defined 1km² site periodically throughout the day from dawn to dusk) and further information is currently available, and will be added to the Glossy Black Conservancy website (www.glossyblack.org.au) in the coming weeks. Once again workshops will be held to assist volunteers in identification of the species as well as capturing data in the field. A final development is that the scope of the surveys have received considerable support from a number of conservation minded partners. So much so that we are able to offer a range of fantastic prizes to those participating and completing reporting sheets for the full day. These prizes include mid-week accommodation getaway packages to Mt Barney Lodge in the Scenic Rim, passes to both Australia Zoo and Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, memberships to regional bird groups (e.g. BrisBOCA), as well as a copy of the book “Cockatoo” by Matt Cameron.

The actual birding day is still some time away (31 October) so this gives you plenty of opportunity to sign on yourself, but also to spread the word amongst your friends and colleagues to see if we can increase the number of eyes on the ground come October. I’ve also attached a copy of a flyer promoting the event if you feel the urge to post this on your local community noticeboard. If you are interested in participating, or want to know more about the birding day please drop me a line, I’d be happy to hear from you.

Yours in conservation Guy

Dr J.G. Castley Senior Research Fellow International Centre for Ecotourism Research The Griffith School of Environment Gold Coast campus Griffith University, QLD, 4222 Australia============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au

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