Great Cocky Count Workshop Lake Clifton

Black Cockatoo eating Banksia Cone Credit: Keith Lightbody

Lake Clifton hosts a range of local wildlife, with Black Cockatoos being one of the most recognisable. Lake Clifton residents are blessed with frequent sightings of Black Cockatoos flying over-head, showering driveways with honky nuts and most excitably, taking up residence in natural hollows or Cockatubes.

Despite frequent sightings in the Lake Clifton area, the Carnaby’s Cockatoo population has decreased by over 50% in the last 45 years. Both of the south west’s two white-tailed black Cockatoo species (the Carnaby’s Cockatoo and Baudin’s Cockatoo) are listed as endangered species under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, while the Forest Red Tailed Black Cockatoo is listed as Vulnerable.

To help monitor the population of Black Cockatoos, Birdlife WA run ‘The Great Cocky Count’ a citizen science survey, involving volunteers recording Black Cockatoos flying into roosts sites on a designated Autumn evening. This year’s Great Cocky Count will be held on the 28th of March.

PHCC will be hosting Cocky Count workshops in Lake Clifton on the 14th of February to train community members, interested in taking part in the count, in the survey methodology. The event will provide information on Black Cockatoo ecology, habitat, threats and cultural significance.

If you are interested in attending the Lake Clifton Great Cocky Count Workshop, visit our website for registration details – https://peel-harvey.org.au/events/

This event is hosted by PHCC’S Banksia Woodland Project supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program and PHCC’s Lake Clifton Stewardship Project with funding from the City of Mandurah and Shire of Waroona.

The Great Cocky Count is supported through funding from The Alcoa Foundation.