Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2007L01320:body:0:p5
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2007L01320
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 10966–13736

(68%) were on private land.

2. Threats

Threats have been identified through a number of studies on the South-eastern Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, undertaken since 1997.  Threat priority has been determined by the recovery team members with expert advice and with relevant land managers responsible for threatened species.  Recovery actions have been prioritised on the basis of the level of threat posed and the likely success of removing the threat and support to implement the action.

Threats to food supplies

2.1 Food shortages (High priority)
Food shortages are the main threat to the long-term survival of the South-eastern Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Koch 2003, Hill in prep). Some food shortages are natural and due to the fruiting cycles of feeding trees. The cockatoos feed on the species of stringybark that has fruited most recently (Attiwill 1960, Joseph 1982, Koch 2003), quickly exploiting all new seed so that large areas of woodland soon assume low foraging value (Koch 2003). Birds initially spend about half their day feeding on a newly matured seed crop, but after 18 months, a lack of alternative sources can mean they need to revisit the same trees and forage for 90% of the day (Koch 2003). In a year when a new Desert Stringybark seed crop was produced, nesting success (30%) was more than double that of the next year (13%) (Jarmyn 2000, Koch 2003). In the second year with lower seed availability most male cockatoos are not expected to feed themselves and their mate. A major cause of failure in the second year was due to incubating females leaving the nest at unusual times to supplement food provided by their mates (Jarmyn 2000). The only other important food is Buloke, available prolifically for three months of some years and not at all in others (Joseph 1982, Maron and Lill 2004).

Dietary specialisation and food shortages have a profound effect on the birds' annual distribution, movements, and nesting success (Koch 2003). The impact of natural shortages are exacerbated by the historical removal of feeding habitat and by current activities such as clearing of habitat, scattered tree removal, tree decline and death due to damage from domestic animals, and deliberately lit fires (Burnard and Hill 2002).

2.2 Impacts of fire on food (High priority)
Prescribed burns and wildfires substantially reduce seed availability in stringybarks for at least nine years, with some effects persisting for more than 11 years (Koch 2003). Nearly 70% of all stringybark habitat is on public land in Victoria. About half of the stringybark in areas burnt less than 9 years ago is in priority fuel-reduction areas, where the aim is to control the spread of wildfire and there is little opportunity to reduce fire frequency. However, there