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What’s
the fuss about
Karak? |
| Who
is Karak? |
Karak is the name given to
the mascot for the 2006 Commonwealth Games being held in Melbourne Australia. Karak represents the
south-eastern sub-species of the Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo. There are five sub-species
of Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo found in Australia. The south-eastern subspecies is the only one
listed as endangered. Its special scientific name is Calyptorhyncus banksii graptogyne.
The name Karak sounds like the call the birds make, described in one field
guide as being like a “rusty windmill”. |
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What
does Karak look like? |
Red-tailed
Black-Cockatoos are mostly black. The female has yellow spots on her head and
shoulders, and her chest and belly feathers are trimmed with yellow. |
The tail
feathers of the male have distinctive bright red patches while the female’s
tail is orange and yellow with black stripes. |
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Fully grown birds weigh 570-800g
and are about 550mm long. Between October and May
the female lays a single egg, which she incubates for about 30 days. |
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The male
collects seeds to feed mother and baby. |
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Karak
is a fussy eater and needs large hollows for nesting |
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Red-tailed
Black-Cockatoos feed mostly on the seeds from the Brown Stringybark (Eucalyptus
baxteri), the Desert Stringybark (Eucalyptus arenacea) and Buloke (Allocasuarina
luehmannii). |
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Fire
has had a big impact on the number of stringybark woodlands available. Both wildfire and controlled burns can damage the
canopy and so reduce the seed producing capacity of trees. Land clearing for
agriculture is another factor. Most of the original woodland habitats of the |
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Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo have been cleared. It would be unusual for woodlands
to be cleared today but individual paddock trees are sometimes removed, mostly
so farmers can use large centre-pivot irrigation systems. |
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Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos
nest in hollows that are about 25-30cm wide at the opening and nearly 2m deep.
They mostly nest in big old River Red Gums, some dead as a result of
ring-barking in the early 1900s. Nesting trees are mostly found not more that 5km
from feeding trees. |
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How to help Karak and
other Red-tailed Black-cockatoos |
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An
action plan has been developed for the conservation of the Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo.
The important things the plan hopes to achieve are to:
- preserve
existing habitat including nest trees
- establish
new habitat
- monitor
where and when RtBC are seen
- minimize
the impact of nest predators
- educate
people about RtBC and help them to preserve habitat, including that found
on private land
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For
further information:
www.dse.vic.gov.au (link to Karak on home
page)
www.birdsaustralia.com.au/rtbced/ (an online education kit
aimed at upper secondary but includes colouring pages of male and female birds)
__________________________________________________________
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Bird
Observers Club of Australia
183-185
Springvale Rd,
Nunawading, Vic 3131
Tel:
(03) 9877 5342 Freecall: 1300 305 342 Fax: (03) 9894 4048
information@birdobservers.org.au
www.birdobservers.org.au
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