From blackening skies to barely casting a shadow – the Carnaby’s cockatoo faces a bleak future

Guardian Australia is highlighting the plight of our endangered native species during an election campaign that is ignoring broken environment laws and rapidly declining ecosystemsExplore the series – Last chance: the extinction crisis being ignored this electionGet Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as an emailLess than a lifetime ago, great flocks of Carnaby’s cockatoos cast large shadows over Perth. Now, the long-term clearing of eucalypt forests and banksia woodlands, combined with southern Western Australia’s driest and hottest period on record, is pushing the species towards extinction. Scientists say little is being done to reverse the decline.Peter Mawson, a research associate at Western Australia’s biodiversity department, is old enough to remember a time when the birds were a common sight. “Sometimes, I see people make comments on social media that they’ve seen a flock of 100 Carnaby’s cockatoos and they’re really chuffed at that, because normally you see them in 10s or 20s,” he said. “But when I was a small boy collecting firewood with my father not far from where I grew up it was not uncommon to see flocks of 3,000 to 5,000 birds fly overhead.Get Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as an email Continue reading...

Apr 6, 2025 - 16:05

From blackening skies to barely casting a shadow – the Carnaby’s cockatoo faces a bleak future

Guardian Australia is highlighting the plight of our endangered native species during an election campaign that is ignoring broken environment laws and rapidly declining ecosystems

Less than a lifetime ago, great flocks of Carnaby’s cockatoos cast large shadows over Perth. Now, the long-term clearing of eucalypt forests and banksia woodlands, combined with southern Western Australia’s driest and hottest period on record, is pushing the species towards extinction. Scientists say little is being done to reverse the decline.

Peter Mawson, a research associate at Western Australia’s biodiversity department, is old enough to remember a time when the birds were a common sight. “Sometimes, I see people make comments on social media that they’ve seen a flock of 100 Carnaby’s cockatoos and they’re really chuffed at that, because normally you see them in 10s or 20s,” he said. “But when I was a small boy collecting firewood with my father not far from where I grew up it was not uncommon to see flocks of 3,000 to 5,000 birds fly overhead.

Get Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as an email Continue reading...