Threatened birds seen in Woy Woy

Twice in the last two weeks three glossy black cockatoos have been seen feeding in casuarina trees in Woy Woy.

These cockatoos are threatened with extinction, due to loss of habitat. Casuarina trees provide the main source of food for these birds.

The birds were first noted last Thursday week when they spent the day eating the cones of casuarina trees on the edge of Burrawang Reserve in Woy Woy.

They were sighted at 7.30am within the Reserve, and they then flew to the casuarina trees to eat.

They were still feeding there at 3pm that afternoon.

Several residents observed the birds, and identified them as an adult male and female and the third as a juvenile.

Then last Monday the family group was seen again feeding in the same trees, and observers got several photographs of them.

A nearby resident said these birds had been coming to these trees to feed for at least the last 10 or 11 years.

There have been other reports of these cockatoos feeding in this vicinity in the last few years, with the most recent being at the Umina Campus a few months ago.

Kate Consterdine, the convenor of the Umina Campus Environmental Committee, recorded them feeding on casuarina trees when she was conducting a wildlife audit of the Campus grounds.

Many residents have also reported the group of yellow-tailed black cockatoos that has been in the area for several weeks now.

They eat borers and grubs that are under the bark of trees, as well as the seeds from banksias.

Also last week two migratory birds arrived back in the area.

The common koel was heard last Friday week in the vicinity of Burrawang Reserve. It spends part of each year in northern Australia and New Guinea.

This bird has a distinctive, loud call and sometimes starts calling very early in the morning.

Last Sunday week, the spangled drongo was also heard along the creek near the Catholic land in Woy Woy.

These calls are described as "distinctive harsh chattering and metallic notes, sometimes extending into mimicry".

Two residents also reported seeing a male king parrot.

And the barking owl and boobook owl were also heard most nights in the vicinity of Umina campus of Brisbane Water Secondary College.

Shirley Hotchkiss, Umina