Breeding site fidelity, and breeding pair infidelity in the endangered Carnaby’s Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris

Denis A Saunders,Rick Dawson,Nicole E White,Peter R M Mawson

doi:10.3897/natureconservation.27.27243

Denis A Saunders, Rick Dawson + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.27.27243

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Journal: Nature Conservation	Publication Date: Jul 3, 2018
Citations: 3	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Curtin University, CSIRO Land and Water

Abstract

The ecology and behaviour of the endangered Carnaby’s CockatooCalyptorhynchuslatirostrishave been studied in detail at Coomallo Creek in the northern wheatbelt of Western Australia from 1969 until the present. Results of research on this breeding population conducted on individually marked birds from 1970 to 1990 were compared with results from analyses of DNA taken from nestlings in the study area from 2003, 2005, and each year from 2009 to 2013. Analyses of DNA confirmed earlier findings about the stability of adult breeding pairs, and that females used the same breeding hollow they used previously, provided the hollow was not occupied when they returned to breed. When moving to another hollow, they chose a hollow in the same vicinity of the previous hollow. Analyses in 22 cases where DNA was obtained from both nestlings of a breeding attempt revealed that in six (27.3%) cases, the second egg was fertilised by a male not paired with the female. These extra-pair copulations were not suspected during the earlier study based on observations of individually marked birds.

Highlights

Carnaby’s Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris is endemic to south-western Australia
IUCN recently changed the scientific name of the species to Zanda latirostris, but we retain the name Calyptorhynchus latirostris as specified in Western Australian Government notices
In this paper we examine the use of DNA taken from nestlings of one breeding population over seven breeding seasons (2003, 2005, 2009-2013) to investigate aspects of the breeding biology of Carnaby’s Cockatoo

Summary

Introduction

Carnaby’s Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris is endemic to south-western Australia. As a result of the loss of breeding and foraging habitat (Fig. 1), the status of the species changed from being classified legally up to the 1960s as vermin with a bounty on its bill, to being listed as endangered (Saunders 1990) by three authorities in the late 1980s. Carnaby’s Cockatoo is listed: as “Fauna that is rare or likely to become extinct” in Schedule 1 of the Western Australian Wildlife Conservation Specially Protected Fauna Notice 2016 under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950; endangered under the Australian Federal Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999; and endangered under IUCN’s Red List category and criteria (IUCN 2014). IUCN recently changed the scientific name of the species to Zanda latirostris, but we retain the name Calyptorhynchus latirostris as specified in Western Australian Government notices.

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Conclusion