Community for Cockies
Improving habitat, boosting black cockatoo numbers, adapting management, and inspiring future custodians.
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Period: 2024- 2027 
Funding Body: WICC and Lottery West
Project Officers: Tim Gamblin, Kylie Cook and Nat Wallen
Community for Cockies: Through this program, WICC aims to foster a greater appreciation and understanding of black cockatoos in the community, inspiring long-term conservation efforts.
Our four key objectives:
  1. 1. Improve the quality and availability of foraging and nesting sites.
  2. 2. Boost the local black cockatoo population.
  3. 3. Monitor and adapt our management efforts.
  4. 4. Inspire the next generation of cockatoo custodians.
WICC is committed to using the best science available to guide our work. Research shows that black cockatoos prefer roosting near foraging areas, with water points within 2 km and foraging sites within 12 km (during breeding season) or 20 km (non-breeding season) from nests.
Based on 92 expressions of interest (EOI) from local farmers, our expert ecologists will assess and prioritize sites to:
  • - Fence 20 km to protect 200 hectares of priority vegetation.
  • - Replant 20 hectares with cockatoo foraging flora.
  • - Partner with 4 schools to create cockatoo refuges with nest boxes and fenced areas.
  • - Install 40 additional custom nesting boxes.
  • - Launch a strong awareness program.
While reversing the decline of cockatoos in the short term is unlikely, we will lay a strong foundation for their recovery over our 3,000-square-kilometer area. Our efforts will improve habitats for cockatoos and other native species.
We aim to achieve the following outcomes:
We aim to achieve the following outcomes:
  1. Revegetate 20 hectares by identifying potential sites, prioritizing EOIs with an expert panel, contracting farmers, and working with schools and Aboriginal Rangers to collect seeds and plant them with community volunteers.
  2. Fence 20 km to protect 200 hectares by identifying and prioritizing sites, contracting farmers, and overseeing the construction of fences.
  3. Install 44 nesting boxes by working with the Men's Shed to build the boxes and a local arborist to install them in strategic locations.
  4. Implement "Kids for Cockies" in 4 schools with workshops by ornithologist Simon Cherriman, involving students in building and installing nesting boxes, seed collection, and planting cockatoo foraging areas. Ongoing media releases will feature educational materials and cockatoo cartoons.