A Carnaby’s (left) and Baudin’s (right) black cockatoo. By Keith Lightbody from Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Recovery in Western Australia
With the screech of the black cockatoo, we look up into the sky and expect rain. In Southeast Queensland, that is. Perhaps it is for this reason black cockatoos signify change and transformation. And maybe it’s their powerful wings that represent joy, freedom and travel, too.
Animals have reflected emotion and inspired creative expressions in peoples all over the world for millennia. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, animals can be totems that are spiritual emblems linking people to creation time, all living creatures and the land.
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo in Port Douglas, QLD, by David Clode (left) and illustration by Elizabeth Gould of the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo found in Southeast Australia (right)
We wanted to express our care and concern for those very same creatures through art… in the form of blankets.
Glossy Black Cockatoos are charismatic, like most other birds, and very loyal. They choose a partner for life, and will return to the same ‘home’ tree throughout their lives, even if others are abundant with food. Home (and food!) is a She Oak, and it takes 200 years for the hollow to form that the cocky will actually nest in. At 50cm high, with various yellow and red markings around the tail and face there are a variety of subspecies to get to know.
Glossy Black Cockatoos by David Cook
The mother will lay one egg every two years, nesting for around 90 days in the hollow, and the baby remains dependent for about a year. A very social bird, black cockatoos are usually seen in pairs or small groups.
The Glossy Black Cockatoo specifically is listed as ‘vulnerable’ in Queensland (Wildnet Species List, Queensland Government) and other species of black cockatoos are ‘endangered’, ‘threatened’ or ‘vulnerable’ in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.
Black cockatoos are in danger of population decline mostly because of habitat loss due to development. Where do the cockatoos find their food, shelter and families when their home tree is destroyed? Black cockatoos are also the target of illegal poaching and shooting.
Glossy Black Cockatoo Conservation group on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, building hollows to replace those lost
Many movements and organisations have sprouted around Australia to protect these birds and their habitats, like the Sunshine Coast’s Glossy Black Cockatoo Conservation advocacy group or the Kaarakin Conservation Centre in WA.
Jill Haapaniemi's capture of both the Lemon and Black Cockatoo blankets
The Lemon Cockatoo blanket design