Communities Helping Cockies

Help protect and create habitat for our endangered South-eastern red-tailed Black-Cockatoo.

The South-eastern red-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii graptogyne) is a stunning and much-loved bird species found only in south-east South Australia and south-west Victoria. As fussy eaters, red-tails only eat seeds from three species of tree: brown stringybark (Eucalyptus baxteri), desert stringybark (Eucalyptus arenacea) and buloke (Allocasuarina luehmannii). Much of the cockatoos’ original food source has been cleared for agriculture and they need more food to increase their numbers.


How can you help our Red-tails?

To help our red-tails and other wildlife we’re working with land managers in the south-east to:

  • Revegetate stringybark and buloke habitat
  • Control woody weeds in stringybark woodland
  • Look after endangered buloke woodlands.

Revegetating some of your land with these species will help our red-tails and provide other benefits like sheltering stock or crops, improving soil health and encouraging local wildlife.

Helping our red-tails requires a community effort and there are many ways you can get involved. We’re looking to work with land managers in SA within the red-tail’s range who have:

  • Stringybark or buloke woodland on their property and would like support with weed and other management issues
  • Land suitable for planting stringybark or buloke.


We’d also love to hear from volunteers, organisations and community groups interested in:

  • Growing seedlings and/or collecting seed for our red-tails and other wildlife
  • Bush regeneration, weed control, tree planting or tree guard removal.

What areas are suitable for planting stringybark and buloke?

Brown stringybark and Desert stringybark grow on sandy soils between Keith and Mount Gambier. If you have stringybark trees on or near your property there’s a good chance it will be suitable. Buloke is much rarer and can be planted in heavy clay or loam soil that occurs between Naracoorte and Bordertown. Sites close to areas where red-tails regularly feed are a high priority for revegetation.


Contact us for more information on 08 8406 0500 or via email.


Communities helping Cockies is supported by the Limestone Coast Landscape Board, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program and is delivered in partnership with Birdlife Australia and Zoos SA.