A black cockatoo feeding in a sheoak tree. Photo credit: Ian Buick
The Smooth-headed Cockatoo is a seed-eating bird that feeds almost exclusively on the cones of drooping sheoak trees. However, contrary to your intuition, they seek out trees growing on the poorest soils of old sedimentary rocks.
“Sheoak trees are three times more likely to be used as forage trees when growing on non-calcareous sedimentary rocks,” says Dr Gay Crowley from the School of Social Sciences at the University of Adelaide.
To make this discovery, Dr Crowley compared 6,543 feeding records with 23,484 sheoak records from New South Wales. She found that soil type has a direct impact on how the brown-headed cockatoos engage with the environment by comparing feeding records of brown-headed cockatoos with soils and rocks on Kangaroo Island.
“Sheoaks get their food from fungal associations rather than from the soil, and the fungi associated with them thrive in poor soils,” says Dr. Crowley, whose research is published in the journal Plus One.
“Many typical Australian animals such as bandicoots, bandicoots, kangaroos and possums feed directly on soil fungi – including native truffles. The same pathways are probably responsible for their spread in the environment.”
The black-cockatoo is one of five Australian species of black cockatoo and is found throughout eastern Australia and on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. The species is considered vulnerable in South Australia and endangered throughout the rest of its range.
To ensure the long-term survival of species that rely on soil fungi – particularly the Black-headed Cockatoo – conservation efforts must consider the value of habitats on barren soils, Dr Crowley said.
“Conservation efforts often focus on the most lush and fertile parts of the landscape. This is because many rare animals, such as giant gliders and giant owls, are most common in forests growing on rich basalt or limestone soils,” says Dr Crowley.
“However, many other animals, such as bandicoots, bandicoots and smooth-headed cockatoos, are best protected by preserving habitat on barren soils.”
Further information:
Gabriel M. Crowley et al, Geology controls the distribution of a seed-eating bird: foraging tree selection by the Black-crested Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus lathami, Plus One (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308323
Provided by the University of Adelaide
Quote: Research shows glossy black cockatoos prefer to feed on trees growing on acidic soils (August 9, 2024), accessed August 9, 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2024-08-glossy-black-cockatoos-trees-acidic.html
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