Since Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos became a regular feature about 8 years ago here on the southeastern slopes of the Mt Lofty Ranges in SA they have turned up around May & moved on in late spring. This year they've been daily visitors for several months & today I counted 39 in a flock. Does anyone have any ideas about why they would be appearing so early in the year? Has any one noticed unusual appearances of this species?
I've been seeing a lot more than usual in Sydney this year too - love seeing them around. Apparently habitat loss (they need tall old eucalypts for breeding) have driven them to the city (how ironic) and they are resident now in Centennial Park, Eastlakes Golf course and other urban refuges, where they are quite successful. I'm happy to see them, but it is a bit sad that they are struggling in other areas. I think the bushfires through the Blue Mountains was very hard on a lot of species.
I believe the Mt Lofty Ranges is the end of their range anyway, so you are lucky to see them too. I don't think they are migratory as such, although they might move locally from higher altitude in summer to lower in winter - eg moving out of the Blue Mountains to the coase for winter, which makes perfect sense to me :-)
I wonder if the change if conditions (from drought to wet) has impacted them as well as the busfire damage.