We Australians might be accustomed to sulphur-crested cockatoos squawking in our backyards, but have you heard of gang-gang cockatoos? Gang-gangs are an endangered type of cockatoo that predominately lives in parts of the eastern coast of Australia, and there are at least two living near a storm-water drain in the inner south of the ACT!
About two minutes’ drive from where I live, there is a local sports ground. On the left side of the sports ground there is a clump of about twelve gum trees next to a storm-water drain. This is where I have seen these gang-gangs.
The discovery began to unfold on a routine morning run. I was out jogging with my dad when we heard the distinct call of a gang-gang cockatoo. We started to listen for it, and sure enough, we soon heard it again. After the run, we approached that clump of gum trees where we thought the gang-gangs would be. We waited awhile and there, foraging around a hole in a tree, was the bright flaming red crest of a male gang-gang cockatoo. We were fully stunned because we almost never ever see these birds where I live in the inner south.
Once we had seen the male gang-gang, I thought, “Okay, I’ve got to get my camera from home.” So, we rushed back, got my camera, and hoped that the gang-gang would still be there. And it was, along with a female! We think they might have been brother and sister. They both looked quite young, so we could assume that they were juveniles.
On the following Saturday, we set out early to the sports ground by foot to see if we could find the gang-gangs again. We waited there for about an hour and a half. Eventually, we heard that distinct call that signals a gang-gang is nearby. And two gang-gangs came and started frolicking around two holes in the gum trees: they investigated and studied them quite closely. After this “inspection,” the female started going into the holes, wriggling in quite a panicked way; we think she might have been laying eggs. So, if this was the same pair, they might not have been brother and sister after all. They might have been mates!
The reason the discovery of these two gang-gangs specials is not because of how many there are, but because the consistency in which they appear. Every time I have been to the sports ground I have seen two gang-gangs.
Gang-gangs are an endangered bird and their numbers are declining. We think this might be a safe haven for this pair, and if they were mates, it might be a safe spot for them to reproduce and start a family. I have been deliberately vague about the precise location of where these gang-gangs are, so they continue to have this safe haven.