Once upon a time, Black Cockatoos flew in vast flocks, bright tail feathers flashing, calling to each other as they gathered to feed and roost. Just 50 years ago, these unique birds were so plentiful their flocks would 'blacken the sky'. But not anymore!

Three of Western Australia's Black Cockatoos – the Carnaby's, Baudin's and the Forest Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo - are threatened with extinction, due largely to habitat loss and fragmentation.

Accelerated clearing for urban development on the Swan Coastal Plain is eliminating vital food sources. Logging and mining continue to erode forests in the Southwest. Widespread, historic clearing for farming in the Wheatbelt has caused Carnaby's Black-Cockatoos to disappear from over a third of their former range.

We have a responsibility and an opportunity to safeguard these iconic birds – found nowhere else in the world – by protecting the forests, woodlands, heathlands and other habitat they need for feeding, roosting (resting and sleeping) and nesting.

And yet, both the WA State and Australian Governments are failing to protect important cockatoo habitat. The WA Government has recently approved clearing in one of the most important fragments of bushland left in Perth: the Underwood Avenue Bushland in Shenton Park owned by the University of WA. The Australian Government has permitted the destruction of high quality bushland at sites like Jandakot Airport.

We call on the Australian and West Australian Governments to protect the habitat of the Black Cockatoo across Western Australia.

The Cockatoos need YOU!

These Western Australian birds cannot speak for themselves. Please write NOW to the Australian Minister for the Environment Tony Burke and WA Premier Colin Barnett and ask them to help protect the precious little remaining habitat for Black Cockatoos and stop their slide into extinction.