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RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)
Contents Vol 31(4)

Predation on the threatened Carnaby’s cockatoo (Zanda latirostris) by feral cats (Felis catus)

Peter R. Mawson https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6729-2966 A * , Rick Dawson A , Brooke S. Richards A and Denis A. Saunders https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5959-573X B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Locked Bag 104, Bentley DC, WA 6983, Australia.

B Weetangera, ACT, Australia.

* Correspondence to: petermawson1@hotmail.com

Handling Editor: Dr Rochelle Steven

Pacific Conservation Biology 31, PC25019 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC25019
Submitted: 13 March 2025  Accepted: 30 May 2025  Published: 23 June 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Feral cats (Felis catus) prey on a wide range of Australian native bird species, with most records related to smaller, ground-dwelling or ground-nesting species.

Aims

This study examined the impact of feral cat predation on endangered Carnaby’s cockatoo (Zanda latirostris), a large obligate hollow-nesting species.

Methods

Cat predation was measured during a study into the breeding ecology of Carnaby’s cockatoo at a long-term study site in the northern wheatbelt of Western Australia.

Key results

Feral cats predated Carnaby’s cockatoo adult females in their nest hollow, their nestlings, and eggs in at least three out of 38 years. When it occurred in those 3 years, the feral cat predation impact, expressed as a percentage of breeding attempts on cockatoo nesting were 5.2%, 11.6%, and 24.1%. The increase in predation rate in the year with the highest recorded rate coincided with the breeding season following an intense 8-month drought in mid-western Western Australia, which likely had an adverse impact on prey species more often consumed by feral cats.

Conclusion

The results suggest that predation by cats can be a significant threat to Carnaby’s cockatoo because it reduces the survival of adult breeding females and recruitment of fledglings.

Implications

Control of feral cats by local-scale shooting and cage trapping have both been used to achieve short-term success, offering a possible means of mitigating the long-term impact of feral cats at the study site, and potentially elsewhere.

Keywords: Carnaby’s cockatoo (Zanda latirostris), drought, Felis catus, feral cat, predation.

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