Australian Common Kingfisher and Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo by artist MJ Orgeron

Colored pencil, 8” x 12”, framed to 15.25” x 18.25”

Carnaby's black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris), also known as the short-billed black cockatoo, is a large black cockatoo endemic to southwest Australia. It was described in 1948 by naturalist Ivan Carnaby.

The cockatoo is recognized as endangered under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, and as Schedule 1 "fauna that is rare or is likely to become extinct" by Western Australia's Wildlife Conservation (Specially Protected Fauna) Notice 2008(2) under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950.

 The population size of Carnaby's cockatoo fell by over 50% in 45 years, and up to a third of their traditional breeding grounds in the Wheatbelt have been abandoned.

The bird is part of an annual census, the Great Cocky count, that has been held every year since 2009 to track the population change of Carnaby's and other black cockatoos. The 2016 Great Cocky Count counted 10,919 Carnaby's black cockatoos, indicating the population had declined by 50% on the Perth–Peel Coastal Plain since 2010, dropping by around 10% each year. The total population is estimated to consist of 40,000 individuals.

The primary contributor is loss of feeding and nesting habitat.

The person who purchases the cockatoo will receive the Australia Common Kingfisher in the fourth image is a gift. Color pencil on paper, 8” x 12”.