Describes the call of this “Cockatoo” in THE LANGUAGE OF THE Wiradjuri PEOPLE
A right proper name for our 1600-acre alpine reserve in southern NSW as there are numerous pairs of playful and charismatic gang-gang that come here to feed and breed alongside galahs and glossy black cockatoos. Unlike their rather distant cousins though, gang-gang nest in younger solid trees, and the females use their strong beaks to excavate nesting cavities.
While they can be mistaken in flight for galahs, the gang-gang are easily identified by their distinctive call, which is described as resembling a creaky gate or the sound of a cork being pulled from a wine bottle. Regardless, all of them form monogamous pairs, mating only with one another for many years and often rearing their young together, although in some species females are the primary caregivers and family planners. Males will often preen the females and vice versa, as well as complete courtship displays before nesting and at the beginning of the breeding season.
Widespread bushfires, loss of tree hollows, and reduced feeding habitat across south-eastern Australia through land clearing has led to a significant reduction in their numbers in recent years. As a result, the gang-gang is now listed as vulnerable in New South Wales. Our reserve has never been cleared and was lucky enough to escape the devastation of the 2019-20 bushfires, leaving valuable habitat for the birds and koalas alike. We’re also lucky to have a number of vulnerable and threatened species, including silver-leaved mountain gums (Eucalyptus pulverulenta), hoary sunray daisies and koalas.
LATEST NEWS
Our priorities for the Gang-gang reserve have been seeding some of the creeks and dams with Australian Freshwater Mussels (Velesunio ambiguus). These hardy native mussels filter large volumes of water to extract their food, removing algae, bacteria and organic detritus from the water. Mussel waste products are food for other animals and they, in turn, are food for water rats and platypus. We have also been resolving some weed issues created by the Fire service needing to access water during bushfires in the surrounding area.
For our third consecutive year, we participated in the NSW statewide koala acoustic monitoring program, which has contributed towards the recently announced first statewide population dataset for koalas in NSW. Recorders placed on our sites detected over 500 bellows during the 14 nights surveyed!