U.S.-Australia Cooperation: The Feeding Mechanisms and Diets of Australian Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge LA

Investigators

Abstract

9909989 Homberger This award supports a US-Australia collaborative research program aimed at elucidating the function and evolution of feeding mechanisms in Red-tailed Black Cockatoos. The investigator proposes to describe the range of feeding mechanisms used by different species, subspecies, populations or morphs (the taxonomic designation of which is in flux), and to relate those mechanisms functionally to diet, and thus to gain insight into the evolution of the extreme variation in bill morphology present in this group. She proposes to accomplish this by observation of feeding birds in the wild, collection and analysis of debris from feeding events, and dissection and anatomical analysis of the beaks of specimens. The PI is recognized world-wide as an authority on the functional anatomy of the beak and tongue in psittaciform birds and is very well qualified to investigate the range of variation present in the anatomy of these very variable birds. A better understanding of the feeding and feeding structures of these animals is also very desirable given that they are simultaneously threatened by the international trade in parrots, while functioning to some degree as crop pests at home. The research will be conducted in partnership with colleagues in Australia, including researchers at the Australian National University, the CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology, and Queensland University of Technology.