Australia's beautiful and elusive palm cockatoos, likened to Ringo Starr for their musical drumming behaviour, are expected to more than halve in number in the next 50 years, according to new research.
The birds are only found near the tip of Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland and the population is estimated at about 1,500.
Australian National University (ANU) zoology professor Rob Heinsohn described palm cockatoos as the "animal kingdom's match for Ringo Starr or Phil Collins".
"They're a remarkable bird because we found out they're the only species that can manufacture its own musical instrument," he said.
"[They] fashion thick drumsticks from branches, grip them with their feet and bang them rhythmically on the tree trunk, all the while displaying to females."
Professor Heinsohn said the species had already significantly declined in the past 20 years and was threatened with extinction.
"The really alarming thing is our projections from the data show they're going to keep going down really, really quickly and within three of their generations' time they're going to be down to half again," he said.
"That's the best-case scenario. The true situation is probably much worse."
Loss would be 'absolute tragedy'
Professor Heinsohn co-authored an article published this week in the journal Biological Conservation which outlined threats to the species including habitat loss due to worsening bushfires and mining, and slow breeding rates.
"One of the problems is they have very, very slow rates of reproduction — one of the slowest of any birds in the world," he said.
"The female lays one egg every two years and then that one egg often gets killed by a predator.
"It means the females only manage to raise one young about every 10 years in their lifetimes and that's just not quick enough."
Researchers are seeking to have the species' conservation status changed from vulnerable to endangered in line with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria.
"In January we'll put in a nomination to have their listing changed to endangered and we're getting full support and cooperation from the Queensland Government over that," Professor Heinsohn said.
He said conservation efforts needed to focus on better understanding the birds' lack of reproductive success, and preserving habitat through better fire management and working together with mining companies.
"Apart from just being so large and majestic and such an important part of the landscape, they do have that very special tool-making behaviour which makes them unique among non-human species," Professor Heinsohn said.
"Whichever way you look at it, it would be an absolute tragedy to lose them."
