Tiny sound recorders will be set up near nests across farmland in the Portland region to monitor nesting habits as part of the joint Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and University of Queensland project.

DELWP senior biodiversity officer Richard Hill said the species was one of Australia's rarest cockatoos and were only found in south-west Victoria and lower south-east South Australia.

“It’s believed a lack of success with nesting is a key reason for their low population, and we’re hoping to find out what’s causing this,” he said.

“The audio will be used to determine the success of particular nests, by identifying specific calls from parent birds and their chicks.” 

“This research comes at a critical time, in light of recent flock counts which suggest disappointing breeding results over the last few seasons.” 

University of Queensland researcher Daniella Teixeira said when the recording devices were collected later this year, there would be more than150 gigabytes of audio to analyse.

“The project’s main aim is to develop semi-automated methods for detecting key breeding-related bird calls from the massive volumes of audio,” she said.

“If that is achieved, this project will provide conservation managers with a reliable and cost-effective method for monitoring these birds.” The information can then help make decisions about habitat protection.