Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
Endemic to Seram, Indonesia, Cacatua moluccensis is listed as Endangered because it is suspected to have declined by more than 50% over the past three generations (64 years). The principal driver of these declines has been rampant trapping for the pet trade, compounded by the impacts of logging and encroaching agriculture on lowland forests.
Population justification
The population size of this species is not robustly known, but there is evidence that it is considerably smaller now than the c.110,000 birds (95% CI: 62,400-195,000) estimated in 1998 (Kinnaird et al. 2003). In reaching this latter estimate, Kinnaird et al. (2003) extrapolated estimated densities from seven sites across the island (which varied 0.93-17.25 birds/km2; mean 7.9 birds/km2). More recent densities from some areas (Nandika et al. 2021) indicate that while where the species is well protected densities have remained high (up to 15.28 birds/km2), elsewhere the density has collapsed (to 1.6 birds/km2) even in good forest where Kinnaird et al. (2003) recorded their highest densities. For much of Seram, this latter estimate is now probably most representative.
The population is estimated to have declined by 50-79% over three generations (i.e. since 1959), but there is little resolution in how much it has declined more recently (i.e. since the late 1990s, when the Kinnaird et al. [2003] estimate was made). Over this time period, declines have almost certainly not been constant, making predictions especially difficult. Assuming a reduction since the 1990s of between 30-70%, with a best estimate of 40-60%, the population is estimated at 33,000-77,000, best estimate 44,000-66,000 birds. Not all of these are likely to be mature individuals, although additional uncertainty is then presented by determining what ratio of mature individuals: birds should be applied. It is assumed that somewhere between 60 and 80% of birds are mature adults, hence the number of mature individuals is estimated at 26,000-53,000. While it is noted that a population on Ambon does persist, this is now so small that it is unlikely to affect the broad bands used above.
Trend justification
Robust comparative trend data are lacking for this species, but an interpretation of available densities suggest that the population has declined rapidly in the past three generations. Like other cockatoos, Cacatua moluccensis is long-lived and slow to breed, with a three-generation length period spanning more than 60 years (64.2 years; 1959-2023). Evidence from <1980 is sparse, although Wallace (1864) described it as 'abundant' and Stresemann (1914) considered it common, which it apparently still was in fieldwork conducted on Seram 1979-1981 in interior forests, but even by then it had apparently declined in areas around human habitation (BirdLife International 2001). Rapid declines are believed to have taken place since, perhaps reaching a peak in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, but with ongoing evidence (see below) for declines since then.
The most comprehensive review of its status was made in the late 1990s, when Kinnaird et al. (2003) determined that Seram hosted a population of c.110,000 birds (95% CI: 62,400-195,000). The seven study sites yielded disparate densities of 0.93-17.25 birds/km2, but the two sites within Manusela National Park, Roha and Pasahari, held, respectively, densities of 17.25 and 14.5 birds/km2 (i.e. by far the highest of the seven sites [the remaining five spanned 0.93-6.48 birds/km2]. Trapping was identified at the time (BirdLife International 2001, Kinnaird et al. 2003) as the principal threat, but it was also noted that higher densities in primary forest was likely an indication that it was to some extent reliant on larger trees for nesting (see also Marsden 1995, Marsden and Fielding 1999). Nonetheless, habitat loss within Manusela NP has been minimal in the last two decades (Global Forest Watch 2023), and recent density estimates from within the park (spanning 1.6-15.28 birds/km2) indicate that trapping has caused, at least locally, rapid declines. It bears mention that of these recent estimates from Manusela NP, the highest was at a site of strict protection and subject to concerted conservation action, while the density at Sasarata Camp (1.6 birds/km2) represents a rapid decline in an area where anti-poaching measures are not strictly enforced (like across much of Seram). It is therefore probable that away from areas subject to conservation action (which represent only a tiny fraction of this species' range) populations have probably declined rapidly, especially when it is also considered that by surveys in the 1990s, some populations were probably already severely depleted compared to the baseline of three generations ago (in 1959). The complete collapse in population is also indicated by historic trade levels. In the 1980s (i.e. well within the three-generation time window), BirdLife International (2001) concluded—perhaps, if anything, conservatively—that at least 10,000 C. moluccensis were taken from Seram annually (these numbers were calculated using export and import reports to CITES), a figure that is now almost incomprehensible with the contemporary global population size estimate of 44,000-66,000 birds.
Although Ambon represents only a small % of this species' range, it should also be noted that there it was apparently common until around 1970 (per local reports, in BirdLife International 2001) but the most recent surveys have found a density of only 1.17 birds/km2 (D. Nandika in litt. 2023), suggesting rapid declines (probably chiefly in response to trapping). In addition to rapid declines in areas with minimal habitat loss, additional declines are inevitable in areas subject to widespread land cover change (especially when considered jointly with the additional access to trappers that this often provides). Remote sensing data indicate an increase in forest loss since 2014-2015 (Global Forest Watch 2023, based on data from Hansen et al. 2013 and methods disclosed therein), especially in north-east Seram, although determining the relative contribution of this to population declines is difficult.
Counterbalancing all of these factors is the needed consideration that the remotest populations are those most safeguarded from trapping pressure and also those that are least surveyed, such that considering only the available data above when calculating rates of decline may result in an overly pessimistic outcome. Combining all threats and available density data with the precautions mentioned therefore, the global population size of this species is estimated to have declined by between 50 and 79% over the past three generations (i.e. since 1959). The same rate of decline is suspected between 1966 and 2030 (thus meeting the threshold for Endangered under A4, as well as A2). However, there is too much uncertainty about the rate of decline for the next three generations (2023-2087) given the difficulties in projecting circumstances so far into the future. Accordingly, the rate of decline in this window is not estimated, but it is acknowledged that without concerted conservation action, the species will continue to decline on Seram given ongoing poaching pressure (Nandika et al. 2021) and accelerating forest loss (Global Forest Watch 2023). Even in the absence of threats, an increasing population will likely take many decades to recover to historical baselines.
Cacatua moluccensis is endemic to Seram, Ambon, Saparua and Haruku in South Maluku, Indonesia. There are no recent records from Saparua and Haruku, and only a small population persists on Ambon leaving almost the entire population on Seram.
It is largely resident (although perhaps subject to minor local movements) in lowland rainforest up to 1,400 m (Eaton et al. 2021). Studies have shown it to occur in higher densities in primary and secondary forest (vs recently logged forest) (Marsden 1995, Marsden and Fielding 1999). Furthermore, the highest densities in unlogged forest were encountered below 180 m, clearly illustrating the importance of primary lowland forest. Another recent study found no significant difference between use of a number of land-use types but found that abundance was positively linked to the presence of strangler figs and suitable large nesting trees (Kinnaird et al. 2003). Diet consists of berries, nuts, seeds, coconuts and insects and their larvae.
By the 1980s the species was being extensively and unsustainably trapped for the cage-bird market, with an estimated 74,509 individuals exported from Indonesia between 1981 and 1990, and international imports averaging 9,751 per annum between 1983 and 1988 (BirdLife International 2001). Although reported international trade fell to zero in the 1990s, trappers have remained highly active and birds are openly sold within Indonesia (Metz and Nursahid 2004, Nandika et al. 2021). Illegal trade continued to be prolific during religious riots in 2004 (C. Shepherd in litt. 2004), and baseline estimates suggest 4,000 birds were removed from the wild annually in domestic trade alone. More recently, birds continue to be reported in international trade (Emerson et al. 2022, CITES Trade Database 2023) and are evidently still traded domestically (Nandika et al. 2021). However, current rates of trend are thought to be slower than those 20-30 years ago, with the protection of all Indonesian parrot species by law apparently having led to a reduction in the number of confiscations of this species (Nandika et al. 2021). Forest loss, degradation and fragmentation have likely compounded population declines over the past three generations, with rates of lowland forest loss increasing on Seram since 2014 (Global Forest Watch 2023) and projections anticipate even more rapid rates of forest loss in the future (Voigt et al. 2021). In addition to the obvious reduction in the extent of suitable habitat, selective logging and the removal of larger trees likely compounds long-term declines and population viability in this species, which depends on tree hollows for nesting.
Conservation Actions Underway
It has been listed in Appendix I and II of CITES since 1989, a measure that effectively curtailed reported trade at the international level. It occurs in Manusela National Park on Seram, although this evidently does not confer adequate protection from trapping (Nandika et al. 2021). The species has captive-breeding populations at multiple centres, although there is not currently a coordinated conservation programme.
46-52 cm. Large white cockatoo. White, tinged salmon-pink throughout, with long, backward-curving pink crest. Yellow-orange undersides of wings and tail. Grey-black bill, bluish-white, bare eye ring, grey legs. Similar spp. Yellow-crested Cockatoo C. sulphurea and Sulphur-crested Cockatoo C. galerita both have yellow or orange crest feathers. Voice Less raucous than most congeners, but includes similar cackles, screeches, nasal chattering and discordant trumpeting.
Text account compilers
Berryman, A.
Contributors
Persulessy, Y., Bird, J., Derhé, M., Tobias, J., Davidson, P., Benstead, P., Shepherd, C. & Nandika, D.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Salmon-crested Cockatoo Cacatua moluccensis. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/salmon-crested-cockatoo-cacatua-moluccensis on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.