E&E PhD Exit Seminar: Of Parrots and People: from global patterns to the urban ecology of cockatoos

ABSTRACT

Human activities are rapidly reshaping landscapes, altering the resources and ecological opportunities available to wildlife. Yet species differ markedly in their capacity to respond to these changes, making it increasingly important to understand both what predicts tolerance to human-modified environments and the behavioural mechanisms that allow animals to persist within them.

In my PhD, I explore these questions in parrots, moving across ecological scales from global patterns of tolerance to human modification to the behavioural ecology of sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) living across natural and urban landscapes. I examine how species traits, ecological opportunity and environmental context contribute to variation in tolerance, before exploring how local resource landscapes influence space use, movement patterns and foraging behaviour within a widespread and behaviourally flexible species. Together, this work illustrates how changes in the availability, distribution and predictability of resources can shape multiple dimensions of animal behaviour, while also highlighting the importance of considering the scale at which animals experience their environments. My thesis provides insights into how parrots respond to rapidly changing environments, with implications for conservation and urban planning.

BIOGRAPHY

Sofia Bolcato is a PhD candidate at the Australian National University studying behavioural adaptation to changing environments in parrots. After completing degrees in Natural Sciences and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Padova, Italy, she worked on parrot research and conservation projects across Central America, including studies of the endangered Great Green Macaw in Costa Rica. Following extensive fieldwork and collaborations with conservation NGOs, she commenced her PhD at the Australian National University in 2023. Her current research focuses on the movement and foraging ecology of sulphur-crested cockatoos across a natural to urban gradient, providing insights into how parrots respond to environmental change.