Yahoo Lifestyle Tourists horrified by cockatoo detail on Aussie holiday island: 'It's devastating'
The bird on Hamilton Island appears to have the untreatable Psittacine Beak and Feather disease (PBFD) which spreads easily through flocks of Australian birds.
Tourists visiting Queensland's Hamilton Island are worried about the health of the local birds after one woman spotted a native cockatoo without most of its feathers.
The holidaymaker was visiting the popular destination in the Whitsundays in late March when she saw the iconic bird walking along a railing by the pool, looking unwell and missing its distinctive yellow crest and fluffy white plumage.
The animal appears to have the untreatable Psittacine Beak and Feather disease (PBFD) which causes immunological suppression in native birds. It's a "dreadful disease" that spreads easily through flocks of birds, wildlife advocates often warn, and causes birds to lose their feathers leaving them unable to fly. It can also cause abnormal beaks and claws.
Hamilton Island is known to have a large cockatoo population with the cheeky birds often caught terrorising visitors. Previously, a woman returned to her hotel room to discover it had been trashed by the boisterous birds.
Aussies react to 'devastating' sight at Hamilton Island
A woman named Annaliese first spotted the bird and shared a video of the animal on TikTok. "Poor guy, hope it’s just a rough moult," she wrote.
Commenting on the video, another woman agreed "it's devastating" to see the contagious disease spread through the bird population.
"Volunteer wildlife carer here. Sadly this is beak and feather disease," another confirmed. "It’s highly contagious in our parrot populations but the locals try to catch them to help prevent the spread".
"I’ve heard the population of cockatoos is really high in Hamilton Island and it’s so contagious amongst them," another shared. While another admitted they too saw an infected cockatoo when they visited in Feburary.
What causes PBFB in cockatoos?
PBFD is thought to have originated in Australia and is found in a wide range of species including kookaburras, rainbow bee eaters, raptors, powerful owls, peregrine falcons, wedge-tailed eagles and white-breasted sea eagles.
It's commonly thought people feeding the birds aids the spread of the disease.
A Hamilton Island spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia staff "share our guests' concerns about the well-being of cockatoos" on the island and said they're "committed to nurturing the cockatoo community".
"The presence of this disease is something we encounter infrequently, but it does occur a few times throughout the year," a spokesperson said. "While PBFD management is complex, we recognise that removing 'sick-looking' birds isn't a long-term solution, considering the birds' mobility between islands and the mainland.
"Contrary to popular belief, the disease is not directly caused by public feeding, but rather weakened health from such feeding makes the birds more susceptible to PBFD," they added. Despite this, Hamilton Island actively discourages guest feeding through multiple communication channels, "aiming to protect our avian friends from harm".
Previously, Yahoo spoke with an Australian woman Carly about her featherless pet cockatoo Sookie which also has PBFD but is "living his best life".
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