The distribution, abundance and habitat preferences of the Salmon-crested Cockatoo Cacatua moluccensis on Seram, Indonesia

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Abstract
The Salmon-crested Cockatoo Cacatua moluccensis is endemic to the Seram island group, Maluku Province, Indonesia. An apparently considerable population decline, attributed t o over-exploitation for the parrot trade, prompted CITES to ban all trade in the species in 1989. A short census was undertaken on Seram using the variable circular plot method. Cockatoo density estimates were highest in little-disturbed lowland forest and lowest in recently logged forest and in non-forested areas. Discriminant function analysis was used t o describe the distribution of the species. The discriminant profile suggested that cockatoos were associated with mature lowland forest closer to rather than farther away from settlements. No conclusions are possible as to the relative importance of bird capture and habitat alteration on the population of the Salmon-crested Cockatoo, but an urgent need for further standardized censuses of cockatoo populations, and for research concerning the population dynamics of this and other traded parrot species, is stressed.