A flamboyant cockatoo that makes its own drum sticks and bashes out solos to attract the ladies is in serious peril in a remote part of Queensland.
Researchers say the Palm Cockatoo - dubbed the Ringo Starr of the bird world for its musical abilities - is in urgent need of protection as numbers plummet due to habitat loss and poor reproductive rates.
Australian National University Professor Robert Heinsohn has been studying the species since the 1990s and is fighting to have its vulnerable listing upgraded to endangered.
He says the cockatoo is the only bird in the world that uses a tool musically, using sticks they strip of bark to bash out rhythms on their nest hollows.
And like humans, they all seem to have different drumming styles.
"Some males like to come in with a real fast flourish and then they slow down and get into a steady beat, other ones will have a bit of a flourish in the middle of their routine, or some will leave it to the end," he told the ABC.
"There are 18 males that we've recorded in action trying to attract a female and they were all different."
Prof Heinsohn said field studies suggest the bird, which is only found on Cape York in far north Queensland, is in rapid decline, its habitat threatened by mining and land clearing.
The best estimate is that there are only 2000 to 3000 left.
Research suggests they're also under reproductive pressure.
"Our long-term field data, gathered over 20 years now, shows that the female only lays one egg every second year and that's normal, but what we're finding that those eggs are not making it, so there are very, very low rates of reproduction," he said.
The Queensland environment department said there were management plans in place for the cockatoo's habitat.
It said it would consider any application to afford the bird greater protection once an application was received.
