Nothing can be done - it's PBFD

Sulphur crested cockatoo with Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD)

Sooner or later, every ecologist or naturalist encounters something that stirs the emotions, and it's usually being utterly powerless to help a endearing species in dire straights.  After a while, you can't help but become slightly more detached, but you never truly become immune to the feelings.  

I will never forget working as a zoo keeper in the Northern Territory and encountering a very distressed young magpie goose on the ground during my rounds.  It was seemingly uninjured, but clearly distressed and unable to fly.  I took it to the Park's vet centre for treatment, and the young vet, just euthanised it on the spot without even trying to treat the bird.  

Her attitude shocked me at the time, but with hindsight it was completely reasonable.  Here was an abundant species, that had little chance of successful treatment & recovery and eventual release. It was almost certainly botulism - extremely common in the Top End during the dry when the birds were stressed . . . no chance.  Kindest to end the suffering now than waste lots of time, money and scarce resources better spent elsewhere.  

Close-up of PBFD

Yesterday we were visited by the usual three or four Sulphur crested cockatoos, but they brought a new bird with them, clearly suffering from advanced stages of PBFD.  The poor bird looked absolutely terrible, falling to pieces, but it was active and very alert.  This was the first case of PBFD I have seen in the eastern Lake Macquarie area for a long time, and I'll have to pay closer attention to our local Cockatoo, Little corella and Galah populations as these are thought to be the most common victims of the psittacine circovirus.  Rainbow lorrikeets are another potential victim and are probably our most common backyard visitors.  

This is serious business - it's a contagious virus and has been listed as a Key Threatening Process under the Commonwealth EPBC Act for a number of threatened species. 

If you would like more information about this disease, I suggest visiting these Australian Federal Government sites;
          
1.  Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD)

2.  Beak and feather disease (psittacine circoviral disease) Fact Sheet

3.  Key Threatening Process under the EPBC Act 1999