Honours
2023Can the flight dynamics of the Carnaby’s cockatoo be predicted from its morphology? In pursuit of the 2050 zero-emissions target, renewable energy, notably windpower, has emerged as a key player in the quest to reduce carbon emissions. However, the rapid expansion of wind energy has raised pressing concerns, particularly regarding its impact due to turbine strikes on flighted species, especially those classified as threatened/endangered or with long lifespans. Collision risk modelling can be used to predict turbine strike risks, but this approach heavily relies on species-specific flight data, which is not always readily available. This underscores the pivotal role that theoretical flight data can play when GPS derived flight data is unavailable. In this thesis, I compared the wing morphology and flight capabilities of Carnaby's cockatoos (Zanda latirostris) in Western Australia, compared theoretical flight data generated by the 'afpt' R package and equivalent data derived from GPS tracking and discussed the results in the context of collision risk modelling. I describe the distinct wing morphology of the Carnaby's cockatoo from wing traces of 48 individuals, which was characterised by relatively short and wide wings with pronounced slotting. Notably, juveniles featured thinner wings with shorter wing widths and higher aspect ratios compared to their adult counterparts. These significant morphological differences translated into differences for the model-generated data, with juveniles exhibiting significantly lower speed and lower powered flight performance. There was substantial variation between the model-generated flight data and the observed flight data for 11 individuals where both sets of data could be calculated, particularly in terms of flight speed and energy expenditure; greater sample size could add to these analyses. This research deepens the understanding of Carnaby's cockatoo flight behaviour and highlights the potential of theoretical flight data in enhancing collision risk modelling.