Australian Boy Fights To Help Save The Glossy Black Cockatoo

The world is constantly in a state of flux, both for good and for bad. The bad seems to almost always be the most visible of both because we’re often shocked by changes that hinder and hurt. But good is not always hidden under shadows. On occasion, there arises something – or someone – that strives hard to make a creative difference in the lives of creatures and those around them. That individual comes in the person of 12-year-old Spencer Hitchen.

Australia-based Hitchen has dedicated himself to the protection of the dwindling Glossy Black Cockatoo population. Recently, the eastern sub-species was listed as threatened by the IUCN, an organization that monitors the vulnerability of bird species. But Hitchen has a goal to help change that. Here’s the story:

A developer has been given the rights to construct a care and residential village for the aging population of Sunrise Beach. But the area of development is a definite section, albeit a small section, of essential habitats that help the Glossy Black Cockatoo to thrive as best it can. However, there are consistent development of properties that slowly eat away at the natural environment, reducing the habitat to a smaller spread. This is a strong concern.

Saving Trees to Save Black Glossy Cockatoos

Hitchen, along with the support of his mother, has taken it upon himself to passionately campaign for ceasing the active development. Birdlife Australia agrees, as their fear is that the Glossy Black Cockatoo will suffer “death by a thousand cuts,” each cut being a small reduction of their habitat. The new construction that Hitchen is combating impacts an expanse that contains some 70 she-oak trees that are essential to feeding the Glossy Black Cockatoo. The tree produces cones that the birds feed favorably on making the plight even direr for their future source.

Hitchen has stated that the trees are too important to remove for the project. It’s not his intent that the facility doesn’t get built, but that it is built elsewhere leaving the habitat untouched. Spencer has undertaken several forms of protest. One is a Change.org petition, which currently has 75,159 signatures out of 150,000 (you can add your name here). He has a Save Sunrise Glossies Facebook page to help bring further awareness to the issue.

Hitchen is an avid photographer who is often found capturing the birds he loves in beautiful photos. He has produced a calendar of photos filled with a wealth of information. The money he collects is designed to help his cause in small but important ways and is the intent in his campaign to have the construction stop. Responsibility for the Glossy Black Cockatoo and other wildlife and trees is being sought at the developer level as well as the community level. His calendars can be ordered for 2023 for $20 (email savesunriseglossies@gmail.com to inquire about one for yourself and to help his cause).

It is a rare but impassioned thing to have a young individual like Spencer Hitchen stand up in support of nature. His organization of a strong campaign to protect what is thought to be the right thing to do is a beacon. It helps to send the message that while we know we need to create housing and care facilities; it is also a responsibility to investigate potential habitat infringements and locate them appropriately.