In the semi-arid woodlands of Wyperfeld National Park, recovery is already emerging after the January 2026 fires - driven by a steady and practical effort to help nature rebound, including targeted support for the threatened Pink Cockatoo.

Pine Plains in Wyperfeld National Park is the largest breeding site in Victoria for the Pink Cockatoo.

The fires of January 2026 burned through an estimated 70 per cent of this critical nesting landscape, which includes large areas of mature Slender Cypress Pine (Callitris gracilis).

These mature canopy trees are vital for the Pink Cockatoo, who depend on them for food and nesting hollows.

 A Pink Cockatoo resting outside a damaged hollow, before entering. Credit: Friends of Wyperfeld 2020

In a place where old trees and natural hollows are already limited, the loss of habitat from last summer’s bushfires has had a real and immediate impact.

Northern Mallee Area Chief Ranger Bradd Baldock, who was sector commander during the fires, described the scale of this change.

“This is very significant for the pink cockies,” Bradd said.

“It’s one of their main nesting places, in a significant area of semi-arid woodland that is really struggling to survive after multiple fires in that landscape.”

Callitris do not form large hollows suitable for Pink Cockatoo breeding until at least 85 years old. The preferred tree age is 130 years.

Of the 233 large old habitat trees recorded in Pine Plains before the fire, 173 perished – taking 145 hollows with them and leaving fewer safe places for nesting and breeding in the seasons ahead.

To help fill the gap, Parks Victoria crews and contractors have been carving new hollows into standing trees and installing artificial nest hollows.

Images provided: A contractor working up high a standing Slender Cypress Pine, and its artificial hollow. 

This work comes at a critical time. 

With fewer hollows available, competition for nesting sites has intensified. Galahs are quick to move into available hollows and feed on Slender Cypress Pine seeds - one of the Pink Cockatoo’s most important food sources.

Unlike galahs, Pink Cockatoos have far fewer options, making targeted control efforts an important part of helping the species recover.

“Works are currently underway and planned to maximise the availability of hollows for the 2026 breeding season,” explains Bradd.

This uptake is already being seen on the ground.

Newly created hollows are being quickly explored by Pink Cockatoos as they’re completed. Some curious cockies have even flown in close to investigate the new hollows while works are being completed on them. 

Images provided: The cockies are known to get close to Parks crew and contractors while they’re working, sometimes checking out the hollows mid-build.

For the team, it’s an encouraging sign. 

While it highlights the shortage of available habitat, it also shows the birds are tracking changes in their environment and quickly responding to new nesting opportunities as they emerge.  

For Southern Mallee Area Chief Ranger Will Trimble, the work is grounded in care for Country and the species that depend on it.

“Parks Victoria rangers are doing our best to help native animals and plants recover from the fires,” Will said.

“Pink cockatoos are one of the highlights of Wyperfeld National Park, and we want to see them thrive.”

Across Pine Plains, that intent is already visible - in the careful retention of surviving trees, in newly created hollows, and in the quiet return of birds testing spaces for the next breeding season.

Watch this space, or hollow.

The Pine Plains are within the Traditional lands of the Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia and Jupagulk peoples.