Sunshine Beach State Highs students, teachers and parents may have noticed the striking entry near the Administration building with a Glossy Feather art installation taking pride of place. And rightly so! The Glossy Black Cockatoo is the most endangered cockatoo in Australia, and one of the last remaining patches where they can be seen on a regular basis is around Sunrise Beach.
It all started with James Muller asking local Glossy legend Bob Carey if he could recommend a site to host the Glossy feather sculptures. Bob discussed the proposition with Bettina Walter from Glossy Team Sunrise, and both agreed the surrounds of the Sunrise Glossy ‘watering hole’ would be most appropriate. Bettina is also part of the adjacent Sunshine Beach State High School’s progressive P&C and, with the support of Principal Grant Williams, the initiative came together. The entrance to the school was selected.
“The installation was really driven by the need to raise awareness in our local community of the plight of this beautiful but endangered bird. An increasing number of Sunrise Beach residents are aware and protective our local glossies. In fact people travel from all over the world to come and witness them in their native habitat around our school,” Bettina said.
“Glossies have been losing a lot of native habitat from human development, and the proposed aged care facility next to the school will see another 5 hectares of prime Glossy habitat cleared. Along with the recent fires that have devastated so much bush land, it is so important for our local community to do everything they can to protect and enhance the remaining habitat.”
Artist James Muller unveiled the installation at a moving ceremony on Wednesday, 6 November, where Kabi Kabi elder Uncle Tais performed a smoking ceremony with a group of students, staff and parents.
Watch James explain his motivation behind the installation.
James praised Bob Carey for the wonderful work he has done in preserving the habitat and raising awareness of the Glossy Blacks living in our midst.
Bob acknowledged the efforts of the school in conservation and revegetation and emphasised the importance of protecting our existing patches of native habitat first and foremost.
In Bob’s inimitable understated style he claimed a tiny waterfall hidden in the adjacent bush ‘Carey Falls’. We believe Bob’s efforts deserve a much bigger waterfall, or perhaps the whole creek. Clarey Creek has a good ring to it!
A big thanks also go to Uncle Tais who inspired the young indigenous students to be guardians of the earth.
We hope the installation will get the conversations going around the importance of native fauna and flora and how we can help it thrive rather than dwindle.
What a lovely good vibe story. Thank you James, Bob, Desire, Bettina, SBHS and everyone involved.
Greetings…I have been unsuccessful in finding an email address for this comment. I don’t do Facebook or Twitter.
I just want to comment that I frequently see the Glossy Black Cockatoos (up to 12 or fifteen just yesterday) at the model flying club on Quanda Rd. Coolum. They have been around here for years to my knowledge.
They are of the yellow tail variety. Just saying…
Ray Dixon
Hi Ray, thank you for your comment. Glossy Black Cockatoos are cousins of the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. Glossies have red tail feathers and they are smaller, quieter and rarer than the Yellow-tails. To add to confusion, there are also Red-tailed Black Cockatoos. Red-tailes are a bit bigger, have bigger crests than the Glossies and you can see them in the Australia Zoo bird show. As for the Yellow-tails on Quanda Road: Are they roosting there over-night?