Applying Occupancy Modelling to Inform Conservation Strategies for a Threatened Parrot Population

ABSTRACT Parrots provide essential ecological functions that are critical to ecosystem health, yet they are among the most threatened avian orders. Southern palm cockatoos ( Probosciger aterrimus macgillivrayi ) are predicted to face severe population declines due to land clearing, altered fire regimes, and low reproductive success. Understanding the factors that drive species' occupancy at the landscape level is essential to inform effective conservation strategies, particularly in dynamic landscapes. This study used an occupancy modelling approach to examine landscape‐scale ecological factors influencing palm cockatoo presence across ~3000 km 2 within the Weipa Plateau, Cape York Peninsula, Australia. To determine palm cockatoo occupancy, 421 surveys were conducted at 142 sites in June–July 2024. Palm cockatoos were detected on 41 occasions across 34 sites. The estimated occupancy rate was 0.14 (± 11 SE) and estimated detectability was 0.25 (± 4 SE). Cumulative detection probability was estimated at 0.58 (± 0.29 SE) over three visits. Occupancy modelling identified distance from major watercourses and the density of a major food source, nonda plum ( Parinari nonda ), as the strongest predictors of palm cockatoo occupancy. This study demonstrates the utility of occupancy modelling to identify key drivers of habitat use at the landscape level for rare and difficult to study species. Crucially, it highlights the urgent need to conserve habitat along riparian corridors and areas of high‐resource availability in adjacent savanna woodlands to protect the current palm cockatoo population from further decline. Conservation efforts should prioritise these core habitat areas, particularly in the face of expanding mining operations and increasingly destructive fire patterns in the western Cape York Peninsula.