Red-tailed Black Cockatoo

I will never forget the day these work-of-art birds came to visit.

I was lying in the back of my camper van, on an avocado farm in Queensland, when I heard them call across a cloudy sky.

I got up to watch them (and feel them) come closer. Yes, they had a presence. It changed the mood of their surrounds as they flew. The morning went from run-of-the-mill to something immeasurably more dense and cinematic.

They circled above for some time, before a female landed in the tree right next to me. It was like she'd shown up ready to pose for a portrait. She flew to a clear perch, with no interfering background, took a prop in her hand, and turned side profile as if to proclaim: "Jabba, I'm ready for my closeup".

As captured in this portrait, the Red-tailed Black Cockatoo represents nature in full masterpiece mode, and reminds us that the boundless creativity of nature exists within us too. We are all creative, complex, magnificent works of art. Painted, sculpted, imagined by the same artist: nature.

It's our responsibility to harness this creativity in a way that protects and sustains nature, rather than destroys it. It deeply saddens me that logging of old growth forests continues to happen. Trees need to be a certain age before their hollows provide breeding spots for many of Australia’s most wonderful birds, like these.

The Red-tailed Black Cockatoo is a living, flying, intricately detailed example of the beauty of nature as our most precious and irreplaceable art. Yet we destroy its habitat for pulp, paper and cardboard. It calls us to question: Would we destroy the Mona Lisa for pulp? Is nature’s art not as valuable as human art?

These birds have a creative presence that elevates all that surrounds them. And when they're gone, they leave behind their feathers, which become a work of art in themselves. What inspiration this is, and it poses the question: What legacy will we leave when we’re gone?

We have the creativity, ability and knowledge to protect and sustain nature. These wondrous birds encourage us to use our gifts to create a more beautiful, sustainable world.