31-561: The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia , 337 kilometres (209 mi) south-east of Perth . It is over 60 kilometres (37 mi) wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranbrook eastward past Gnowangerup . The Stirling Range is protected by the Stirling Range National Park , which
62-626: A bone coloured beak, grey eye-rings and ear patches that are paler than those of the males. Baudin's black cockatoo was depicted in 1832 by the English artist Edward Lear in his Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots from a specimen owned by the naturalist Benjamin Leadbeater . Lear used the common name "Baudin's cockatoo" and coined the binomial name Calyptorhynchus baudinii . The common name and specific epithet commemorate
93-715: A bridge, and today with Kalgan Queen which lowers its roof to pass beneath the same bridge. Noongar people have inhabited the region for tens of thousands of years. European settlement began with the establishment of a temporary British military base, commanded by Major Edmund Lockyer , at King George Sound (Albany) on Christmas Day, 1826. Albany is consequently regarded as the oldest European settlement in Western Australia. 35°S 117°E / 35°S 117°E / -35; 117 Long-billed black-cockatoo Baudin's black cockatoo ( Zanda baudinii ), also known as Baudin's cockatoo or
124-442: A deep genetic divergence between the two groups they are now widely treated as separate genera. The two genera differ in tail colour, head pattern, juvenile food begging calls and the degree of sexual dimorphism . Males and females of Calyptorhynchus sensu stricto have markedly different plumage, whereas those of Zanda have similar plumage. The three species of the genus Zanda have been variously considered as two, then as
155-501: A number of Dreamtime stories. The first recorded sighting of the Stirling Range by a European explorer was by Matthew Flinders on 5 January 1802. While sailing along the south coast of Australia, just east of King George Sound , he noted at a distance of eight leagues (39 km or 24 mi) inland a chain of rugged mountains, the easternmost of which he named Mount Rugged (now called Bluff Knoll ). An army garrison
186-474: A population of about 54,000. Its administrative centre is the historic port of Albany . It has a Mediterranean climate , with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. The Stirling Range is the only place in Western Australia that regularly receives snowfalls , if only very light. The economy of the Great Southern is dominated by livestock farming, dairy farming and crop -growing. It has some of
217-575: A silhouette called The Sleeping Princess which is visible from the Porongurup Range. Popular recreational activities include bushwalking, abseiling and gliding . Camping is not permitted within the park boundaries. Great Southern (Western Australia) The Great Southern region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia , as defined by the Regional Development Commissions Act 1993 , for
248-421: A single species for many years. In a 1979 paper, Australian ornithologist Denis Saunders highlighted the similarity between the short-billed and the southern race xanthanotus of the yellow-tailed and treated them as a single species with the long-billed as a distinct species. He proposed that Western Australia had been colonised on two separate occasions, once by a common ancestor of all three forms (which became
279-455: A third of the known flora of the southwest , and includes more species of wildflowers than in the entire British Isles. The range has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports populations of endangered short-billed black cockatoos and western whipbirds , and is visited by endangered long-billed black-cockatoos . Significant biome -restricted or range-restricted bird species found in
310-450: Is longer and narrower than that of the closely related and similar Carnaby's black cockatoo . The adult male has a dark grey beak and pink eye-rings. The adult female has a bone coloured beak, grey eye-rings, and its ear patches are paler than that of the male. Juveniles have a bone coloured beak, grey eye-rings, and have less white in the tail feathers. One individual had reached an age of 47 years by 1996. The Baudin's black cockatoo
341-408: Is mostly dark-grey with narrow vague light-grey scalloping, which is produced by narrow pale-grey margins at the tip of dark-grey feathers. It has a crest of short feathers on its head, and it has whitish patches of feathers that cover its ears. Its lateral tail feathers are white with black tips, and the central tail feathers are all black. The irises are dark brown and the legs are brown-grey. Its beak
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#1732776408831372-442: Is one of two species of white-tailed black cockatoo endemic to south-western Australia which were only separated taxonomically in 1948. It is closely associated with moist, heavily forested areas dominated by marri Corymbia calophylla and is threatened by habitat destruction . The range of threats to the declining population, estimated to be between ten and fifteen thousand remaining individuals, has been since 2021 listed with
403-501: Is supported by distinctly moist-climate pockets of vegetation in some high valleys. Most rain falls between May and August, with summer being very frequently completely dry around Borden for over a month and having typically very light showers in the south and on the peaks. Temperatures in the lowlands are generally warm. In the summer, average maxima typically are around 30 °C (86 °F) in Borden and about 27 °C (80 °F) in
434-561: The Pinjarra massacre and later threatened the Noongar people with genocide, there are some calls to rename the Stirling Range. Early exploitation of the Stirling Range included cutting of sandalwood and kangaroo hunting . The Range was never formally taken up for grazing, probably because of the many poison bushes in the area. However, squatters ran sheep to the south of the Range in
465-505: The long-billed black cockatoo , is a species of genus Zanda found in southwest Australia . The epithet commemorates the French explorer Nicolas Baudin . It has a short crest on the top of its head, and the plumage is mostly greyish black. It has prominent white cheek patches and a white tail band. The body feathers are edged with white giving a scalloped appearance. Adult males have a dark grey beak and pink eye-rings. Adult females have
496-506: The reintroduced numbat , have been recorded. The plains in the Stirling Range region were the hunting grounds for small groups of Indigenous Australians for thousands of years before European settlement. At least two tribes frequented the area: the Qaaniyan people in the west, and the Koreng people in the east. The Stirling Range played an important role in their culture, appearing in
527-608: The 1850s, and in the 1860s a selection was taken up at the base of Mount Trio . The area that is now the Stirling Range National Park was temporarily reserved in April 1908, and formally gazetted as Western Australia's third national park in June 1913. Notable features include Toolbrunup , Bluff Knoll (the tallest peak for a thousand kilometres or more in any direction and most popular tourist attraction), and
558-555: The French explorer Nicolas Baudin , who led an expedition to Australia in 1801-1804. The species is now placed in the genus Zanda that was introduced in 1913 by the Australian born ornithologist Gregory Mathews . Carnaby's black cockatoo ( Zanda latirostris ) and Baudin's black cockatoo were previously classified as the same species. Common names include Baudin's black cockatoo or long-billed black cockatoo. The two Western Australian white-tailed black cockatoo species,
589-717: The Stirling Range occasionally receives snowfalls —the only place in Western Australia to regularly do so, though usually it is very light. Snow has been reported as early as 19 April 2019 and as late as 19 November 1992, but is mostly confined to the period from June to September. The range is one of the richest areas for flora in the world. The low-nutrient soils support five major vegetation communities : (1) shrubland and (2) mallee - heathland at higher altitudes; and (3) woodland , (4) wetland and (5) salt lake communities on lower slopes and plains. Ninety families, 384 genera, and over 1500 plant species occur there, 87 of which are found nowhere else. This represents more than
620-505: The conservation status of Critically Endangered by IUCN. The bird is part of an annual census, the Great Cocky Count , that has been held every year since 2009 to track the population change of Baudin's and other black cockatoos. Sites identified by BirdLife International as being important for Baudin's black cockatoo conservation are Araluen-Wungong , Gidgegannup , Jalbarragup , Mundaring-Kalamunda , North Dandalup ,
651-421: The long-billed black cockatoo), and later by what has become the short-billed black cockatoo. However, an analysis of protein allozymes published in 1984 revealed the two Western Australian forms to be more closely related to each other than to the yellow-tailed, and the consensus since then has been to treat them as three separate species. Baudin's black cockatoo is about 56 cm (22 in) long. It
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#1732776408831682-459: The main peaks. The following year, Robert Dale led an expedition to the Range. On 24 January 1832, he made the first recorded ascent of a peak in the Stirling Range, scaling Toolbrunup . Late in 1835, Governor James Stirling and John Septimus Roe led an expedition from Albany to Perth . They first saw the Stirling Range on 3 November, and on travelling closer to them the following day, Roe gave them their name. Because Stirling personally led
713-550: The most productive cereal grain and pastoral land in the state, and is a major producer of wool and lamb . Albany is a major fishing centre. The coast of the Great Southern has milder summer weather than areas on the west coast proper and is also a popular destination for holidaymakers, tourists , anglers and surfers . Albany is home to the Kalgan River which is associated with riverboats , from 1918 to 1935 with Silver Star which lowered its funnel to get under
744-453: The purposes of economic development. It is a section of the larger south coast of Western Australia and neighbouring agricultural regions. The region officially comprises the local government areas of Albany , Broomehill-Tambellup , Cranbrook , Denmark , Gnowangerup , Jerramungup , Katanning , Kent , Kojonup , Plantagenet and Woodanilling . The Great Southern has an area of 39,007 square kilometres (15,061 sq mi) and
775-426: The range include red-capped and regent parrots , western rosellas , rufous treecreepers , red-winged and blue-breasted fairywrens , purple-gaped honeyeaters , western spinebills , western thornbills , western yellow and white-breasted robins , and red-eared firetails . The range is an important site for endemic mygalomorph spiders , and for land snails . Some 20 species of native mammals , including
806-437: The relative youth of the mountains, the soils remain very poor, creating the species-rich heathland flora. As the only vertical obstacle to weather in any direction, the range tends to alter weather patterns around itself. Its upper slopes receive significantly more rainfall than surrounding areas. The branch of the Kalgan River that forms the southwestern border of the park is fed in large part from precipitation falling in
837-400: The short-billed Carnaby's black cockatoo and this long-billed Baudin's black cockatoo, together with the yellow-tailed black cockatoo Zanda funerea of eastern Australia are allied in the genus Zanda . Previously this genus was considered a subgenus of Calyptorhynchus , with the red-tailed black cockatoo and glossy black cockatoos forming another subgenus, Calyptorhynchus , but due to
868-459: The southern plains. Summer minima range from about 16 °C (60 °F) in the south to 18 °C (64 °F) in Borden. In the winter, maximum temperatures typically are a very pleasant 16 °C (60 °F) and minima are about 8 °C (46.4 °F). On Bluff Knoll, winter temperatures range from maxima of about 11 °C (52 °F) to minima of 3 °C (37 °F). These are the lowest temperatures in Western Australia and consequently
899-528: The western half of the range. The annual rainfall on the plains around the park is quite low compared with the rainy Porongurups to the south, averaging only 575 millimetres (23 inches) on the southern side and as little as 400 millimetres (16 inches) in Borden on the northern side. Although no rain gauges have been placed on the high peaks, the highest rainfall is estimated to be about 1000 mm (39 in) near Coyanarup Peak and Bluff Knoll . This
930-452: Was established at King George Sound in 1826, and the following year the commanding officer, Major Edmund Lockyer , explored the land north of the Sound. On 11 February 1827, he observed mountains in the distance running east and west about 64 kilometres (40 miles). Alexander Collie explored to the north of the Sound in 1831. On 29 April, he described the Stirling Range and recorded names for
961-596: Was gazetted in 1913, and has an area of 1,159 km (447 sq mi). The mountains are formed of metamorphic rock derived from quartz sandstones and shales deposited during the Paleoproterozoic Era , between 2,016 and 1,215 million years ago (based on U-Th-Pb isotope geochronology of monazite crystals ). The sediments were subsequently metamorphosed 1,215 million years ago, and later folded during reactivation of basement structures recording lateral displacements between Antarctica and Australia. Despite