Despite the widespread use of telemetry to track the movements of many different avian species, there are few
published studies describing tracking methods for large psittacine birds. Due to their powerful bills and inquisitive
demeanours, large parrots may damage valuable transmitters and confound telemetry studies. We undertook a captive
trial of three attachment methods (collar, harness and tail-mount) and a novel weak-link harness design for black
cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus latirostris, C. baudinii and C. banksii naso). Mean retention times for the transmitter packages
ranged from 44 to 384 days. There was no skin or feather damage to the birds associated with transmitter attachments.
The results showed sufficient transmitter retention times to allow for the collection of valuable movement and survival
data, with no obvious ill effects on animal welfare, and are a first step towards using transmitters on wild cockatoos.