mortality mean that many more birds are taken from the wild than actually sold. In 1997, the Northern Territory Government's Department of Natural Resources, Environment and The Arts (now defunct) proposed a plan for management of the trade in eggs and nestlings of C. b. macrorhynchus. To date the plan has not been implemented. The Australian Senate inquiry into the Commercial Utilisation of Australian Native Wildlife concluded in early 1998 that routine capture and commercial use of adult wild birds should be prohibited. 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 Red-tailed and other black cockatoos. Aviculture In the late 1990s, red-tailed black cockatoos fetched prices of $1750 in Australia and $8900 (~US$6000) overseas. Hand-raised birds can be bought for anywhere between $15,000 to $40,000 in the United States, where they are seldom seen in aviculture. Hand-reared birds are able to learn a few words and can be quite affectionate, although males may become imprinted and unlikely to breed. The red-tailed black cockatoo is the most commonly seen of the black cockatoos in captivity, and can be hardy and long-lived if given plenty of space. Until now, most birds in captivity have been of subspecies C. b. banksii and C. b. samueli. Birds were often previously bred without much attention to subspecies of origin. However, with an increase in interest in conservation, more aviculturists are concerned about maintaining the integrity of the separate subspecies in cultivation, and so avoid crossbreeding. The birds breed easily in captivity and can lay eggs every 3 weeks between February and November. Once the female has one egg in her nest, she will not lay another. An egg takes about 30 days to hatch. The eyes of the young open around 3 weeks and the yellow down will show black pin feathers at about 6 weeks. The best time for hand raising is at about 10 weeks when their black feathers are in place but the tail feathers are still short. Young birds fledge after about 4 months and both sexes have the colouring of their mother. Mature male birds will become aggressive to young male birds at puberty (4 years); they must be separated if caged. The large and powerful bills of these birds can quickly and easily open a Brazil nut (normally requiring crushing in