Bangalow Palm damage overnight Queensland Australia

[pademelon]

G'day from down under....damage to palms overnight every day for last week...searching for culprits...any suggestions...haven't noticed possums etc in trees...setting up searchlights today..any info would be appreciated...

[Harry’s Palms]

Those look like Roystonia to me . Either way , I would suspect rats. I’m just not sure if they can climb a smooth trunk, hmmm. Harry

[tim_brissy_13]

Agree on the Roystonea ID. Looks like R regia. 
 

Any chance it is wind damage? Kind of hard to see small detail in the photos - is the evidence of gnawing near the break? Roystonea fronds can be very heavy and can occasionally snap in high winds. 

[Horticulture-AL]

I’m having the same problem.  My damage is being caused by White Cockatoos chewing the fronds,  sometimes they chew right through or often only partially through them & when the wind blows, the partially chewed fronds fall down.

I’ve had 2 rotary clothes hoists damaged by falling fronds with only this week a very heavy & large Wodyetia/Vetchia cross leaf base fell down during the day just before the washing was to be hung out.

These cockatoos are not fussy which palms they attack.   Luckily most of the damaged fronds fall during the night.

Alan

[Jonathan]

10 hours ago, Horticulture-AL said:

I’m having the same problem.  My damage is being caused by White Cockatoos chewing the fronds,  sometimes they chew right through or often only partially through them & when the wind blows, the partially chewed fronds fall down.

I’ve had 2 rotary clothes hoists damaged by falling fronds with only this week a very heavy & large Wodyetia/Vetchia cross leaf base fell down during the day just before the washing was to be hung out.

These cockatoos are not fussy which palms they attack.   Luckily most of the damaged fronds fall during the night.

Alan

That's a very Australian predicament:

"crikey, the bloody cockies dropped a palm tree on the hills hoist"!

[happypalms]

4 hours ago, Jonathan said:

That's a very Australian predicament:

"crikey, the bloody cockies dropped a palm tree on the hills hoist"!

You forgot struth oh mighty fair dinkum mate the galahs if I catch ‘em iam gunna string em up, now the missus wants a new clothes line flipping heck what next I can’t miss a trick. That’s it iam of to pub for schooie of new and a dogs eye with a bit of dead horse! 

[pademelon]

On 1/7/2025 at 11:04 AM, pademelon said:

G'day from down under....damage to palms overnight every day for last week...searching for culprits...any suggestions...haven't noticed possums etc in trees...setting up searchlights today..any info would be appreciated...

 

[pademelon]

Problem solved...well not really...little red flying foxes at 2am....colony had moved across river from us in the last week...set up lights last night ...the seem to be settling on fronds in numbers and snapping off frounds....not sure what to do next.....perhaps will try water gernie tonight off balcony...palms are so tall not sure if that will work either....anyone know if these palms (whatever they are) will regenerate if their fronds are all knocked off....they are probably 35 years old....total of 4 on property.....cheers and thanks for the comments

[dalmatiansoap]

4 hours ago, pademelon said:

Problem solved...well not really...little red flying foxes at 2am....colony had moved across river from us in the last week...set up lights last night ...the seem to be settling on fronds in numbers and snapping off frounds....not sure what to do next.....perhaps will try water gernie tonight off balcony...palms are so tall not sure if that will work either....anyone know if these palms (whatever they are) will regenerate if their fronds are all knocked off....they are probably 35 years old....total of 4 on property.....cheers and thanks for the comments

Interesting article on Wikipedia:

The larger species tend to hang an arm's length apart, but the little reds tend to clump together so they may hang in groups of 20 or more animals on an individual branch. So, these animals are associated with significant canopy and branch damage in camps where they reside. They also tend to appear in very large numbers (20,000 or more) and the footprint of a camp can expand rapidly for the several weeks or months they remain at a site.

So, you are probably right 👍🏻 

[Harry’s Palms]

The palms will grow new fronds over time . The new , vertical fronds should stay on if not damaged. Over there the fronds should regenerate within a year . Here , my Roystonia , only gets 4 fronds a year. Harry

[Johnny Palmseed]

Royal palms appreciate water. You could supplement in order to help with regrowth if you are not getting enough rain.