Meet the birds...
Regent Honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia)
Regent honeyeaters are a striking black and yellow bird that has a patchy distribution between south-east Queensland and central Victoria. It primarily occurs in box-ironbark woodland, but also occurs in other forest types. The species primarily feeds on nectar and, to a lesser extent, insects and their exudates (lerps and honeydew). It mainly feeds on nectar from eucalypts and mistletoes and it prefers taller and larger diameter trees for foraging.
Their movement through the landscape is guided by the flowering of select eucalypt species. It is nomadic and partly migratory, with some predictable seasonal movements observed. Breeding varies between regions and corresponds with flowering of key eucalypt and mistletoe species. Although breeding may occur at the same site between seasons, some pairs change breeding sites between seasons.
The Regent Honeyeater is listed as Critically Endangered by the Australian Government's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC 1999). Efforts to conserve the regent honeyeater will also benefit the brush-tailed phascogale, squirrel glider, bush stone-curlew, swift parrot and painted honeyeater which use the same woodland habitats.
Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor)
This small parrot (only slightly bigger than a budgie) earned its name for its rapid, agile flight. Swift parrots are one of only three migrating parrot species in the world. They breed in Tasmania and fly across the Bass Strait in winter to feed on flowering plants across south-eastern Australia. The Swift Parrot is listed as Critically Endangered by the Australian Government's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC 1999). They are found in Tasmania and south-eastern mainland Australia. The main threats to their survival include predation by sugar gliders, habitat loss and collision mortality.
VIDEO - May 2023 - BUSH FOR BIRDS PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
Hear from the project partners and landholders about their experiences with the $5 million, 5-year landscape-scale project in north east Victoria to restore and replace vital woodland habitat for the Regent honeyeater and Swift parrot. The video premiered at the 2023 Grassy Woodlands Conservation & Research Forum at Wangaratta on 12 May 2023.
Landscape-scale habitat restoration
The project area contains core Regent Honeyeater habitat within a number of National Parks and private land remnants and is one of four main breeding areas remaining in Australia for the species. Guided by the Regent Honeyeater Recovery Team, North East CMA will work with a range of partners including; DELWP, Trust For Nature, local landcare groups, Traditional Owners, Parks Victoria, Birdlife Australia and private landholders. The project will use revegetation, habitat augmentation (e.g. weed control, enhancement planting and thinning) and Noisy Miner control to address the key threatening processes impacting the species. These activities will also benefit the critically endangered Swift Parrot.
Trust for Nature, one of Australia’s oldest conservation organisations, is a not-for-profit organisation that relies on the generosity of supporters to help protect Victoria’s biodiversity.
Key Contacts
Phill Falcke, Senior Project Officer Biodiversity, North East CMA, phillip.falcke@necma.vic.gov.au
Will Ford, Trust for Nature willf@tfn.org.au
Telephone: 1300 216 513
Acknowledgement
This project is supported by the North East Catchment Management Authority and Trust for Nature, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.
Image Credit: Dean Ingwersen.
