Fire Recovery Work Establishes Nest Boxes on Yaegl Country
24 Jun 2021
North Coast LLS and the Yaegl Traditional Owners’ Land Management Team, supported by the Australian Government’s Bushfire recovery package for wildlife and their habitat, have installed wildlife nest boxes on three Travelling Stock Reserves (TSR) Yaegl Country.
Yaegl country supports significant native tree-dwelling (arboreal) animals in numbers no longer seen in most parts of Australia. The popularity of this area with our native wildlife is due to large intact forest areas that remain on private and public land and the high diversity of nectar-producing trees such as Eucalypts, Bottlebrush, Lilly Pilly, Banksia, Grevillea and Christmas bush within the forest. This plant diversity ensures that the nectar restaurant is well stocked all year round. The abundance of small mammals dependent on nectar also ensures a secure food source for large forest owls. The large tracts of woodlands also provide a safe home range for a rare viable population of both masked and powerful owls.
However, the natural tree hollows that house these native mammals and birds have become increasingly scarce. Hollows only form in very old trees, and many have been lost to fires, storms and land clearing, and they are not being replaced due to logging and changing land use.
Following the 2019 fires, many hollow-bearing trees were lost, and those animals that survived had to move to new areas. Song meters that record animal calls were set over several months on the TSRs. We found that numerous species, including the protected powerful and masked owls, sugar gliders, squirrel gliders, micro bats, and koalas, were now using these unburnt blocks.
In the last few weeks, our staff, a tree-climbing specialist and the Yaegl Traditional Owners’ Land Management Team have installed 40 boxes, including small micro-bat boxes, a range of different styled glider boxes, generic small mammal boxes and a few large owl boxes. All nest boxes were donated by Australian Conservation Volunteers and Nature Conservation Council, providing our treetop friends with fantastic new real estate options!
