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Chiltern, Victoria.

Endangered Australian Birds

Below you will find information about some of the

Endangered Australian Birds that visit the Chiltern Forest.

The Chiltern Box Ironbark National Park surrounds the picturesque historic town of Chiltern.

The district has exceptional bird diversity with more than 220 species having been recorded, 180 of them residents or regular visitors, making Chiltern the Birdwatchers Mecca of Southern Australia.

Below are some facts about the Endangered Australian Birds that may be seen around this area.

Regent Honeyeater

Recent surveys throughout eastern Australia have shown that the population of this boldly patterned black, yellow and white honeyeater has fallen to a critically low level perhaps fewer than 1000 birds. It is classified as endangered under Commonwealth, Queensland, New South Wales and Victorian legislation. It is possibly the most endangered Australian Bird.

Survival Needs

Regent Honeyeaters occur mainly in box-ironbark open forests. A large proportion of their time is spent feeding on nectar from a few key eucalypts - Mugga Ironbark, White Box, Yellow Box, Yellow Gum and Blakely's Red Gum and mistletoe growing on River Oaks. Stands of these eucalypts growing on sites where nectar production is plentiful and predictable are critical to the survival of the Regent Honeyeater. In parts of coastal New South Wales they are also attracted to stands of Swamp Mahogany.

Regent Honeyeaters are highly mobile, rarely remaining long in one place unless breeding. Even then, they usually depart as soon as their young are independent. During winter, Regent Honeyeaters disperse widely in small groups. In spring they concentrate into the main breeding areas around Chiltern and Benalla in Victoria and Capertee Valley, Bundarra District and the Warrumbungles in NSW. Other sites regularly visited include Canberra and the Mudgee and Gosford areas in NSW. Many pairs breed in small remnants of open forests in farmland or along roadsides.

Threats

The decline of the Regent Honeyeater appears to he due to a steady reduction in the extent and quality of its habitat. Many of the remaining stands of the key eucalypt species have suffered in the past from harvesting of timber and the very slow growth rates of replacement trees. Lack of regeneration due to grazing by stock and hence a lack of new trees to replace dying trees in Farmland is also a serious concern for this Endangered Australian Bird.

 

 

Scarlet Chested Parrot

This bird is very rare in some of its former haunts. Generally found only in the inland areas where it frequents mallee, mulga scrub, spinifex, eucalypt and casuarina woodland. This endangered Australian Bird can be seem in this area.

Is seen unobtrusively in pairs or in small parties, and it feeds on seeds on the ground. It seldom goes to water and probably gets its moisture from dew or plants. They breed after rains from August to January, and nest in tree hollows.

The colouring is very similar to the Turquoise Parrot, ( which is also an endangered Australian Bird ), as is their size, and so both parrots are often mistaken for each other.

Both of these endangered birds may be seen at the Bullers Bird Park, Rutherglen.

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