18 Helmeted Honeyeaters released into Yellingbo

18 Helmeted Honeyeaters bred at Healesville Sanctuary were released into Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve recently; 5 on 17/9/14 and 13 on 25/9/14.

They join 90+ Helmeted Honeyeaters, plus 9 current fledglings from the 2014-15 breeding season.

Unbanded Helmeted Honeyeater - image B.Tardif

Colour leg bands, Helmeted Honeyeater - image B.Tardif

Do you live next door to Yellingbo NCR or Bunyip State Park? You may see Helmeted Honeyeaters on your property. If you do, please let us know.

Taking a photo is a great way to help us identify the bird you see. Does it have coloured bands? is it unbanded? Check out the images to see what we mean - the bands are on the legs.

Contact us here.

Early breeding season news

One female Helmeted Honeyeater, BlueD, is half way through constructing her first nest for the season in Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve. How long does it take to build you ask, then for nestlings to be seen? Check out the details at Q. What does 14 plus...

Three additional females have been observed collecting nest material in Yellingbo.

At Bunyip State Park, one female has been seen collecting nest material.

This is all good news for the breeding season.

Mid Jan & plenty of activity in the field

It's been an interesting year for the Helmeted Honeyeater Recovery Team. The Yellingbo populations are holding their place on the globe (they tend to stay put in the general area they're released or wild born) and they're breeding well. The Bunyip State Park populations are proving more challenging to keep track of. They seem to be finding richer pastures than the release sites - somewhere - whilst making an occasional visit back to where they were released! Different individual birds are being seen intermittently at sites well away from the release sites, including areas that had been burnt in the Feb 2009 fires. Not exactly what was expected, but, the ultimate aim is that the birds find their own way in the world and establish colonies. Perhaps this is nature telling us people aren't that good at choosing the best habitat for them.

Meanwhile, we are still seeing breeding activity with 3 known pairs currently sitting on nests at Yellingbo and new fledglings just joining the population at Bunyip State Park. How luck are we to be part of this fantastic program? Want to find out how you can help?

Image: A typical Helmeted Honeyeater nest
Photographer: S Tardif

28 birds released - it's a record!

Six birds released into Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve on 6 May 2010 added to 22 released into Bunyip State Park two weeks earlier.

DSE’s Senior Field Ornithologist Bruce Quin said: “Before this release, there were only about 40 Helmeted Honeyeater's left at Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve, with 40 more at Bunyip. The release site was chosen to give the new birds the best chance of survival,” Bruce said, "with ideal swamp and stream-side vegetation and a permanent water source. A major aim of bolstering the Yellingbo population is to diversify the birds gene pool. With the new releasees mixing with wild birds, the Helmeted Honeyeater population at Yellingbo is critical in maintaining a long-term, healthy outcome for the sub-species as a whole.”

Of the 12 captive-bred birds released last autumn in Yellingbo, we can still account for 7. This is a fantastic result and we are hoping for a similar one this year.

Image: Bruce and Bob release birds. A 'hands free' method of release will occur from 2011
Image: Iain Stych

Annual Helmeted Honeyeater Survey Bunyip State Park

Date: Sunday 22 November 2009
Time: 8.30am arrival for 9am start. Finish at 3.30pm
Meet at: Tonimbuk Hall, Tonimbuk Road, Tonimbuk (approximately 7.5 kilometres north of Princes Freeway). Melway ref: Map X912 grid S5/T5.
BYO: lunch, drinking water, binoculars, compass. Dress for the weather - hat, but rain jacket and gumboots may be a good idea. Toilets available at Tonimbuk Hall.
Agenda: We will be surveying areas of Bunyip State Park and its surrounds that we don't spend a lot of time in, looking for Helmeted Honeyeaters. This work is critical to the success of the Helmeted Honeyeater Recovery Program, so you’re assistance is valued. Orientation will be provided on the day.
RSVP's are essential to help in planning for the day. Please contact Bruce Quin (DSE Ornithologist) on 5954 4010 no later than Sunday 15 November. Please leave the name/s of people attending and daytime contact number/s. If you have a 4WD available, please advise Bruce.

Image: Surveys are a great day in the bush
Photographer: Dean Ingwersen

Fire threat to Helmeted Honeyeaters - Tonimbuk population

The Recovery Team have been working actively with DSE over the past few days in regard to the current fire near Tonimbuk in Bunyip State Park. Control lines have been put in place. In case of fire burning critical habitat or reaching the birds, potential actions to best support the population have been determined. We can report that the Helmeted Honeyeater release sites are safe at this time.

The good news story on the re-introduced population of Helmeted Honeyeaters at Tonimbuk ... the 2008-09 spring-summer has been the most successful breeding season yet. More details soon.

Going wild in April 08

Young Helmeted Honeyeaters flew off into the wild in April, blithely unaware of the critical role they must play to save their kind from extinction.

The birds, aged from just two to eight months, were the latest graduates of Healesville Sanctuary’s captive breeding program that supplements two wild populations of honeyeaters.

Six birds were released at Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve, with nine others released at Bunyip State Park. The fate of the birds now rests with nature, assisted by the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Parks Victoria and volunteers such as the Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater.

The releases take the wild population of Victoria’s bird emblem to about one hundred, a stark contrast to many years ago when there was plentiful habitat for the birds from Healesville to South Gippsland.

DSE Field Ornithologist Bruce Quin has been working to boost survival rates of the birds in the wild for more than 14 years. Supported by a dedicated group of volunteers, Bruce provides supplementary food for the released birds which enables close monitoring of the population. This assists in the long term understanding of the Helmeted Honeyeater’s habitat needs, potential predators, survival and population dispersal.

President of the Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater Bob Anderson says, “It is a special feeling to be a spectator and watch released captive birds discover that the sky is now their ceiling. Being part of a program that returns birds to their natural habitat is a real joy.”

Without the commitment and cooperative approach of government and volunteers, the long-term aim to bring this species back from the brink of extinction would not be possible.

Image: A young Helmeted Honeyeater flies free
Photograph by: R. Connor