Did you know we host corporate planting days in the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve?
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
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
Members Day for the Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater starts at midday at the Rangers house, 1217 Macclesfield Road, Yellingbo. We will start with a BYO picnic or BBQ lunch, followed by a talk, the unveiling of a memorial plaque for one of our volunteers who passed away late last year and the planting of habitat plants in her memory.Not a member but would like to attend? You can join on the day!
Our guest speaker, Karina Cartwright is the Senior Keeper of Threatened Species at Healesville Sanctuary. She will update us on the Helmeted Honeyeater’s captive breeding program. Karina has provided the following brief introduction.
The captive breeding program for Helmeted Honeyeaters at Healesville Sanctuary began in 1989. Today the Sanctuary holds 13 pair of Helmeted Honeyeaters in purpose built aviaries, each aviary housing a single pair of birds. Two pair of Yellow Tufted Honeyeaters are also held for use as foster parents. Each year the majority of Helmeted Honeyeaters bred at the Sanctuary are released between the two sites of Yellingbo and Tonimbuk. Occasionally some birds are retained at the Sanctuary for use as breeders in the captive population. Fledgling birds are released at the end of each breeding season (around April) after spending three days in acclimatisation aviaries at the release sites. Throughout the breeding season eggs and nestlings are also moved between the Sanctuary and wild nests as required. This happens for a number of reasons:
1. If a wild nest is abandoned the eggs/nestlings can be fostered into a captive nest or placed into an incubator and hand raised or fostered after hatching
2. If the age of a captive and wild nest are within a few days age of each other eggs/nestlings can be fostered from captive to wild nests. This is a preferable form of ‘release to the wild’ of captive birds as they are then raised and socialised in a wild situation.
All welcome.
The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) and the Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater conducted a fauna survey for bats and small terrestrial mammals at Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve (YNCR) over the Australia Day weekend. Twenty seven people, including 11 young people, attended and thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. The weather was warm and humid, good weather for trapping our focal species - bats.
Over the two nights forty four bats were trapped in Harp traps. There were five different species recorded – Chocolate Wattled Bat (Chalinolobus mori), Large Forest Bat (Vespadelus darlingtoni), Little Forest Bat (Vespadelus vulturnus), Lesser Long-eared Bat (Nyctophilus geoffroyi) and an Eastern Broad-nosed Bat (Scotorepens orion). A White-striped Freetail Bat (Tadarida australis) was also heard to call during the night. All animals were identified, sexed, weighed, measured and released over the weekend. This information will be included in the Atlas of Victorian Wildlife database.
A full report is included in our Autumn 2008 newsletter.
The information from these surveys increases our understanding of the species diversity and habitat within YNCR which assists with future management plans. If you would like to be contacted about our next survey – a bird survey – please email heho1@optusnet.com.au or phone 5964 8341 with your name and daytime contact details.
Thank you to the FNCV for an enjoyable and informative weekend.
Image: Setting the Harp trap
Photograph by: B. Tardif