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The woodlands of New South Wales are diverse and beautiful and provide a home for a rich community of birds. The woodlands region stretches from Queensland to Victoria, between the wetter forests of the Great Dividing Range and the arid country of the far west. More than 21 million hectares of these woodlands have been cleared for agriculture, now forming the wheat and sheep belt of New South Wales. As a consequence many woodland birds are now in peril. Species such as the Bush Stone-curlew and the Barking Owl are very rare and are threatened with extinction throughout New South Wales. Dozens of other species, such as the Red-capped Robin are declining in many districts.
You can help stop the disappearance of our woodland birds by working to protect and enhance the remaining areas of woodland habitat.
The woodlands region lies in a belt extending through central New South Wales. Some small outlying areas of woodland also occur along the coast. Woodland vegetation varies from areas of Poplar Box and Brigalow country in the north to Ironbark, Mallee, Cypress Pine, Red Stringybark, White Box, Yellow Box, and Red Gum further south.
This distinct ecosystem has a unique community of wildlife. Many birds, such as the Black-chinned Honeyeater and the Diamond Firetail, are restricted to the woodlands. These birds don't find suitable habitat in the forests to the east or the drier country to the west. Other species rely on the woodlands in particular seasons. In drought years birds such as Budgerigars move into the woodlands from the west to survive the dry times. In winter when the Ironbarks and White Box trees flower tens of thousands of honeyeaters and lorikeets move into the woodlands to feed on nectar.
Different woodland birds have different needs for food and shelter. Most people
know that owls and parrots needs big old trees with hollows to nest in. Others
birds have more subtle needs. Large old trees produce more nectar per area of
foliage than small trees, making them vital for honeyeaters, and the endangered
Swift Parrot. Babblers need dense shrubs or saplings in which to build their
stick nests. Curlews live on the ground but need fallen branches and sticks
to hide amongst.
A healthy patch of woodland will have large old trees, saplings and younger trees, fallen timber, and a diverse understorey of native plants. These features provide habitat for the full range of woodland birds.
Some of the woodland birds known to be declining in New South Wales woodlands but which can still be regularly observed in some districts. Other species are also likely to be declining.
Declining woodland birds include
Emu
Black-chinned Honeyeater
Crested Shrike-tit
Painted Button-quail
Jacky Winter
Crested Bellbird
Spotted nightjar
Red-capped Robin
Rufous Whistler
Brown Treecreeper
Hooded Robin
Restless Flycatcher
White-browed Treecreeper
Eastern Yellow Robin
White-browed Woodswallow
Speckled Warbler
Grey-crowned Babbler
Dusky Woodswallow
Chestnut-rumped Thornbill
White-browed Babbler
Diamond Firetail
Southern Whiteface
Varied Sittella
There are now more than twenty species of woodland birds listed as threatened in New South Wales. One, the Paradise Parrot, is already extinct. Disturbingly, recent research from throughout the temperate woodlands of Australia has found that dozens of woodland birds are still declining in total numbers and distribution. Many of these declines are occurring rapidly. For example Grey-crowned Babblers are still common in central New South Wales but they are now extinct in south-eastern South Australia, very rare in Victoria and are declining at the edges of their range in New South Wales. Other woodland birds show similar patterns.
The underlying cause for the declines is lack of suitable habitat. More than 70% of the woodlands region has been cleared in New South Wales. Similar losses have occurred in other States. In some districts the destruction of woodlands has been nearly total, with less than 1% of the original vegetation remaining. These losses have made woodlands one of the most threatened ecosystems in Australia much more threatened than rainforests! Some native birds, such as Nosy Miners, Magpies, Galahs, and Crested Pigeons, do well in the new farmland created. These adaptable species are now common.
However, for a host of birds in many districts there simply isn't enough woodland in good condition to provide the food and shelter they need. Some species such as the Grey-corwned Babbler need quite large areas. This bird lives in family groups which defend territories of up to 50 hectares. To maintain a large and on-going population of Babblers, a district may need thousands of hectares of woodland to support enough family groups.
Of great concern is that woodland birds such as the Grey-crowned Babbler are now declining in areas where destruction of habitat has largely ceased. Why are the birds still disappearing? It appears that some birds may hang on for some years in small blocks that remain after clearing for agriculture, but that the pjopulations are too small to survive, and eventually die out when a drought or other 'bad' year comes along. This process has been tagged the 'extinction debt'. The final extinction may occur decades after the initial destruction of most of the woodland habitat. This is the process now happening across the New South Wales woodlands. Many birds which are still regularly seen in districts may in fact be already close to local extinction.
Unless we act now, this is the debt we will pass on to our children and grandchildren.
Woodland birds are vital in maintaining healthy woodlands and productive agriculture. They act as controllers of insect populations on trees, and also in crops and pastures. This can be crucial in maintaining a sustainable landscape. For example, trees provide shelter for stock, act as widbreaks and in many areas are vital for lowering salty water tables. A diversity of woodland birds is important in keeping insect numbers on trees under control and preventing dieback.
Most important is to protect the woodland habitat that remains. Re-planting new habitat can be useful but it is difficult, if not impossible, to re-create the diversity of trees, shrubs, wildflowers, fungi and insects that occur in natural woodland. As an individual landowner, a Landcare group member, a naturalist, or a manager of public land, there are simple things that you can do to help stop our woodland birds disappearing.
Eight useful rules for improving woodland habitat for birds are:
1 Protect and enhance what's left first. Don't put energy into re-creating
habitat until you or your organisation has protected ehat's left. This applies
both at the individual property level as well as for projects at the district,
state and national scale.
2 Big areas are more important than small areas (size does matter rule #1).
Small remnants can be very important but larger areas are more likely to support
viable populations of woodland birds into the future.
3 Big trees are better (size does matter rule #2). Ten, twenty or even 100 saplings
don't have the habitat value that one large tree has for most birds.
4 Dead wood is important habitat. Leave it standing, leave it fallen.
5 Understorey matters. Don't damage an area with a native understorey simply
to plant more trees.
6 Grazing by stock of woodland sites? This is a complex issue which can be very
site specific, depending on the tyupe of country and what weeds are present.
It it hasn't been grazed regularly don't start now. If grazing is continuing
maybe reduce grazing and stop grazing in the spring to allow plants to flower
and set seed. Get exp[ert advce if you want to be sure of the best approach
at a particular site (National Parks and Wildlife Service, Birds Australia).
7 If you do re-create habitat aim, if possible, to re-create what was there
prior to clearing. Put in understorey as well as trees. Use indigenous plants
from local seed sources.
8 Just to reinforce the point - protect and enhance what's left first!.
Threatened species of Western New South Wales. Ayers, Nash & Baggett. 1996. National Parks and Wildlife Service, Sydney.
Conserving the woodland birds in the wheat and sheep belts of southern Australia. Robinson & Traill. 1966. R.A.O.U. (Birds Australia), Melbourne.
For further information on how you can help don't hesitate to contact the Birds Australia national office on 03 9882 2622, 415 Riversdale Rd Hawthorn East 3123. Alternatively contact the nearest office of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service - see your 'phone book for details. Website: www.npws.nsw.gov.au.
Produced as a joint initiative of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and Birds Australia.
Written by Barry Traill & Susie Duncan
National Parks Association of NSW | ||
| Office location: | Level 9, 91 York Street, Sydney, NSW, 1235 | |
| Postal address: | PO BOX A96 | |
| Phone: | (02) 9299 0000 | |
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| Web Site: | http://www.npansw.org.au/ | |