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Tree hollows are
disappearing
Tree hollows as
nesting sites
Alternative
nesting sites
Nesting boxes
Boxes for bats
You can help
Tree Hollows are
disappearing.
Prior to European settlement, the vegetation
covering the Kedron Brook catchment would have contained many mature
eucalypt and paperbark trees. These trees live for hundreds of years;
as they age, damaged or broken limbs form hollows.
Tree hollows provide essential nesting sites
for many types of native animals including possums, gliders, birds,
reptiles and bats.
Due to extensive clearing of native
vegetation large trees have been lost and therefore the hollows
available to fauna greatly reduced.
Tree hollows as
nest sites
Mature forest trees are still present along
many sections of Kedron Brook. Sulphur-crested cockatoos use hollows in
tall eucalypts at Grinstead Park for nesting. At Kalinga Park and
Hickey Park, hollows in old paperbarks are used by Scaly-breasted
rosellas and Rainbow lorikeets for nesting.
Alternative
nesting sites
Some hollow using animals have found
alternatives. Possums will readily find shelter under eaves of
buildings. Insectivorous bats, many of which are only a few centimetres
in length, use hollows under bridges or roost under power pole caps.
Nesting Boxes
The potential shortage of nesting hollows
for local fauna has been recognised for some time. Nesting boxes have
been erected in trees throughout the catchment to provide additional
nesting resources. These have had mixed success.
Rainbow lorikeets and Galahs have moved into
some boxes. Some of the breeding pairs appear to visit the same box
each year. Birds do not use many of the nesting boxes, possums may take
up residence or the nesting boxes are unoccupied.
Some nesting boxes have been occupied by
Noisy miners, a gregarious and aggressive bird that is increasing in
numbers in southeast Queensland. Use of nesting boxes by these birds is
at the expense of less common native species.
Boxes for bats
Recently, boxes have been installed that are
designed specifically for insectivorous bats. These are a ‘slim’ box
with a downward facing opening of only a centimetre or so. Bat nesting
boxes have been set up as part of a Griffith University project to
investigate the insectivorous bat fauna in the Brisbane area.
You can help
Tree hollows are an important resource, if
you have a large native tree in your yard or know where there are trees
with hollows – protect them where possible.
Build a nesting box and secure it high in a
large tree in your garden
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