Nicki
Much appreciated.
From my perspective, sustainability in the ACT, in one of the
wealthiest per capita jurisdictions in the world, should include
maintaining populations of the woodland birds such as the Hooded Robin,
Brown Treecreeper and Speckled Warbler. If we can't manage it here, we
would be hypocritical to expect others to achieve sustainability
elsewhere. The Hooded Robin can therefore be seen as a test case for
our way of life in the ACT.
It is therefore especially heartening to understand from your study that
it is possible that the decline of one of affected woodland species can
be reversed through the efforts to regenerate suitable habitat. I take
two other messages from your note. The first is that we are not doing
enough revegetation. The second is that we need to get on with it
because efforts made now may take many years to have an impact on the
rarer species.
regards
Con
Nicki Taws wrote:
Con
As the author of the Greening Australia study of birds in reveg sites
I can give you a bit more detail about Hooded Robins in the study.
Yes, the more common birds found in reveg sites were the more common
species in the landscape, both woodland species and open-country
species - hardly surprising. However the common woodland species
weren't necessarily common at the site where the reveg was established
before it was planted - at least we now know that those woodland
species can move out of their remnant habitat and into newly
established habitat.
Given how sparse the rarer woodland birds like Hooded Robin are in the
landscape (and I think through your searchings you can testify to
this) it is hardly surprising that we didn't find many HR in reveg
sites. Even if totally suitable habitat is provided everywhere it's
going to take a considerable amount of successful breeding and
dispersal for the HR to repopulate to become a common species, and
reveg efforts are still a very small part of the landscape. The
encouraging thing is that some HRs (and other declining woodland
species) were found in reveg.
They were found in a few of the the older reveg sites, ie ten years
old. Possibly it takes this long for the site to develop suitable
resources for the Robins, such as tall enough trees and shrubs, a few
dead branches/twigs, fallen branches, a suitable ground layer of
litter, native plants etc. HRs need open space, and as you observed,
short grass and bare ground for foraging, so reveg plantings need to
incorporate some open space within the site to cater for these needs.
The other answer to your question 'How can these plantings be
improved to target the rarer
woodland species that are in trouble?' is - create many many more of
them.
cheers
Nicki Taws
02 6251 0303
0408 210 736
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