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Hello Chris,
I had a look with Marnix at the area where the
trees that the Superb Parrots were using that he was concerned about in
Harrison. The area was mapped as "Lowland woodland vegetation (inc.
substantially & severely modified)" i e trees with a predominantly
exotic ground cover under them not as "Yellow Box Red Gum Grassy Woodland
endangered ecological community" i e with a predominantly native ground cover
fig 5.1a in Action Plan 27. On those grounds the area would not have been
excluded from development. Judging by the trees around the area they were
probably Yellow Box trees.
Does anybody know whether Superb Parrots need
native ground cover to feed on? I suspect not and would probably have
happily fed on exotic grasses and forbs in the area and used the trees for
roosting (and perhaps nesting?).
I suggest that if anyone sees endangered or
threatened birds regularly using trees that may be in an area scheduled for
development the status of those trees should be checked out asap and a
submission lodged to protect them if they are threatened with development. The
earlier a submission is lodged to protect trees the better the chances of doing
so. The 'Cathedral Site' adjacent to Kings Av was saved (from a cathedral
being put on it) because of a rich native plant cover on the site. It
had been put aside for a cathedral many decades
ago.
Peter Ormay
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