Eastern Bristlebird Habitat Restoration

Border Ranges landholders have worked with ecologists and agencies to help one of Australia’s most endangered birds, the northern population of Eastern Bristlebird. These inconspicuous brown birds are smaller than a common Noisy Miner but have a delightful call (listen to it here https://bit.ly/EBBCall).

Recent surveys by ecologist David Charley have found encouraging signs, an increase from the previous ~36 birds and found birds in new breeding areas.

The recovery project is a coordinated partnership between David Charley, landholders, North Coast Local Land Services, Department of Planning, Infrastructure and Environment (Biodiversity Conservation Division) and National Parks and Wildlife Services, has lead to the changes in bird numbers. This 10-year effort has been bolstered through a project funded by the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

This project focusses on removing weeds such as Lantana which change forest vegetation and increase fuel loads. It also uses cool mosaic burns to remove the shrubby mid storey and help native grasses. These grasses play a vital role in providing nesting habitat for this ground-dwelling bird.

Senior Local Land Services Officer Jai Sleeman said ‘Traditional mosaic burning by Aboriginal people would have maintained open and grassy habitat for these birds, but without this for many decades, their available habitat has shrunk’.

‘Changes in climate, growth in vegetation and an absence of mosaic burning have caused changes in forest structure. We’ve needed to throw as much management effort as we can to bring back the open grassy woodland these birds need’.

Further funding from the Australian Government’s Wildlife and Habitat Bushfire Recovery Program is supplementing the management efforts by supporting weed management on some large private properties.

For further information about the program, contact Jai Sleeman Senior Land Services Officer, North Coast Local Land Services on 0428400984.