Artificial tree hollows

Making artificial tree hollows

Did you know that in Tasmania, there are eight bat species, five possums, and about 29 bird species that use tree hollows for shelter and breeding? And then there are the reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates!

The Forest Practices Authority has a booklet all about how to look for and protect habitat trees that are large and old, and have dead wood, fire scars and existing visible hollows. If you have good habitat trees on your property, think about retaining them, protecting them by fencing off from livestock, planting additional trees around the hollowbearing ones, and retaining your important trees in clumps or strips rather than standing alone.

For forested areas where there are not many hollows, adding artificial hollows could be a good option.

There are designs available on the internet for different sizes of nest boxes suitable for different species, from small birds to big cockatoos (eg, COCKATUBE), and even micro-bats (who like baffles in their boxes to hide in). The Friends of Devonport Reserves Wildcare Group, with assistance from Devonport City Council, are installing 100 nest boxes specially designed for improving Swift Parrot habitat in Kelcey Tier, and built by a local Men’s Shed with funding from the Communities Environment Program. Even a few additional nesting locations might help these critically endangered parrots.

In other locations, some nest boxes are designed to be predator-proof, with doors that close automatically at night to keep out predatory Sugar Gliders.

Let us know if you have installed a nest box at your place, we’d love to hear who is using it…

Remember that planting trees on your property now will contribute habitat in the future. As they say, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, but the secondbest time is now!

Diagram from Kingborough Council’s booklet, Tree Hollows: A home to suit every need

What's killing our local wattles?

Adult Peltoschema orphana (Photo credit: Kristi Ellingsen from Insects of Tasmania website)

Have you noticed a lot of dead Acacia dealbata (Silver Wattle) around the Cradle Coast this year?

Apparently it is the work of a native beetle, known as the Fireblight Beetle, Peltoschema orphana. Both the larvae and the adults feed on A. dealbata bark and foliage, and if the damage is bad enough, the tree may die. Climate and environmental conditions probably regulate the numbers of the beetles, so fingers crossed next winter is not so good for Fireblight Beetles and our pretty pioneer wattles have a chance to recover.

Top - Eastern Rosella Chick in a natural hollow. Centre - Skinks enjoying a hollow drilled into dogwood. Bottom - Homemade wheely-bin nest box big enough for cockatoos or owls, installed by ecologist Dave Globull. (Photo credits: Dave Globull) Silver Wattle defoliated by Fireblight Beetles (Photo credit: Phil Hrstich)