Conserving Ngarkat Conservation Park's threatened birds

The sound of a squeaking gate is not very appealing to most people, but it's music to the ears of a group of researchers in South Australia's Murray Darling Basin region.

This is the unusual 'song' of the nationally threatened Western Whipbird, an elusive bird of the mallee which is so hard to catch a glimpse of that ornithologists took over ten years to identify it after finding nests and eggs. The species is now even harder to locate after wildfires decimated important habitat in the Ngarkat Conservation Area.

Funding

The Whipbird and five other threatened mallee birds are the subject of a concerted conservation effort thanks to $80,000 from the Australian Government and support from the State Government.

Activities and achievements

The mallee is rich in birdlife but populations are small, isolated and vulnerable to a number of threats, the most serious of which is fire.

Project Coordinator Jody Gates from the SA Department for Environment and Heritage (SA DEH) said the fires that ravaged Ngarkat Conservation Park in 2005 and 2006 caused significant losses in the area.

"The fires had had a devastating effect on species like the Western Whipbird and Mallee Emu-Wren and have reduced habitat and numbers to such an extent their recovery may not be possible without help," he said.

"Small pockets of Ngarkat Conservation Park now provide critical habitat for these species and the big fear is that if there was another major fire in the area, it could wipe out the last remaining populations.

"Thanks to this funding, we've been able to locate populations and support controlled burning around sites to protect them from future wildfires. We're also undertaking research and surveys to learn as much as we can about the birds, including their ecology, habitat needs and distribution.

"This information will feed into Park and Fire Management Plans and is going towards a multi-species recovery plan for birds including the Red-lored Whistler and Striated Grasswren."

This work is being complemented by another conservation project in the area targeting threatened species in the Murray River corridor. With $296,000 from the Trust, recovery plans have been prepared for two more bird species; the Regent Parrot and Bush Stone Curlew, as well as the Southern Bell Frog and Carpet Python.

More information

1. Jody Gates, SA DEH: (08) 8595 2204 or email gates.jody@saugov.sa.gov.au
2. SA DEH 

Australian Government NRM Team
GPO Box 787
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
1800 552 008 (toll-free)

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NRM, NHT and NAP are jointly administered by the Australian Government departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts