Why do wild Gouldians need homes?
Until recently, thousands of Gouldians were regularly reported anywhere from Broome to Cairns. Today, however, individuals are largely restricted to small and isolated populations mostly in the Northern Territory and Kimberley regions of Western Australia. Obviously, something needs to be done. The big problem, however, is that the success of any conservation strategy depends on our understanding of the processes contributing to their decline – something we are finally starting to better understand....
The Problem – limited tree hollows
Declines in Gouldian finch populations were initially blamed on air sac mite and wild trapping of birds for the pet industry (banned in the early 1980’s). However, recent research suggests that the overriding factor is large-scale habitat change and inappropriate fire regimes, which not only alter seed diversity (directly affecting food availability), but can also affect the availability and production of Eucalyptus tree cavities (used for nesting).
Prior to the introduction of pastoralism in the nineteenth century, the fire regime in Australia’s northern savannas consisted of a patchy mosaic of regular (early dry season), low intensity grass fires. More recently, however, with increased pastoralism and reduced traditional land management, large areas are now susceptible to high intensity and late season fires. Although low intensity fires have a negligible effect on Eucalyptus demographics, high intensity fires typically destroy growing saplings and older trees. Cavity production in Eucalyptus woodlands is strongly related to the size and age of the tree, often requiring at least 80-120 years depending on species. In other words, trees planted now are unlikely to form suitable hollows for many decades to come.
The problem for the Gouldian finch is that they nest exclusively in tree cavities (they are unable to build their own free-standing nests). They are also very choosy about the hollows they will nest in, preferring very sturdy, deep hollows with narrow entrances (which are produced by older trees). Competition for these limited nest sites is fierce, with up to twelve pairs of birds often competing for access to a single hollow. There is also intense competition with the ecologically similar Long-tail finch, a competitively dominant species that typically outcompetes Gouldian finches for access to hollows. |
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The Solution – artificial nest boxes
Faced with all these problems, the big question is – what can we do about it? One solution is to provide artificial nest cavities in the form of nest boxes. Over the last three years, the scientists have been hard at work building specially-designed nest boxes (modelled on the natural tree cavities used by Gouldian finches). By providing artificial nest sites, we can increase the number of suitable Gouldian finch hollows (i.e. remove the constraints of the limited number of hollows available in the environment) and reduce the effects of competition (i.e. enough boxes for everyone to breed). The results have surprised even us – in areas with nest boxes, the number of breeding pairs has increased by over 200% and the number of offspring produced per pair has often doubled. This is an amazing success rate using a very simply solution. Now you can also help us to help the wild Gouldians.
The Nest-Box Project
The more boxes we can build, the more ‘homes’ we can provide for Gouldian finches, and the more we can boost both the population numbers and increase their range. All donations to this project are invaluable and will go a long way to reversing the decline in this endangered species.
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Individuals
Vince Alfante
Betty Allerton
Juan Alicea
Danniel Balins
Michael Balins
Adrian Barratt
Jody Bayless
David Baxter
TJ Beckenham
Carolyn Begg
James Begg
Kel Biddle
Peter Bradbury
Darrell Bresnahan
Alicia Bridges
Derek Burton
Lloyd Butler
Jent Cain
J & C Carpter
Ian Campton
Nathan Carroll
James Chen
Ivan Cindric
Peter Clarke
Tony Clibborn
Anne Coyle
Neil Creighton
John Crowe
Eric Davis
Kevin Dunnings
John Emerson
Anthony Emy
Lynne Freeman
Laura Gelber
Jennifer Georgeson
Sarah Gooden
John Gruben
Richard Halsall
Greg Haten
Brenton Head
Robert Hedicson
Brian Henry
Mark Heron
Greg Hollingworth
David Holmes
Case Hulsebosch
H.G. Huwse
Mark Kramer
Philippa Jones
Simon Laforgia
Jeorg Landenberger
Matthew Landy
Angela Leahy
William Lee
Ray & Wendy Lowe
Kiyoko Manaka-Serle
DJ Manley
Glenn McCarthy
J McCormick
James McNeill
Bruce & Wil Meager
Grantley Menadue
Robin Menadue
Candace Miller
Bonita Minderhout
Ian More
Tomothy Morris
Camilla Myers
Kelley Nelson
Lindsay Nutley
Roger O'Connell
Sue Officer
Gay Pados
Tom Pados
Kathryn Parker
Mike Phillips
Steven Pickering
Barry Pollock
Glenys Pollock
Simon Pugh
Narelle Robinson
John Ryan
Andrew Shephard
Mark Shephard
Ronald Simpson
Helen Smith
Arnold & Helen Snowball
Paul Sperber
Anne Stott
Allan Summers
Alan Taylor
Cassandra Taylor
Alex Topple
Bill Van Patten
Helen Wainwright
Kym & Susan Welsby
David Whaley
David White
Gregory Wightman
John Williams
Colette Woolley
Angela Wustenhagen
Ian Wyatt
Cooper Yeoman
Emmily Rose Yeoman
Phil Young
Su Yin
Businesses and Societies
All About Finches
Geraldton Bird Club
Naturwissenschaftliche Rundschau
Queensland Finch Society
Riverland Birdkeeper’s Club
Ruth Rendely Consultancy
Society For Conservation In Aviculture
South West Avicultural Society(Bunbury, WA)
Terri's Glamorous Gouldians LLC
Wollongong Finch Club – a branch of the Finch Society of Australia
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