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Birds and animals at Wilson Botanic Park

Birds

  • Yellow Tailed Black cockatoos
  • Sulphur-Crested cockatoo
  • New Holland Honey-eaters (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae)
  • White-plumed Honey-eaters (Lichenostomus penicillatus)
  • Wood ducks (Chenonetta jubata)
  • Clamorous reed warblers (Acrocephalus stentoreus)
  • Black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus)
  • Australian raven (Corvus coronoides)
  • Red wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata)

Mammals

  • Common Brush Tailed Possum
  • Common Ring Tailed Possum
  • Antechinus (Antechinus stuartii and Antechinus swainsonii)
  • Echidna

Reptiles

  • Blue Tongue Lizard
  • Eastern Long Necked Turtle
  • Garden Skink
  • Jack Lizard
  • Wessel Skink
  • Lowland Copper Head Snake

Amphibians

  • Brown Tree Frog
  • Common Eastern Froglet
  • Eastern Banjo Frog
  • Southern Toadlet

Introduced

  • Black Rat
  • Cat
  • European Rabbit
  • House Mouse
  • Red Fox

Bird Attracting Area

We’ve been busy working on Wilson Botanic Park’s Bird Attracting Area (also called Basalt Lake) to increase its resilience so everyone, including birds, can enjoy it for years to come!

Our work includes: 

  • weed management 
  • rubbish removal
  • pruning and mulching
  • revegetation

You can read more below and view the photo gallery.

Weed management 

We’ve been removing woody weed species including Pittosporum (Pittosporum undulatum), Pine trees (Pinus sp.), Blackberry (Rubus sp.), Cottoneaster (Cottoneaster sp.) Albizia (Paraserianthes lophantha) and Sweet Briar (Rosa rubiginosa). The weeds with fruit were prioritised to reduce seed dispersal and the amount of area that was cleared at once.

Working in stages prevents issues including erosion, recolonisation of further weeds and displacing native animals that have adapted to use the weeds as their habit.

Some of the other strategies to prevent erosion include: 

  • leaving weed roots in the ground to hold soil (cut and painting technique)
  • laying branches and the stumps to slow down rainwater and stop soil from being washed away

We undertake weed management to:

  • comply with legislative requirements to control noxious weeds
  • make space for planted trees 
  • reduce the habitat and food sources of other invasive flora and fauna
  • reduce the competition with native species and encourage diverse understory species 
  • improve the water quality of the lake.

Revegetation

We’ve been excited to discover some indigenous species that have been able to survive amongst the weeds! These include Bidgee Widgee (Acaena novae-zelandiae), Kidney Weed (Dichondra repens), unidentified fern species and Weeping Grass (Microlaena stipoides). We hope our work can help these indigenous species thrive.

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