4feature 8 <strong>Northern</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yorke</strong> <strong>Natural</strong> <strong>Resources</strong> Management Board
4feature Good breeding The Mallee fowl mounds are one indication that living in Innes National Park is appealing to wildlife. Lance Campbell reports. For the shy, discreet but very Australian Mallee fowl, there’s no place quite like Innes National Park. Foxes <strong>and</strong> habitat clearance have pushed the gentle ground dwelling bird to the edge of extinction in many parts of the <strong>country</strong>, <strong>and</strong> in this State it is vulnerable. But in Innes, at the bottom southwest tip of <strong>Yorke</strong> Peninsula, a monitoring program shows that there are 3.8 Mallee fowls to each square kilometre – the highest concentration in South Australia. That’s the good news <strong>for</strong> the monitoring team led by Environment <strong>and</strong> <strong>Natural</strong> <strong>Resources</strong> Department threatened species officer Sharon Gillam. Breeding activity in Innes is stronger than in other Mallee fowl areas such as Murrayl<strong>and</strong>s, Sharon says, <strong>and</strong> will contribute to research into how to conserve the bird’s genetic diversity. And while the Mallee fowl is the main wildlife success story in Innes at the moment, other species are finding their way back to the park. Baby penguins are returning <strong>and</strong> there have been r<strong>and</strong>om sightings of bush stone curlews. Innes acting ranger Aaron Smith came across an echidna, the first confirmed sighting <strong>for</strong> around 20 years. These positive outcomes <strong>for</strong> native birds <strong>and</strong> animals are largely the result of intense <strong>for</strong>tnightly fox baiting programs in <strong>and</strong> around Innes since the reintroduction of Tammar wallabies there six years ago. DENR baits within Innes <strong>and</strong> nearby Warrenben Conservation Park, while <strong>Northern</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yorke</strong> NRM Board operates simultaneously on private property in the area. Sharon reports no fox scats or tracks around the Mallee fowl mounds – <strong>and</strong> no rabbits either, <strong>for</strong> that matter. “You can almost say <strong>for</strong> certain that the fox baiting is benefiting the Mallee fowl,” she says, while Ken Rudd, NYNRM Board’s <strong>Yorke</strong> Peninsula animal <strong>and</strong> plant control officer, is more certain. “The Mallee fowl surveys are a key indicator that the baiting programs are working,” Ken says. “And it’s not only the Mallee fowl. It’s other birds, <strong>and</strong> lizards. The two programs complement each other. We’re both baiting <strong>for</strong> biodiversity spinoffs, <strong>and</strong> there has been an increase in lamb numbers. “We are keen to see the programs continue.” The Mallee fowl, or incubator bird or bush chook, is about the size of a small turkey <strong>and</strong> only flies when it has to. It belongs to a family of 22 species known as megapodes, or big feet birds, <strong>and</strong> eats seeds, flowers, fruit, tubers, fungi <strong>and</strong> invertebrates. Like the brush turkey, the Mallee fowl lays its eggs in mounds, made of s<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> mallee leaf litter, which can be five metres around <strong>and</strong> a metre high. Most of the year is spent building <strong>and</strong> maintaining the mound. At Innes, breeding season is between October <strong>and</strong> February, the eggs are incubated by the warm s<strong>and</strong> decaying leaf matter at between 32C <strong>and</strong> 34C. The male Mallee fowl tends the eggs <strong>and</strong> checks the temperature by using his beak as a thermometer. The male adjusts the temperature by adding <strong>and</strong> removing soil cover, or opening <strong>and</strong> closing the mound. He also digs a hole whenever the female is ready to lay another egg, <strong>and</strong> starts all over again. This can happen more than 30 times each breeding season. Once hatched, the chick fights its way through the debris <strong>and</strong> is immediately on its own, without parental care. It can run within an hour, <strong>and</strong> fly in a day. Even so, early mortality rates are high, but at Innes not as high as they once were. These Mallee fowl characteristics attract DENR community liaison officer Deb Furbank to the 3.5 square kilometre survey grid of 47 mounds, out of around 60 known mounds at Innes. Mallee fowl are a “fascinating bird because of the way they incubate their eggs by building a giant compost heap,” Deb says. “The eggs can be a metre down in the mound when they hatch. In a harsh environment, with things going against them, Mallee fowl still survive.” Deb is one of a group of volunteers that works in Innes under Sharon Gillam, who coordinates Mallee fowl monitoring across the State. Most megapode birds are found in the tropics or sub-tropics, <strong>and</strong> while the Mallee fowl is adapted to the lower rainfall of southern Australia, Sharon says Innes is in “a very good rainfall position <strong>and</strong> has had good rain.” This promotes breeding activity. Each season about 10 of the mounds are active. In the most recent survey, the monitoring team saw Mallee fowl on or near five mounds, <strong>and</strong> another two in the scrub. It also was taken to a mound about a kilometre away from the grid, <strong>and</strong> saw another bird in the scrub near Inneston. An infra red camera was set up, <strong>and</strong> monitored nocturnal Mallee fowl activity from November until February. “We got some great data on Mallee fowl behaviour from that camera,” Aaron says. “We saw them opening the mound, <strong>and</strong> bringing material to keep it warm.” As well as trends in Mallee fowl breeding activity, the team also keeps an eye out <strong>for</strong> other factors, such as food availability, predators <strong>and</strong> human interference. Sharon is pleased to report that the latter is not an issue. A Mallee fowl nest in Innes National Park is inspected by Ken Rudd (right), NYNRM Board’s <strong>Yorke</strong> Peninsula authorised officer, <strong>and</strong> Deb Furbank, DENR’s <strong>Yorke</strong> Peninsula community liaison officer. Photo Hannah Short The team saw an owlet nightjar <strong>and</strong> emu, <strong>and</strong> heard butcher birds, grey currawongs <strong>and</strong> ravens. But there were no foxes to kill the Mallee fowl, nor rabbits, deer or goats to impinge on their food sources. In SA, the Innes grid has had the highest breeding activity per squared kilometre consistently over the past four seasons, Sharon reported to NYNRM Board. For all the kind conditions <strong>for</strong> Mallee fowl at the Bottom End, she told Yakka, southern <strong>Yorke</strong> Peninsula was “a bit of a bottleneck.” She would like to see adjacent patches of mallee connected, so the birds can disperse further. Deb Furbank says being on the Mallee fowl team has been “inspiring, working in an environment where things are improving, instead of seeing them downgraded. Nationwide the Mallee fowl figures are dropping, but in Innes they are stable, even increasing. “It’s nice to be involved in a positive outcome.” Left: Australian Mallee fowl. Photo: Graeme Chapman <strong>Northern</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yorke</strong> <strong>Natural</strong> Resource Management Board 9