Byron Flora and Fauna Study 1999 - Byron Shire Council

BYRON FLORA AND FAUNA STUDY, 1999
latter would most likely have produced further records of the species for which there were already substantial
data without a significant addition to the information on the poorly known species.
One group of Threatened species selected for particular survey attention was the microchiropteran bats,
some species of which were known from only one or two records in Byron Shire. This group was surveyed
using ultrasonic detection methods by H. Parnaby at locations throughout the Shire during April and May
1998. A full description of the sites surveyed and methods used is contained in the report included as
Appendix 9.
Other poorly known Threatened species were surveyed using targeted methods in suitable habitats across
the Shire during the period April 1997 to September 1998. The species targeted, methods used and areas
searched comprised:
• Loveridge’s Frog – spring-summer searches (aural) of drainage line headwaters, cliff-line soakages
on wet or moist, overcast days and nights in the Mt Boogarem and Snows Gully-Wanganui Gorge
areas;
• Stephen’s Banded Snake – summer-autumn searches of roads and tracks on warm, moist
nights in the Upper Main Arm, Mt Boogarem, Goonengerry and Snows Gully-Wanganui Gorge areas;
• Square-tailed Kite Lophoictinia isura – spring-early summer elevated lookout watches for soaring
individuals during early mornings, and summer-autumn searches of coastal plain and coastal
ridge forests in the Marshalls Ridges, Lower Brunswick River, Tyagarah, Ewingsdale, Suffolk Park
and Broken Head areas;
• Comb-crested Jacana Irediparra gallinacea – spring-summer-autumn searches of coastal water
bodies supporting waterlilies in early mornings in the Marshalls Ridges, Ocean Shores, Belongil
Creek, and Suffolk Park areas;
• Powerful Owl Ninox strenua – autumn and winter recorded call playing in coastal and hinterland
eucalypt forests after dusk in the Upper Main Arm, Marshalls Ridges, Montecollum, Goonengerry
and Broken Head areas;
• Masked Owl – autumn-winter-spring recorded call playing in coastal eucalypt forests, particularly
old-growth forests, after dusk in the Tyagarah, Goonengerry and Broken Head areas;
• Marbled Frogmouth – spring-summer recorded call playing in the Upper Main Arm, Mt Boogarem,
Goonengerry and Snows Gully-Wanganui areas;
• Rufous Scrub-bird – spring-summer recorded call playing in the Doon Doon Saddle area;
• Barred Cuckoo-shrike – summer-autumn searches of paddock and remnant rainforest fig trees
on the coastal plain in the Tyagarah, Ewingsdale and Skinners Shoot areas.
Incidental Threatened fauna records were collected during other investigations throughout the Shire and
during the plot-based vegetation survey, which also recorded a suite of micro-habitat attributes significant
to Threatened fauna.
All records of Threatened species collected during field surveys were entered in the Byron Shire Threatened
Fauna Database.
6.3 RESULTS
6.3.1 Vertebrate species occurring in Byron Shire
The review of existing information produced a total of 420 terrestrial vertebrate species known to occur in
Byron Shire. These comprised 30 species of amphibians, 45 species of reptiles, 283 species of birds and 62
species of mammals. Seventy species or 17% are included on Schedules 1 (Endangered) and 2 (Vulnerable)
of the TSC Act, 1995. One amphibian, five birds and six mammals are introduced species which have
established wild populations. All species and the principal references or other sources used to determine
their occurrence in the Shire are listed in Appendix 10.
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