One of the most promising conservation actions by the STGF has been the establishment of our network of artificial nestboxes in sites around Wyndham, Kununurra, WA and east into the NT.
Nestboxes have been shown to dramatically increase reproductive success of Gouldians and overcome the declining availability of nesting hollows caused by inappropriate fire regimes.
STGF supported research published in Austral Ecology 38: 405-412 by James Brazill-Boast, Sarah Pryke and Simon Griffith in 2013 clearly showed the benefit of nestboxes:
Breeding densities
Without boxes: ~ 40% of population breed
With boxes: >95% population breed
Reproductive Success
Without Boxes: 2-3 fledglings per nest
With boxes: 4-5 fledge
Our nestbox network now numbers around 2500 boxes but to be effective the network needs to be maintained. Recently we applied to the Threatened Species Recovery Fund for support to establish a team in the field to visit every site and renew or refurbish the boxes to continue enhanced Gouldian breeding. We were unsuccessful, but this is an important need and we will find other ways to proceed. This will be a first step in re-establishing our field research activities. Stay tuned for more news.
