The Regent Honeyeater was once common in the woodlands of eastern Australia, particularly along the inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range. It once occurred as far west as Adelaide, but has now disappeared from South Australia and western Victoria. Within this reduced range its population is fragmented, and the only breeding habitat is in North-Eastern Victoria and the central coast of New South Wales.
Regent Honeyeaters feed on nectar and insects within box-ironbark eucalypt forests. When they're not breeding, birds roam widely in search of these unpredictable food sources. Approximately 75% of this habitat has been destroyed by clearing, and the habitat that remains is being degraded by the continuing removal of trees.
The current population of the Regent Honeyeater is less than 1,500 birds.
This well established revegetation project focuses on the Regent Honeyeater, an endangered bird species which has declined seriously over recent decades. Only about 1000 - 1500 of these striking birds remain in the wild and there are just 3 key habitats left in Victoria! The Lurg district, as one of these, provides essential nectar supplies for Regent Honeyeaters when they arrive each winter to feed on the flowering Ironbarks.
But the ecosystem is in trouble! After 150 years of clearing and grazing, remnants of the former Mugga Ironbark forest are scattered across the landscape as narrow strips on roadsides and small patches on private land. With increasing fragmentation and grazing pressure, the natural ecological balances of healthy bushland have been lost. Remnants have little or no under storey, serious dieback problems are obvious throughout the district, mistletoe is out of control in many areas and the paddock trees are dying. We are losing the valuable old habitat at an alarming rate and it’s a one way process.
As well as the Regents, the district supports a host of other threatened woodland birds such as Grey-Crowned Babblers, Painted Honeyeaters, Speckled Warblers, Hooded Robins, as well as several threatened mammals such as Squirrel Gliders and Brush-tailed Phascogales, and many rare plants.
There is a race against the clock to protect, restore and enlarge the existing habitat as fast as possible.
The project has gained enormous support from the local landholders who are keen to protect any habitat that remains. 100 landholders, 23 schools, 2 LEAP groups, 5 Green Corps teams, Work for the Dole groups, corporate sponsors, charitable trusts, and thousands of volunteers from tertiary institutions, bushwalking clubs, cycling clubs, church congregations and scout groups have all lent a hand in the work so far.
Activities such as seed collection, plant propagation, fencing, planting, direct seeding, mistletoe removal, environmental weeding, nest box placement, and Babbler monitoring have been in full swing for the past 14 years. The staggering results include planting 385,000 indigenous plants and restoring 1060 hectares of habitat.
Exetel is donating $3,000 a month to assist buy the required seedlings, fencing materials and to pay the contractors to erect the fences required. More money than Exetel is providing is needed to accelerate the implementation of other parts of this program and if you can assist, as little as $0.50 per month will be welcome, then you can make your personal donation here:
https://www.exetel.com.au/members/customer_donation_choice.php
Project Updates
Progress reports by the Project manager for this and other Exetel sponsored projects can be found on the Exetel Forum here:
http://forum.exetel.com.au/viewforum.php?f=323&sid=7921f33759cf99130d18660f0b5ebc49
Detailed Species Information
http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/nature_conservation/wildlife/native_animals/regent_honeyeater/
