fauNature

The clearing of native trees across Australia, for building, logging, agricultural or firewood purposes has resulted in the loss of millions of natural hollows. The devastation is particularly apparent in urban environments, which account for 85% of the nation's human population. Even if you live in an area with quite large trees, hollows usually take over 100 years to develop. Thus it may be many years before appropriate nesting/roosting sites are available for many species.

Australian fauna have the highest rates of hollow dependency in the world, with twice the percentage of native birds being hollow nesters compared to Europe, Southern Africa or North America (1). Approximately 15% of Australia's land vertebrates rely on hollows for nesting, roosting or shelter (1). These include many mammals (possums, gliders, bats), birds (parrots, kingfishers, raptors, ducks), lizards, frogs and insects.

Supplementing naturally occurring hollows with wildlife boxes provides an important resource to assist species that utilise urban environments. Wildlife boxes come in different sizes and shapes - selection depend on the species you are looking to attract/assist. However, if all hollow requirements of the local wildlife are not being met, many different species may utilise your box.

Nest Box Range

Small Parrot Boxes
Medium Parrot Boxes
Owlet-nightjar Boxes
Possum Boxes
Bat Boxes
Other species

Medium Parrot Box	Parrot (Small & Medium) Boxes Many parrot species are dependent on hollows for nesting. Parrots come in a range of sizes from species smaller than Budgies up to Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. Our parrot boxes will suit the typical species you may want to attract, including Lorikeets or Red-rumped Parrots to the Small Parrot Boxes and Rosellas to the Medium Parrot Boxes. Large parrot boxes can be made on request.
Small Parrot Box	Owlet-nightjar Boxes Unlike many birds, Owlet-nightjar utilise hollows for roosting throughout the year, as well as nesting during the breeding season. Recent work has shown one bird may use between 3 and 11 hollows per territory for roosting (2). This species is found over much of Australia, it lives in rural areas and is not found in urban environments. The box itself resembles the Small Parrot Box, but has a slightly larger opening for the Owlet-nightjars.

Possum Box	Possum Boxes Two species of possums are typically found in urban environments across Australia, the Common Brushtail and the Common Ringtail. The larger Brushtail is typically able to live in close proximity to humans but is declining across much of in South Australia. Providing a nest box or ‘den’ for this species may help keep them out of your roof and provide much needed habitat. The smaller Ringtail typically makes its own nest, or drey, in dense vegetation, but they are also known to utilise nest boxes.
Bat Box	Bat Boxes Like many other species, bats have suffered significantly from habitat destruction. Most bats roost in tree hollows or under bark, rather than in caves as is typically thought. They are one of the few native mammal groups not to have suffered significant decline in numbers of species over the last 150 years. Insectivorous bats (microbats) are found over most of Australia. The bat box has been developed to cater for many of these species.

Other species

Wildlife boxes for other species, such as Kookaburras, gliders or duck, are available on request. If you are specifically interested in a box for a species other than those described above - please contact us, as we would be happy to discuss any particular designs you may be interested in.

Reference:

1. Gibbons, P. & D. Lindenmayer. Tree Hollows and Wildlife Conservation in Australia (2003) p21-22.
2. Hlava, C. Habitat and roosting requirements of the Australian Owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles cristatus) (2005), Hons. thesis, University of Adelaide.