It appears that our Zoo-bred Regent Honeyeaters have truly flown the coop.

Despite lots of searching by Bird Australia volunteers, no Regents have been observed in the past few weeks at the release site at Chiltern, Victoria, and its surrounds. It appears that they’ve moved on. So for now formalised monitoring of the birds has ceased, but we’re still keeping our eyes and ears peeled for the tiny bird especially in areas with flowering eucalyptus.

Here’s a recap of the four months since the release:

• Of the 44 birds that were released, almost 30 birds where routinely monitored, even without the aid of a radio tracking device for the last few months
• Over 150 volunteers participated in monitoring, contributing around 3000 survey hours
• Approximately 3,500 GPS locations and associated data have been generated
• Community awareness around this endangered bird has been increased locally and internationally too.

Michael

Bird Keeper