Birds: best flood survivors
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_custom_heading text="Birds: best flood survivors" font_container="tag:h2|font_size:40|text_align:left" google_fonts="font_family:Abril%20Fatface%3Aregular|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal"][vc_column_text]
July 2016 | Sarah Lloyd
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_separator color="black" align="align_center" style="dotted" border_width="2"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_column_text]
SPIDERS HAVE an intriguing method of avoiding flood waters.
In a process known as ‘ballooning’, individuals release a thread of silk and are raised aloft into the atmosphere eventually to settle on vegetation.
Cobweb-covered shrubs and trees were observed around Hagley and Westbury during the recent floods. Sadly, many species of fauna are unable to escape rising waters and how they fared during and after the deluge is difficult to assess.
During strong winds and pouring rain mammals and birds seek shelter. Like us, they must eat regularly to maintain their bodies in robust health and are at risk of starvation or ill health if stormy weather persists.
Once waters recede grazing animals like pademelon and wallaby may find their food contaminated by silty flood waters; wombats, echidnas, snakes and other burrowing animals may be drowned or forced into unfamiliar territory if their burrows are inundated. Even aquatic animals like platypuses can be disadvantaged. They may be washed downstream in raging floodwaters or their burrows may be subjected to strong flows which can scour the banks of rivers and streams leading to displacement or even death.
Birds have the advantage of being able to fly to higher ground if their territory is flooded. The species that feed on soil-dwelling invertebrates may find their food more easily once the ground dries out. This is because these invertebrates (insect larvae, worms, millipedes etc) would have retreated to moist layers deep in the soil during the prolonged drought and then migrated to nearer the surface once the soil becomes saturated.
Important habitat features such as old hollow-bearing trees are particularly vulnerable to gale-force winds especially when the soil around their roots has been softened by rain. These trees are becoming scarce and their loss threatens species such as Masked Owls and Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos that require large cavities for nesting.
The recent floods have been catastrophic for people and for fauna. If anyone has seen animals that have been displaced or otherwise affected by the floods please let me know: sarahlloyd@iprimus. com.au.
