Malleefowl and Feral Cats in Hattah-Kulkyne

Yesterday I enjoyed a prolonged, close encounter with a Malleefowl along the Nowingi Track in Victoria’s Hattah-Kulkyne National Park. On a less positive note, I was surprised that during a visit of several days to Hattah, I did not see or hear terrestrial specialties of the region such as Southern Scrub-Robin, Mallee Emu-wren, Striated Grasswren and Shy Hylacola – all of which I have seen on previous visits. I saw just a single Chesnut Quail-thrush and one pair of Gilbert’s Whistler when previously I’ve encountered more of these birds. Peter Waanders has suggested that grasswrens and other small terrestrial birds in South Australia may have suffered population declines as a result of an increase in feral cat numbers in recent years, due to a series of good weather seasons in southern inland Australia. Others have suggested that cat numbers in south-west WA have increased due to the success of fox control measures in reserves such as Dryandra; the assumption is that foxes are efficient predators of kittens. It may be that numbers of two endangered marsupials – Brush-tailed Bettong and Numbat – at Dryandra have declined recently for this reason, after initially being boosted by fox control measures. Certainly I saw plenty of cat paw marks on the trails at Hattah, as indeed I did at Dryandra and other reserves I have visited recently in WA and SA. Pics of the chook and more here: *http://tinyurl.com/lek3goo * *Greg Roberts*