Biodiverse Environmental’s fauna management services were engaged in 2021/2022 to carry out a nest box project for the Sunshine Coast Council. The project involved the construction and installation of 113 hardwood timber nest boxes throughout the Sunshine Coast region to provide supplementary hollows to our native wildlife. Biodiverse Environmental’s nest boxes are designed and constructed to target a range of native species, including arboreal mammals, microbats, and many different hollow-dependent bird species.
Nest boxes were installed at Baroon Pocket Fauna Reserve, Doonan Creek and along Hunchy Road, all of which were fitted with Passive Infrared monitoring devices (PIR). PIR devices allow for real-time, non-invasive monitoring of fauna activity. The data collected from the PIR devices was used to further investigate the preferences of different fauna species when it comes to nest box design and nest box placement.
Following the installations, monitoring events occurred at planned intervals, to check on the occupancy rate of the nest boxes.
During the monitoring events at Baroon Pocket Fauna Reserve, several different fauna species were observed within the nest boxes, including: Short-Eared Possums (T. caninus), Common Ringtail Possums (P. peregrinus), and Sugar Gliders (P. breviceps) or Squirrel Gliders (P. norfolcensis), Fawn-Footed Melomys (M. cervinipes) and a Lace Monitor (V. varius).
Where nest boxes were unoccupied, signs of current and past activity were also recorded. Signs of current and past activity included: nesting materials (dried leaves, fresh leaves, fur, wood mulch, dried flowers, and sticks), chewed entry holes, chewed boxes, eggshells, and chewed seeds.
