For the first time in almost half a century helmeted honeyeaters are again being seen in Cardinia in south-east Victoria. The birds haven't been documented in the region since the devastating Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983.
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00:00This has been such an extraordinary event to return Helmeted Honey Eaters to Bunurum Country in Cardinia.
00:07It's been, as you mentioned, 42 years since they've been seen in that area.
00:13So we can see the birds behind you. They are beautiful. How many birds have been released?
00:18There were 21 birds released at the site.
00:22And have you been working to establish this new soon-to-be, hopefully, wild population to keep the species alive?
00:31Can you talk about the background behind the release?
00:35Yeah, so Halesville Sanctuary has had a breeding program for Helmeted Honey Eaters since 1989,
00:40and we work really closely with a huge range of partners for the recovery of the species.
00:45This is one of several wild sites that we've attempted to establish them beyond their single remnant population.
00:52And we have been, you know, building up to this event in Cardinia for several years now.
00:59Is it a gamble releasing captive-bred birds back into the wild, Kim?
01:04It is. So there's never any guarantees of success.
01:07There's lots of factors that can influence whether or not a population will establish and persist at a site.
01:15And so there have been, you know, attempts in the past for the species, some successful and others not successful.
01:22We have really learned a lot from each of those, though, and think we have a great chance with this site.
01:27What sort of lessons have you learned?
01:30So some of the things that we've learned is about the techniques we use to promote site fidelity.
01:35So ensuring that the birds stay in the core habitat where we release them.
01:40And that's really difficult when there's not an established population already at a site.
01:45We also know how much food to provide for them just after release and have really good strategies for monitoring the birds.
01:53And why did you choose this particular site for their release?
01:57Yeah, so this particular site is one that has suitable habitat for how many honeyners in a reasonably good sized track of land.
02:06The local council and a whole bunch of other partners have put in a lot of effort to restore that habitat so that it will provide appropriate nesting sites and food resources for the birds.
02:20And how do you hope their numbers will now increase?
02:23Are you hopeful they'll be taken off the critically endangered list?
02:27Look, moving off the critically endangered list is an ultimate goal for the species.
02:32For now, what we want to see with Cardinia is that the birds at the site will breed soon, that the population will expand and ultimately become self-sustaining.
02:44.