AUSTRALIAN 248 EY WATCHER

Animals Killed by Bushfires in Coastal , February 1983

By A WEGENER Australian Wildlife Lectures, P.O. Box 105, The Basin, Victoria 3154

Summary After the fires of Ash Wednesday 1983, a survey was undertaken of found dead on beaches between Lome and Torquay, Victoria. Fifty-five bird species, eight mammal species and one were found. The most common species found dead were (): Crimson Rosella Platycercus elegans, Red WattlebirdAnthochaera carunculata and New Holland Honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae; and (mammals): Dusky Antechinus Antechinus swainsonii and Ring-tailed Possum Pseudocheirus peregrinus. One each of the following was found: Grey Goshawk Accipiter novaehollandiae, Australian Owlet­ Nightjar Aegotheles cristatus and Rufous Dasyornis broadbenti.

Introduction After the Ash Wednesday bushfires of February 1983, I conducted a coastal survey along the Great Ocean Road in western Victoria in order to determine which species of animals were directly or indirectly killed by the fires. The survey covered all accessible beaches from Lome to Torquay, approximately 48 km of coastline. The survey was conducted with the help of eight personal friends and members of my family. There were many problems in trying to accurately record the number of fire-related deaths. For example, layers of ash up to 10 em thick and drifting sand completely or partly covered many animals, and tidal changes washed specimens on to beaches and out again. However, even with these problems the survey showed that a large cross-section of animals was fatally affected by the fires. Only those species whose remains could be positively identified are included in the results of the survey; isolated feathers or partial skeletal remains are not included in the list of species. Most of the specimens collected on the survey have been lodged with the Museum of Victoria's Mammalogy and Ornithology departments. As I have Fisheries and Wildlife Division scientific collecting permits, I have retained some specimens for the purpose of lectures on wildlife in Victoria.

Results A complete list of the numbers of each bird and mammal species found dead is given in the Appendix.

Birds Fifty-five species were recorded, and hundreds of specimens were found. The most numerous species were: Crimson Rosella, Red Wattlebird and New Holland Honeyeater. One each of the following was found: Grey Goshawk (white phase). Australian Owlet-nightjar and Rufous Bristlebird. VOL. 10 (8) DECEMBER 1984 Animals Killed by Bushfire in Coastal Victoria 249

Mammals Eight species were found. However, many small species such as bats and marsupial mice could have been easily overlooked because of the thick layers of ash. The most common mammal species found were Dusky Antechinus and Ring-tailed Possum. The Pygmy Possum was found on the road at Airey's Inlet.

Reptiles Only one species, a snake, was fo und: a juvenile Copperhead Austrelaps superba was found on a beach near Anglesea.

Discussion It was apparent that the northerly wind blew the fire towards the coastline, and that the animals had tried to escape by flying out to sea, or reached the shoreline with nowhere else to go. Many animals were badly burnt, but others showed no signs of burns. The probable causes of the death were asphyxiation by smoke, drowning after becoming exhausted upon reaching the sea, or some mammals may have died from internal injuries or shock after jumping from tall cliffs. The 63 bird and mammal species listed in the Appendix represent only those which were able to make it to the coast, and were then not either swept out to sea or buried beneath layers of ash and sand. They are therefore only a very small sample of the large numbers of wildlife that must have been destroyed by the fires. Another survey in the region at the same time (Pescott 1983) produced similar results on bird casualties: 66 species were found, the commonest also being Crimson Rosella, Red Wattlebird and New Holland Honeyeater; a few rarer species such as Rufous Bristlebird were also found. A survey of bird casualties after wildfire in southern coastal New South Wales (Fox 1978) produced somewhat different results, probably reflecting differences (heath at Nadgee Nature Reserve, forest in Victoria); of the 49 species found, the commonest were Little Wattlebird and New Holland Honeyeater, and there were few Crimson Rosellas and no Red Wattlebirds.

Acknowledgements I wish to thank my family and friends for the many kilometres of beaches which they walked during the survey. I also wish to acknowledge the assistance given by Mr Nicholas Day in the identification of most of the bird specimens. Thanks are due to the following for their identification of specimens: Ken Simpson (Victoria College), Belinda Gillies (Ornithology Department, Museum of Victoria) and Linda Huxley and Joan Dixon (Mammalogy Department, Museum of Victoria). I am also grateful to the Victorian Fisheries and Wildlife Division, especially Dr R Begg, for permission to conduct the survey and to retain some specimens.

References Fox. A. ( 1978). 'The '72 fire of Nadgee Nature Reserve', Parks and Wildlife 2(2). 5-24. Pcscott. T. ( 1983). 'Beach-washed birds after the Ash Wednesday fire'. Geelong Nat. 20. 17-19. AUSTRALIAN 250 WEGENER BIRD WATCHER

Appendix Bird and mammal specimens found dead on beaches between Lorne and Torquay, Victoria, after the Ash Wednesday bushfires of February 1983. N = numerous (200+ specimens); VC = very common (100+ specimens); C = common (10 to 100 specimens). Species Number Species Number Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopica 1 Rufous Bristlebird Brown Goshawk Accipiter fasciatus 4 Dasyornis broadbenti Grey Goshawk White-browed Scrubwren Accipiter novaehol/andiae I Sericornis frontalis c Masked Lapwing Vanellus miles 2 Brown Thornhill Acanthiza pusilla c Feral Pigeon Columba Iivia 5 Striated Thornhill Acanthiza lineata c Common Bronzewing Varied Sittella Phaps chalcoptera 4 Daphoenositta chrysoptera c Brush Bronzewing Phaps e/egans 3 White-throated Treecreeper Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo C/imacteris leucophaea c Calypiorhynchus funereus 3 Red W attlebird Gang-gang Cockatoo Anthochaera carunculata vc Callocephalon fimbria tum 4 Little Wattlebird Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Anthochaera chrysoptera 2 Cacatua galerita vc Yellow-faced Honeyeater Australian King-Parrot Lichenostomus chrysops vc A/isterus scapularis c White-eared Honeyeater Crimson Rosella Platycercus elegans N Lichenostomus leucotis c Blue-winged Parrot Brown-headed Honeyeater Neophema chrysostoma Melithreptus brevirostris Fan-tailed Cuckoo White-naped Honeyeater Cuculus pyrrhophanus Melithreptus lunatus c Southern Boobook New Holland Honeyeater Ninox novaeseelandiae vc Phylidonyris novaehollandiae N Barn Owl Tyto alba 4 Eastern Spinebill Australian Owlet-nightjar Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris Aegotheles cristatus Striated Pardalote White-throated Needletail Pardalotus striatus I Hirundapus caudacutus Silvereye Zosterops latera/is c Laughing Kookaburra House Sparrow Passer domesticus 4 Dace/a novaeguineae c Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris c Sacred Kingfisher Halcyon sancta 2 Australian Magpie Skylark Alauda arvensis c Gymnorhina tibicen vc Richard's Pipit An thus novaesee/andiae I Pied Currawong Strepera graculina c Blackbird Turdus merula c Grey Currawong Strepera versicolor c Scarlet Robin Petroica multicolor 3 Raven Corvus sp(p). c Eastern Yellow Robin Eopsaltria australis c Dusky Antechinus Golden Whistler Antechinus swainsonii c Pachycephala pectoralis c Ring-tailed Possum Rufous Whistler Pseudocheirus peregrinus vc Pachycephala rujiventris c Eastern Pygmy Possum Grey Shrike-thrush Cercartetus nanus Colluricincla harmonica vc Eastern Grey Kangaroo Satin Flycatcher Myiagra cyanoleuca 1 Macropus giganteus 4 Rufous Fantail Rhipidura rufifrons 3 Swampy Wallaby Wallabia bicolor c Grey Fantail Rhipidura fuliginosa 4 Gould's Wattled Bat Brown Songlark Chalinolobus gouldii 2 Cinclorhamphus crura/is 3 Broad-toothed RatMastacomysfuscus I Superb Fairy-wren Malurus cyaneus 6 Black Rat Rattus rattus c •