50 AUSTRALIAN Field Ornithology 2012, 29, 50–53 Green Platycercus caledonicus Nesting in Artificial Structures

JAMES A. FITZSIMONS School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125 (Email: [email protected]) and The Nature Conservancy, Suite 3–04, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053

Summary The Green Platycercus caledonicus nests primarily in hollows of living or dead eucalypt trees. This note describes an instance of Green Rosellas nesting in a wall cavity, and reviews other instances of nesting in artificial structures by this . The building used in this instance appears to have been used by Green Rosellas in 2009 and ~50 years earlier, in 1958.

Introduction Higgins (1999) stated that aspects of the breeding ecology of the Green Rosella Platycercus caledonicus are not well known. Most nest-sites for this Tasmanian endemic are in the hollow of a trunk or timber spout of a living or dead tree, usually a eucalypt (Higgins 1999; Koch & Woehler 2007; Koch et al. 2008). Indeed Koch et al. (2008, p. 338), in a review of hollow requirements for Tasmanian vertebrate fauna, stated that ‘Green Rosellas are reliant on tree hollows for breeding but not roosting’, and that ‘they breed only in larger trees in mature forest’. However, Higgins (1999) also cited a small number of published instances of Green Rosellas nesting in artificial structures (Sharland 1974; Brown 1980). Interestingly, Pizzey & Knight (1997 and subsequent editions) listed ‘building cavity’ as a nest-site for both Green Rosellas and Crimson Rosellas P. elegans, yet Pizzey (1980) listed this site only for Crimson Rosellas, not Green Rosellas. Since then, further cases of wall-cavity nesting have been noted (FPA 2002; Donaghey & McQuillan 2003; Bryant 2008).

Observations and discussion This note provides details of a Green Rosella nest within a wall cavity in a historic building (once a convict prison) at the Port Arthur Prison Heritage Site, (43°08′54″ E, 147°50′51″ S). At 1550 h on 5 January 2009, at least two young were heard begging within a wall of the ‘Separate’ or ‘Model’ Prison at Port Arthur. After ~5 minutes an adult Green Rosella appeared from within the wall at the rectangular entrance (~5 cm high and 15 cm wide) of a wall cavity ~4 m above the ground (Plate 11). The Rosella perched in the entrance for ~20 seconds before flying off. It did not return in the next 10–15 minutes of observation. Another cavity of the same dimensions, at the same height, that was marked by whitewash was located on the same wall ~2 m away (although it could not be confirmed whether Rosellas or another species were using this cavity) (Plate 12). The wall was made of locally cut stone and faced north-east. The cavity was possibly the flue to one of the prison cells (see Brand 1990). VOL. 29 (1) MARCH 2012 Green Rosella Nesting in Buildings 51

Green Rosella emerging from wall cavity, Port Arthur, Tas. Plate 11 Photo: James A. Fitzsimons

Location of wall cavities at Model Prison, Port Arthur: Arrows denote A) cavity from which Green Rosella emerged, and B) whitewash at another cavity. Plate 12 Photo: James A. Fitzsimons AUSTRALIAN 52 FITZSIMONS Field Ornithology

In the winter of 1958, Sharland (1974, p. 248) found one pair of Green Rosellas ‘nesting in a cavity in the stone wall of the former convict model prison [at Port Arthur]. The entrance was ten feet from the ground’. Sharland’s observation, ~50 years before this one, suggests that building cavities in the Port Arthur prison complex provide suitable nesting sites. The description of the site by Sharland (1974) indicates that it was in the same building and possibly the same cavity. The re-use of nest-trees has been reported for Green Rosellas (Haseler & Taylor 1993), and, although it is not known whether any breeding events (attempted or successful) occurred in the wall cavity between 1958 and 2009, site faithfulness for other rosella species in artificial nest structures has been recorded (Carter 1996). Goldingay & Stevens (2009) noted that most species of that use artificial hollows favour those with entrances just wide enough to enter, and this was the case also here. Indeed, the height and diameter of the nest-site entrance in the present study were at the low end of those recorded for natural hollows for this species (see Koch et al. 2008; Goldingay 2009). In a review of the use of artificial nest-boxes by Australian vertebrate fauna, Goldingay & Stevens (2009) found that Crimson Rosellas and Eastern Rosellas Platycercus eximius commonly use artificial nest-hollows, but these authors did not present information on the Green Rosella. However, nest-boxes have been trialled for Green Rosellas on King Island, Tas. although ‘with limited success due to competition from Common Starlings [Sturnus vulgaris]’ (KINRMGI 2005, p. 6). The Forest Practices Authority (FPA 2002) and Donaghy & McQuillan (2003) suggested that threatened King Island Green Rosellas P.c. brownii nested in abandoned buildings because nest-hollows were in ‘short supply’. Interestingly, although Lenz (1988) considered the lack of hollows to have caused an increase in use of building cavities by Crimson Rosellas in some parts of Canberra, ACT, he suggested that in other parts of that city, where tree-hollows were not lacking, building cavities may offer an advantage in reducing competition for hollows. Goldingay & Stevens (2009) stated that adequate data on the use of artificial hollows (such as type of hollow and height, size, etc. of hollow) are lacking for most Australian hollow-nesting species. This note adds further information on the use of artificial structures by Green Rosellas. Although the use of artificial cavities by the Green Rosella may not be as common as for some other rosella species (particularly Crimson and Eastern Rosellas: Lenz 1988; Carter 1996), it may be more common than reported in the published literature.

Acknowledgements Thanks go to Mark Wapstra and Amy Koch for helpful comments on a draft of this note.

References Brand, I. (1990), The “Separate” or “Model” Prison, Port Arthur, Regal Publications, Launceston, Tas. Brown, P.B. (1980), ‘The status of species in western Tasmania’, Tasmanian Report 9, 4–12. Bryant, S.L. (Ed.) (2008), Three Hummock Island: 2006 Flora and Fauna Survey, Nature Conservation Report Series 08/03, Hamish Saunders Memorial Trust, New Zealand, and Resource Management & Conservation, Department of Primary Industries & Water, Hobart. VOL. 29 (1) MARCH 2012 Green Rosella Nesting in Buildings 53

Carter, M. (1996), ‘Nesting rosellas Platycercus spp.: Innovative site selection and notes on repeat breeding and other behaviour’, Australian Bird Watcher 16, 344–348. Donaghey, R. & McQuillan, P. (2003), ‘Fauna of old growth eucalypt forests of King Island’, pp. 47–54 in Donaghey, R. (Ed.), The Fauna of King Island: A Guide to Identification and Conservation Management, King Island Natural Resource Management Group Inc., Currie, King Island, Tas. FPA (2002), ‘Green Rosella (King Island) Platycercus caledonicus brownii. Draft for comment only 2002’, in Threatened Fauna Manual for Production Forests in Tasmania, Forest Practices Authority, Hobart. Available at http://fpop.fpa.tas.gov.au/pdf_files/ tfm_green_rosella.pdf (accessed 2 January 2012). Goldingay, R.L. (2009), ‘Characteristics of tree hollows used by Australian birds and bats’, Wildlife Research 36, 394–409. Goldingay, R.L. & Stevens, J.R. (2009), ‘Use of artificial tree hollows by Australian birds and bats’, Wildlife Research 36, 81–97. Haseler, M. & Taylor, R. (1993), ‘Use of tree hollows by birds in sclerophyll forest in north- eastern Tasmania’, Tasforests 4, 51–56. Higgins, P.J. (Ed.) (1999), Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, vol. 4, Oxford University Press, Melbourne. KINRMGI (2005), Are We Losing Our Native Birds on King Island? How Can We Make Sure We Don’t? Recovery of Threatened Forest Birds of King Island, King Island Natural Resource Management Group Inc., Currie, King Island, Tas. Available at http://www. kingisland.net.au/~naturalresources/publications/brochurefinal-Qk5.pdf (accessed 11 November 2010). Koch, A.J. & Woehler, E.J. (2007), ‘Results of a survey to gather information on the use of tree hollows by birds in Tasmania’, Tasmanian Naturalist 129, 37–64. Koch, A.J., Munks, S.A. & Woehler, E.J. (2008), ‘Hollow-using vertebrate fauna of Tasmania: Distribution, hollow requirements and ’, Australian Journal of Zoology 56, 323–349. Lenz, M. (1988), ‘Crimson Rosellas Platycercus elegans nesting in buildings in Canberra’, Australian Bird Watcher 12, 171–173. Pizzey, G. (1980), A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia, Collins, Sydney. Pizzey, G. & Knight, F. (1997), The Graham Pizzey & Frank Knight Field Guide to the Birds of Australia, HarperCollinsPublishers, Sydney. Sharland, M. (1974), ‘Green Rosella of Tasmania’, Australian Bird Watcher 5, 246–248.

Received 15 September 2011, revised 2 January 2012 