Vol. 3 JUNE 30, 1967 No. 1

Is the Helmeted Doomed? By ROY P. COOPER, In 1867 the first coloured plate, with a full description of the Helmeted Honeyeater was published. It was included by John Gould in the Supplement to his monumental work on the of , and the date of publication was December 1, 1867. Now, in the centenary year of its discovery, this rare and beautiful Honeyeater is in great danger of becoming extinct. The dire foreboding that is indicated in the heading on this page is very real, and unless positive steps are taken to protect this species it could become another one of the many species of Australian birds and that have been wiped out by the interference of civilisation. The history of the Helmeted Honeyeater over the past one hundred years, including the publishing of two separate descrip­ tions, by Gould in London and McCoy in Melbourne, on the same day, is full of interest. However, it will not be told in this paper, as it is the subject of another article that is published in the current issue of The Victorian Naturalist; a journal in which so much of the early history of the Helmeted Honeyeater was published. This paper will describe in general terms the biology and ecology of the species as far as is known today, and will indicate the manner in which the Helmeted Honeyeater can be preserved. Meliphaga mssir/lix, the name under which the Helmeted Honey­ eater is known throughout the world today, is the only indigenous species to be confined to . Not only is it restricted to this State, but its range is within a very small area, some thirty miles east of Melbourne. When Sir William Jardine "obtained" the first specimen of the Helmeted Honeyeater he gave it the name of Ptilotis cassidix, and it was with this title that Gould presented it at the meeting of the Zoological Society of London. Twelve months later, when Gould described the Honeyeater in the Supplement he retained this name, but, on the same day, December 1, 1867, Professor F . McCoy also described the new species and gave it the name of Ptilotis leadbeateri. As Gould's description was accompanied by a figure it was accepted before that of McCoy, and the type specimen was labelled Ptilotis cassidix. 2 COOPER, The Helmeted Honeyeater [ Watcher

Regarding the crest and the dimorphic variation in the coloura­ tion of the plumage, McCoy remarked- "The subcristate head, and the female differing in colour from the male, suggests a new subgeneric section for this fine bird". In his 1908 List of birds, G. M. Mathews accepted Ptilotis cassidix for the Helmeted Honeyeater, but later he indicated that he intended to recognise the differences in crest and plumage by proposing Lophoptilotis as a new genus to accept P. cassidix. The new genus was declared by Mathews in his 1913 List, and retained in the 1931 List. However, when The Official Checklist of the Birdls of Australia was published in 1926, the Committee favoured large genera and the Helmeted Honeyeater was given the generic name of Meliphaga. Mathews agreed to accept the large genera conditional that the numerous generic names as used in his lists were included as subgenera. "The subgeneric names have been inserted in the Checklist in the form prescribed by the International Rules, e.g. Meliphaga (Lophoptilotis) cassidix." The 1926 Checklist Committee considered that the Helmeted Honeyeater was an older form than the Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, M elephaga melanops, and accordingly placed it before the latter species in Checklist order. This relationship was confirmed by G . Mack, who stated "it would appear that melanops is the younger, more virile species and that cassidix approaches nearer to the original stock" (Vic. Nat. 50: 156). Gould and Mathews also placed cassidix before melanops. N. A. Wakefield holds a different opinion to the Checklist Committee, Gould, Mathews and Mack, and states "In view of the restricted habitat of this species and its apparent genetic instability (e.g. occasional melanism), it is probable that cassidix originated, by mutation, from the older stock (melanops) after the latter had become established in south-eastern Australia". (Emu, 58 : 191). IDENTIFICATION Considerable confusion exists regarding the identification of the Helmeted Honeyeater from the Yellow-tufted Honeyeater. Both species are similar in general colouration and, although there are va riances in the adult males between each species, the females and immature males are less clearly marked. The main difference lies in the helmet or crest on the forehead and the front of the crown. This appendage is clearly shown in the coloured plates, but when away from the nest the crest is lowered and then other markings must be used to separate the species. The Yellow-tufted Honeyeater does not have a crest, although one writer states that it has a minor "helmet". G. Mack, a museum taxonomist, definitely refutes this statement, and quotes Mathews in his description of the new genera, who stated "The species known as melanops seems congeneric, differing only in the Plate 2 Helmeted Honeyeater - male Photo by Roy P. Cooper June ] COOPER, The Helmeted Honeyeater 5 1967

slightly smaller size and subcrest not pronounced. Nothing could be further from actual fact than the above statement. M. melanops has not the slightest indication of a crest, and the sexes are alike in colouring." The female cassidix differs from the male by having a smaller crest, with the general colours of the body not so distinct. How­ ever, there is no hard and fast rule that governs all the birds of the same species and I have found that a bright female can often be as colourful as a dull coloured male. The coloured photographs shown in Plates 2 and 3 give a much clearer picture of the plumage pattern and colouring of the Helmeted Honeyeater than can be conveyed in words. Contrary to accepted principles the two birds shown in these plates are the pair that was in attendance at the nest. I could not tell them apart, but after some eight hours in photographing and studying the birds it was possible to know each bird by its behaviour. Initially, when I was setting up the camera, both birds came with large insects in their bills and perched within a few feet of the nest. When all was ready I crouched behind the camera and the birds began to move in to feed the nestlings. The first bird came around the front of the nest and after feeding the young birds it posed for its photo (Plate 2). My movements to reset the camera kept the second bird still until I crouched down once more. T his bird then came in from the back of the nest and after feeding the nestling began to brood them, and it is shown on Plate 3. After several visits it was possible to tell the birds apart by their line of approach through the branches of the large acacia tree in which the nest was placed. The two points of entry into the tree were about four feet apart; the birds flying across a cleared area to enter the foliage. They always approached the tree from the left hand side facing me, and the bird on the front track perched on the front of the nest and the bird further away came in the back of the nest and after feeding the youngsters, settled on them to brood. Unfortunately, the coloured plates of Mathews and Cayley show the birds with a full crest that extends from the forehead to the back of the crown. On the other hand Gould does not show a crest but merely a slight bump in front of the forehead. Again the photographs in Plates 2 and 3 will show the actual size and shape of the helmet. DISTRIBUTION Originally the Helmeted Honeyeater was considered to range over a large part of Gippsland, and specimens in museums have been taken from , Bass River, Yarrum, Outtrum, Woori Yallock Creek, Yellingbo, Cockatoo Creek, Lilydale, Healesville, the Upper Yarra district, Strezlecki Ranges and Beaconsfield. T here were two apparently reliable records from Woods Point 6 COOPER, The Helmeted Honeyeater [ Bird Watcher

and Nowa Nowa, so it appeared that the species had ample numbers and area in which to survive. It would appear that the type locality was the Bass River district. Many years after the bird had been described, A. I . North, the Ornithologist at the Australian Museum, , visited the Bass River area and the Strezlecki Range on a collecting trip. His surprise at the number of Helmeted that were in the area is shown in his writings. "At the time of my first visit only small clearings had been made in the virgin undergrowth of these heavily timbered ranges, and on my arrival at Childers I was surprised to find that Ptilotis cassidix was without exception the commonest bird in the bush. For a distance of twenty miles they were also noted along McDonald's Track on the top of the range. - They used to delight in congregating close together near the lower ends of the long strips of bark pendant from the trunks of the large Eucalypti, which swayed to and fro in every breeze, and from one of them three Helmeted Honeyeaters fell at the discharge of my gun. - A few years after this part of the country was settled upon, the aspect gradually changed. The tall straight stemmed Eucalypti were felled , their trunks split up into palings or posts and rails, and the thick undergrowth cut down and burnt off. The little that was left except in the beds of the creeks, or that had grown up again, was eventually cleared off by a devastat­ ing bush fire, and this species of Honeyeater was afterwards seldom .seen." Nowadays nearly all the areas are gone, cleared and fired by man, and only the areas contiguous to Yellingbo, and the Cardinia Creek at Beaconsfield, are left. However, it is possible that there may be a few other colonies further east in Gippsland. Although an extensive paper, that was published in the Emu, stated that the birds were all Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters, members of another survey party were doubtful of this statement. There appears to be sufficient evidence to warrant a preliminary investigation of several areas being carried out. HABITAT As the range of the Helmeted Honeyeater is now reduced to such a small area, its habitat must be restricted accordingly. Throughout its present range it is confined to the margins of creeks and streams, where there is dense growth of shrubs and bracken, with an overhead canopy of tall eucalypt- manna gum and swamp gum E. ovata. It can be understood how this Honeyeater was forced to leave areas where its habitat was totally destroyed, and move into other areas of a similar type. However, there does not appear to be any increase in number in other areas, and the birds must have been either destroyed by man (shot and / or collected), or died from their inability to select a new habitat. The distribution of the two species of eucalypti mentioned is widespread in eastern Victoria, and along the banks of many Plate 3 Helmeted Honeyeater- female Photo by R oy P. Cooper June ] COOPER, The Helmeted Honeyeater 9 1967 creeks will be found the tall gums and the dense undergrowth; habitats that would appear to be most suitable for cassidix. Trees, shrubs, bracken, creeks, rainfall, altitude and temperature all appear to be the same, but there are no birds. Why then are these Honeyeaters restricted to the small area that they occupy? In all known areas where the Helmeted Honeyeaters are found today the habitat is being encroached upon. Some landowners are clearing more land than they own and are using the cleared areas for grazing stock. The Honeyeater is being driven into a very narrow strip along the banks of the creeks, and when the trees are felled and open spaces are left, the Honeyeater is forced to move elsewhere. As the numbers are being reduced all the time, and no increase in population density is apparent in other areas, it would appear that the Helmeted Honeyeater, when its habitat is destroyed, does not breed. This action, of course, would prove fatal to the continuance of the race, and it may explain why this species is facing . The habitat can also be destroyed by the action of thoughtless or ignorant people. Much undergrowth is being destroyed by campers and day picknickers, with their tents and fires, and birds are senselessly killed by the use of firearms. It would appear that some men and youths, when they have a rifle in their hands, will shoot at anything. Last New Year's Day, when I was photographing a bird near Parslows Bridge at Yellingbo, I heard shots coming from at least six different directions. As rabbits were scarce it would appear that the riflemen were shoot­ ing at birds, including our rarest and most beautiful bird. This action was confined when two shots rang out from within fifteen to twenty feet of where I was sitting, hidden in the grasses and scrubs. Jumping to my feet I saw two youths, with rifles still at their shoulders, who had just fired at a Powerful Owl Ninox strenua that was sitting on a limb of a tree about sixty feet from the ground. Feathers were floating lazily to the ground, but the bird appeared to be unharmed. The youths did not fire again. NESTING The Helmeted Honeyeater has a long breeding season, for a bird of this nature, extending from August to January, and sometimes in February. As eggs have been found in nests as early as August and as late as February it would appear that the birds have at least two broods each season. Certainly the early nesters have ample time to raise a second brood. The nests are placed usually in low bushes, or bracken, but occasionally they may be built at a height of twenty to thirty feet from the ground. The nest that is shown in the accompanying coloured plates was built in the dense foliage of a large acacia tree at the height of ten feet from the ground. Although I first observed these birds carrying nesting material into the tree, it 10 COOPER, The Helmeted Honeyeater [ Bird Watcher was some time before I could locate the nest. At other times they will be placed in a small bush growing over the water or built in the dense mass of shrubs above the creek. It is a bulky structure for a bird of this genus and although the size of the inside cavity is constant, some two to two and a half inches across, the outside varies with the position of the nest. The walls of the nest can be from one to one and a half inches thick and although they have a neatly woven lip, on which the bird alights, the remainder of the nest is loosely constructed. Externally it is constructed of strips of bark, grasses, small ferns, dried leaves and bound loosely with cobwebs, and decorated with egg-sacs. By contrast the nesting cavity is neatly and smoothly finished with fine strips of bark and lined with the flowering heads of plants or grasses, fur, feathers or other soft and warm materials. The clutch is usually of two eggs and they appear to be " wonderfully constant in their marking and shape". Typically they have a fleshy-buff ground colour, which passes into a reddish­ buff at the larger end , where it is spotted and blotched with purplish-red, with underlying markings of purplish-grey. Other eggs will have an evenly distributed ground colour and are spotted all over. The eggs of each female will be similarly marked each season and each year, and it is on this basis that it has been assumed that the Helmeted Honeyeater lays two clutches in the one season, and it is confined to the same area. Although both birds will assist in constructing the nest, it is not unusual to see the female performing this duty alone. Both birds will share in the duty of brooding the eggs and also in feed ­ ing the young birds, but occasionally the female only will brood and the male will feed her near or on the nest. Each bird has its own pecularities and no two birds can be found that are identical. When they are first hatched, after an average of twelve days of incubation, the babies are blind, naked and apparently helpless, with the flesh a pinkish colour. Within a week the feathers on the feather tracts are all in their sheaths, and as the sheaths peel away and the feather unfolds the colours are readily discerned. Some colours can be seen while the sheaths are unbroken. When the fledglings leave the nest they are in an adult plumage, which has been likened to that of the female. However, as shown previously, the colours of the male and the female can be similar, although there is no doubt that this species is dimorphic. It is not known at what age the young males don the full adult plumage or at what age they begin to breed . These are some of the questions that must be answered by a life history study in the near future. What happens to the young birds when they leave the parents? This is another problem that must be solved. I am aware of two broods that reached maturity in the one area this year, but the June J COOPER, The Helmeted Honeyeater 11 1967 total number of birds in the locality does not appear to have increased. After they have finished breeding these honeyeaters move around in small flocks, still within the boundaries of their habitat, but the remarks made previously apply to the birds in the breeding season. PARASITISM The Helmeted Honeyeater is said to be heavily parasitised by Pallid Cuckoo Cuculus pallidus, yet, strangely enough, I have not found a nest with a cuckoo's egg or fledging in it. One author was of the opinion that the Cuckoo lays only in October or November, and nests before and after these months will be free of the pest. Usually when the Cuckoo lays its egg in a nest it will remove one of the eggs of the host, but there is a record of two eggs of the Pallid Cuckoo being in the same nest with two eggs of the Helmeted Honeyeater. The first egg of the Cuckoo must have been laid too early as the Honeyeater had added an additional lining to the base of the nest, and covered up the egg. Later the Cuckoo must have noticed the absence of its egg and laid again. This parasitism by the Pallid Cuckoo of the Helmeted Honeyeater is considered by some authors to be a serious factor in the decline of the Honeyeater. One author stated that "the Pallid Cuckoo often lays in Helmeted Honeyeater nests, with consequent destruction of a potential brood. From this habit alone a bird that has reached what might be called a 'species isolation' point may well find itself unable to recover". Another writer is equally as dogmatic and stated that "I know of no bird more heavily parasitised by Cuckoos than the Helmeted Honeyeater, and in my opinion this fact has contributed largely to the rarity of the bird". While these two premises may be correct it must be remembered that this parasitism has been goin on long before the advent of the white man into this country, and the Honeyeater was able to survive, and in certain localities to flourish. It was the clearing of the land and the destruction of the habitat that really caused it to diminish in number. FOOD As this Honeyeater eats insects as well as nectar, and both can be found in large quantities in many parts of the State, the question of food does not appear to be an inhibiting factor in its survival. Always manna gum, swamp gum or apple box will be found in the habitat of the Helmeted Honeyeater, and although one writer has stated that these birds feed exclusively on insects during the breeding season this is not always the case. When the young birds are hatched and for several days afterwards I have found that the diet is entirely nectar. As the nestling grow the food is changed to an insect diet, which is continued until the fledging 12 COOPER, The Helmeted Honeyeater [ Bird Watcher leaves the nest and even afterwards. However, nectar is often included and sometimes, after an insect has been pushed down the wide-open gape, the fledging will then be fed with nectar. An interesting ecological relationship exists beween the Helmeted Honeyeater and the trees. These birds, and other species of honeyeaters, with their brush tongues are important agents in fertilising the -blossoms. Even when searching out insects from within the blossom, the gathering of many insects in this manner from various blossoms will help to pollinate the blooms. In many areas where the Helmeted Honeyeater at present survives, there are large colonies of Bell-Miner Manorina melan­ ophrys. Although the Honeyeater is aggressive to most species of birds, particularly when it is nesting, it appears to live in harmony with the Bell-Miner. During the past year at Yellingbo there has been a serious infestation of insects on many of the manna gums and most of the foliage has been destroyed. Although the area abounds with a large Bell-Miner colony, the birds do not appear to have had any effect on the insects, although I have seen them eating the pests that were on the trees. THE DECLINE OF THE SPECIES All writers have stressed the rarity and the beauty of the Helmeted Honeyeater and have stated, even as they took its eggs, that it could not survive. But little or nothing has been done to protect it from extinction. My introduction to Meliphaga cassidix was in November 1947, when I was on a visit to Melbourne. In that month members of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union conducted a survey of the Cardinia Creek area, in an endeavour to ascertain the numbers of the Honeyeaters that were in the area. A total of 50 birds was sighted and it was estimated that at least another 50 birds were in the area. The following week I was taken to Yellingbo by Messrs. A. H. Chisholm and E. S. Hanks, where a number of nests were under observation, and I was able to photograph at several nests during the day. In 1950 I recorded thirty birds in the same area, yet only two birds were seen during the survey that was conducted in the early months of this year. In 1963 a survey, led by Mr. Jack Hyett, of all the known colonies was carried out, and a total of 300 birds was recorded. Following on the submission of a report of this survey, a lengthy paper appeared in one of the Government Departmental journals, setting out the history of the species and the proposals for the creating of a Wildlife Reserve. However, deliberations were slow and no results appeared to be forthcoming. In March 1967 another survey was conducted, under the same leadership and with the assistance of members of VORG, and when it was completed it was found that the birds had June ] COOPER, The Helmeted Honeyeater 13 1967 diminished in number to 166; a reduction of thirty-five percent in less than four years. The Helmeted Honeyeater will, obviously, shortly be reduced to the stage when interbreeding will take place, and then it will be past the point of no return and another Australian species of bird will be placed on the extinct list. At the same time as the latter survey was taking place officialdom was moving with commendable speed, and within a few months an official statement gave the information of the establishment of a new Wildlife Reserve. The announcement is of great interest and is repeated here in full. "Important new Wildlife Reserve Established" "The Chief Secretary, Mr. A. G. Rylah, today announced the establishment of an important new State Wildlife Reserve. This will be located at Yellingbo on the Woori Yallock Creek System. It will be under the control of the Fisheries and Wildlife Depart­ ment. "This reserve is the site for the largest of the two known colonies of the rare Helmeted Honeyeater (Meliphaga Cassidix), the only species of bird confined entirely to Victoria. Mr Rylah said that if this bird is to remain a feature of Victorian wildlife it is essential that its habitat be reserved and managed in such a way to favour the remaining colonies. "The Yellingbo Wildlife Reserve is some 412 acres and consists of the frontages along part of the Woori Yallock, Cockatoo and Sheep Station Creeks. While the conservation of the Helmeted H oneyeater has been the main theme in the reservation of this area, the reserve also supports populations of possums, glider possums and bandicoots, many species of bush birds and many platypus in the creeks themselves. "T he rare Helmeted Honeyeater is largely confined to th~ c;·eck margins, both within !be reserve, and also in the adjacent freehold land. The survival of this species is not only dependent upon the management of the reserve, but also on the co-operation off adjacent landholders and the visiting public. The major threat to this small population is interference or destruction of its ha bitat. Already much of the vegetation along the creeks has disappeared, and parts of the area are no longer suitable for the Helmeted Honeyeater and the lost vegetation will have to be re-established. "A working group of local landholders and ornithologists has alre::tdy been set up to assist the Department in its programme in this area, and it is only by the continued co-operation of all interested peop'e that this unique Victorian bird will be saved from extinction. "Yellingbo is a State Faunal Reserve, one of the three categories of State Wildlife Reserves. It is the 11th Faunal R eserve, and 26th Wildlife Reserve, which now total 124,760 acres". 14 EDDY and CUSACK, Lyrebirds of W andong [ Bird Watcher

PERPETUATION OF THE SPECIES With the Helmeted Honeyeater facing extinction, the gazetting of the area as a Wildlife Reserve is of the utmost importance in protecting this rare species, but it is only the first step. The preservation of the habitat is absolutely essential, and most farmers and landowners are prepared to co-operate fully in helping to perpetuate this beautiful bird. Areas that have been cleared in excess of private land-owning should be replanted with native plants immediately, and stock kept out of the area. The most important step of all is to obtain the full co-operation of the general public, by bringing to them an awareness of the beauty of the only exclusive Victorian bird, and the precarious­ ness of its existence. Camping and shooting should be prohibited in the area and rigidly enforced. Shooting, of course, is prohibited in a Wildlife Reserve, but it must be enforced. Shrubs and trees that have been destroyed should be replanted so that the area can be brought back to its original state. At the same time a life study of the species, including its full ecology, should be conducted and if it is found to be practicable the birds could be transferred to areas where they are not effected by private land-owning. All Victorians must see that the Helmeted Honeyeater, our only exclusive species of birds, does not join the ranks of so many other extinct species of our birds and animals.

The Lyrebirds of Wandong, Victoria By R. J. EDDY and FRANK CUSACK, Bendigo, Victoria D ue largely to the fame attached to Spotty and his predecessors, there is a tendency to regard the distribution of the Superb Lyrebird in Victoria as more or less limited to Sherbrooke Forest and its immediate surroundings. In point of fact, Menura novae­ hollandiae is widely distributed over the mountainous country of eastern and south-eastern Victoria, as far east as Mallacoota Inlet and at altitudes as high as that of Mount Buffalo, 5645 feet. M uch of this country is, of course, extremely rugged, and so far as observation is concerned often fairly inaccessible. But the same is hardly true of the Wandong area, some forty-odd miles almost due north of Melbourne, and for visitors from the northern States, only a few miles off the Hume Highway. And here is probably the heaviest concentration of Lyrebirds in Victoria. The township of Wandong is on the Melbourne-Sydney rail­ link, a few miles south-east of Kilmore. East of the township cleared grazing land gives way rapidly to the lower slopes of the heavily timbered Great Dividing Range, and almost immediately the visitor finds himself in Lyrebird country. A pair of birds occupies a territory within three miles of the railway line!