One Lonely Little Bird

A reflection on meeting my first regent honeyeater in the wild

Regent Honeyeater, Illustration from Sunny Finds His Song, written by Cate Storey and Penny Watson and illustrated by Sarah Matsuda.

Recently, I had the absolute privilege of seeing my first Regent Honeyeater in the wild. This little bird was incredibly significant. He is one of fewer than 200 to 300 Regent Honeyeaters left in the wild, and he was found thousands of kilometres from the last stronghold of the species in the Lower Hunter Valley. But he was also particularly special to me on a very personal level. 

I set the alarm for 4:45 in the morning, was out the door by 5:30am, and headed off in the dark towards Murphy’s Creek, just outside of Toowoomba. There, I was meeting Mick Atenzi from Toowoomba Bird Observers Club, so we could head to the site where the Regent Honeyeater had been seen over the last two weeks. I am incredibly thankful to Mick for sharing his local knowledge with me. Without him, I may not have sighted the Regent Honeyeater, far up in the canopy among other honeyeaters.

As we walked down the path, Mick explained that the Regent Honeyeater had been occupying the same yellow box tree for the last few weeks, specifically in the northwest corner of the tree, defending his blossom-filled territory. Despite some saying that there was more than one Regent Honeyeater, it’s believed that there was only a single bird there, although there were other species of honeyeaters around. One little lonely Regent Honeyeater.

Regent Honeyeater, Illustration from Sunny Finds His Song, written by Cate Storey and Penny Watson and illustrated by Sarah Matsuda.

We arrived at the yellow box. I was hopping with anticipation. I had seen a number of Regent Honeyeaters in captivity but never in the wild (and not for lack of trying). Whoop! Whoop! I saw him! Our little Regent Honeyeater, defending his quarter of a fully-blossomed yellow box tree.

I say “he” because our little bird was singing his heart out. And I realised that seeing this beautiful bird, this rare and precious gem, was bittersweet. Let me explain.

“Regent Honeyeaters were once a common sight in woodlands, west of the Great Dividing Range.”

I am the author of a children’s book about a lonely Regent Honeyeater. Regent Honeyeaters were once a common sight in woodlands, especially west of the Great Dividing Range. Nowadays, they are primarily associated with box-ironbark woodlands. These birds are nomadic, always in search of the best gum blossoms. They once flew in flocks, with their range extending as far south as Adelaide and as far north as Gladstone.

As woodlands have been cleared, this once common bird has disappeared and is now critically endangered. Next time you are travelling, have a look out of your car window. Of course, fertile plains have now been cleared and replaced by farmland.  But it was the very trees that grew on these fertile plains that produced the most reliable nectar supply. Older trees also provide a more predictable nectar source, and the amount of nectar they produce within a small space cannot be replaced by smaller and younger trees. As woodlands have disappeared, so have the Regent Honeyeaters.

“Next time you are travelling, have a look out of your car window. Of course, fertile plains have now been cleared and replaced by farmland.  But it was the very trees that grew on these fertile plains that produced the most reliable nectar supply.”

But let’s go back to our lonely little Regent Honeyeater. Because there are so few of his kind left, I wonder if he will ever find others of his kind or a nest mate. Due to the vast distances that Regent Honeyeaters travel, it’s possible for a young male bird to leave the nest area to make his own way in the world and then never actually find another Regent Honeyeater. Oh, my heart! These lonely little birds will not only always be lonely, but they will never have families or children, further decreasing the viability of the remaining population.

We explain this very phenomenon at the back of our book, and the narrative, in fact, starts with a lonesome Regent Honeyeater.

Regent Honeyeater, Illustration from Sunny Finds His Song, written by Cate Storey and Penny Watson and illustrated by Sarah Matsuda.

But there is more to the story, and it’s the story of the little bird I met yesterday. Although, of course, the story was written years before I had the privilege of meeting this precious bird. Regent Honeyeaters have a unique song. Only male birds sing the full song, and it was the fact that I observed this little bird singing so often that I believe it’s a boy.

Unlike some species where the father will teach the children a species-specific call or song, Regent Honeyeaters do not learn their songs from their father. This is because father birds rarely sing while raising young, and young birds have left their nesting area by the time they are ready to learn. So young birds,need to find another teacher.

Mick explained to me that a recording of our bird’s song was sent to BirdLife Australia. And our little Regent Honeyeater is NOT singing the full rich song of his species! This means he never found the right teacher. Oh, my heart!

If a Regent Honeyeater fails to effectively learn his species-specific song, he will struggle to find a mate, defend territory, and find others of his kind to travel with. In our story, our Regent Honeyeater, called Sunny, finds a teacher, his flock, and a lady love. I hope the beautiful bird I met recently also has his happy ending. But there may be hundreds or even thousands of kilometres between him and others of his kind, and if he doesn’t learn his song by the time he is a year old, he may never be able to learn it….

There is something so incredibly heartbreaking about the thought of a songbird losing its song. Even among birds that have learnt the species-specific Regent Honeyeater song, the song that they are now singing is shorter and simpler than the song sung by their ancestors.

As someone who loves the Australian bush, I feel like we have lost so much, and I grieve the thriving eucalyptus woodlands that once covered so much of our vast country. I wonder if our children will ever grow up knowing what a healthy bushland looks like, the plethora of uniquely Australian wildflowers that are now drowned out by weeds. I think of all the amazing people I met while seeking out our little bird, all driven by the excitement of seeing this rare, beautiful and unique creature. And I’m reminded that our children may never see a Regent Honeyeater in the wild, like I did.

Cate Storey is an Australian Children’s Author and founder of Wet Season Books.  

Regent Honeyeater, Illustration from Sunny Finds His Song, written by Cate Storey and Penny Watson and illustrated by Sarah Matsuda.

Cate Storey is the author of three children’s picture books: Snuggled Away, The Perfect Hollow and co-author of Sunny Finds His Song.

Each book is stunningly illustrated by Sarah Matsuda.

You can pre-order copies of Sunny Finds His Song here.

 Images in this blog are copyright Sarah Matsuda, Illustrations from Sunny Finds His Song, written by Cate Storey and Penny Watson and illustrated by Sarah Matsuda and published by Wet Season Books

10 bilby facts to share with your class or family this Easter

Easter Bilby, Illustration by Sarah Matsuda

There is so much to love about bilbies.  As super-charged-burrow-builders, bilbies help turn the soil, decompose leaf litter and provide homes for other small animals.  They are also a uniquely Australian Easter mascot. Here are 10 bilby facts to share with your class or family this Easter: 

1.     Bilbies are excellent diggers.  Their specially designed claws allow them to excavate spiral shaped burrows up to 3m long and 2m deep.

2.     Bilbies frequently dig new burrows while abandoning old ones, creating shelters and for other animals (such as hopping mice) in the harsh arid/semi-arid environments where they live.  Their burrows even provide shelter for other animals during a bushfire. 

3.     As they dig for food, bilbies make small furrows in the soil.  These small holes collect seeds, leaves and moisture, helping plants germinate and grow. 

4.     Bilbies are marsupials (mammals with a pouch).  They have one or two young at a time (and very rarely 3), although not all baby bilbies survive to adulthood. 

5.     A bilby’s pouch faces backwards, so that mother bilby doesn’t get dirt on her baby as she digs a burrow or searches for food.

6.     Bilbies have soft, grey fur, a long tail with a black tuft on the end and large pointed ears.

7.     The bilby’s large oversized ears work like inbuilt air-conditioning systems.  The bilby’s blood circulates around the large surface area of the bilby’s ears and then returns cooling the bilby’s overall body temperature. This is just one of the many ways the bilby has adapted to Australia’s deserts. 

8.     Bilbies are omnivores.  Although they have poor eyesight, they have a keen sense of smell. They use their long-pointed snouts to search out termites, spiders, seeds and roots.  Bilbies particularly love termites and lick them up with their long, sticky tongue.

9.     Like many native burrowing mammals, bilbies are often referred to as “ecosystem engineers” because of the important role they play in keeping our environment healthy.  

10.  Bilbies are now very rare.  The greater bilby once occupied a range of habits across 70% of the Australian mainland. Sadly, bilbies now live only in isolated areas in arid and semi-arid regions in Northern and Central Australia.  Their cousin the lesser bilby became extinct in the 1950s. Unfortunately, many of Australia’s small ground dwelling mammals are now endangered due to the key threats posed by introduced predators: feral cats and the European red fox as well as degradation caused by cattle and European rabbits. 

The Easter Bilby campaign began in 1991 to raise awareness of the environmental destruction caused by introduced European rabbits and to raise awareness of the plight of the greater bilby.   To find out why it’s important to celebrate bilbies not bunnies this Easter read our previous blog post. 

Cate Storey is a children’s author and founder of Wet Season Books, her first book Snuggled Away will be released April 2022

Why, in Australia, it should be Bilbies not Bunnies this Easter.

Greater Bilby, illustration by Sarah Matsuda

My children are excited about the Easter bilby visiting this year.  While Aussie kids are surrounded by images and stories of the Easter bunny, I purposely tell stories of the bilby and the way this precious animal helps the Australian bush come alive.  

The bilby is a worthy Australian Easter mascot.  Like many native burrowing mammals, bilbies play important ecological roles in the arid and semi-arid environments where they live.  Greater bilbies are skilled excavators, capable of digging large spiral-shaped burrows, up to 2m deep, within hours.  A small group of 2 to 3 bilbies can use up to 18 burrows at a time and they regularly dig new burrows, while abandoning others.  In fact, bilbies are such proficient diggers that they are calculated to excavate more soil (volume of soil excavated per year) than any other species present in the same habitats.  Their burrows provide temperate-controlled shelter in harsh climatic conditions and help protect other animals during a bush-fire.  With these super powers, hiding eggs in the gardens of Australian children on Easter morning should pose them no problems at all. 

Using their burrows for shelter during the day, bilbies emerge at night to sniff out food with their pointed snouts.  Their foraging grounds are characterised by numerous 10 – 25 cm holes, which they dig while searching for termites, seeds, fungi, bulbs and fruit. In degraded areas, their foraging pits trap plant litter and seeds and accumulate nutrients and moisture, encouraging plant germination and growth.  Bilbies are integral ecosystem engineers, perfect for a uniquely Australian symbol of new life.

Bilbies are incredibly special Australian mammals. Sadly, bilbies are also very rare. 

Greater Bilby, illustration by Sarah Matsuda

The Easter Bilby Campaign began in 1991 to help raise awareness of the damage caused by introduced rabbits and to increase awareness of the plight of the endangered greater bilby. 

Australians love an underdog, and when it comes to bunnies and bilbies, the bilby is definitely the underdog.  The Australian landscape has changed dramatically over the last 200 years. Many of our small ground dwelling mammals have all but disappeared.  The greater bilby, whose population was once widespread over 70% of the Australian mainland is now relegated to small patches of its former range. It’s cousin, the lessor bilby became extinct in the 1950s. 

The extinction of the lessor bilby, and the dramatic decline of the greater bilby, was driven largely by introduced predators: the red fox and feral cat, and competition and habitat degradation from the introduced European wild rabbit. 

Bunnies might be cute but in Australia they have a dark past … European wild rabbits were introduced in 1859. Within 50 years, rabbits had spread across the country with devastating implications for Australia’s native flora and fauna.  

Similarly, the European red fox was deliberately introduced for recreational hunting purposes in the mid-1800s and their impact was compounded by the spread of feral cats. The wave of extinctions that followed were predominately ground-dwelling mammals in the critical size and weight range for predation from these two new hunters. 

Our small mammals, such as bilbies, bettongs, bandicoots and potoroos once dominated the Australian landscape much like rabbits are common in Europe. They also played important ecological functions by turning the soil, assisting to decompose leaf litter, helping the ground absorb moisture and providing shelter for other wildlife. I believe our landscape misses them.  

Bettong, illustration by Sarah Matsuda

By the middle of the 20th Century, Australia had lost a tragic number of our unique ground dwelling mammal species.  In total, twenty-eight Australian endemic land mammal species have become extinct since 1788. Many more unique Australian mammals were reduced to a shadow of their former ranges, persisting only on off-shore islands or within fenced predator-proof areas managed for conservation purposes.

I see the bilby as a mascot for all our small ground dwelling mammals, that have disappeared, and are continuing to disappear, from our landscape. It is time we gave them the public profile they deserve. 

To protect our unique native animals, and to stop them from silently disappearing, we need to move away from euro-centric mythologies and embrace our native fauna as our heroes. How different could things be if our children grew up with these animals in their nightly bedtime stories?  

There is so much about Australian wildlife for our children to get excited about, but we need to help them connect with what is truly unique about the Australian environment.  Getting children outdoors and into nature is a great start. However, as many of our unique animals are now locally extinct in areas accessible to our children, our unique wildlife must be kept in the national consciousness through art and storytelling. 

If our children grow up with stories and narratives that foster a connection with Australian landscapes and wildlife, our native animals will have future advocates. A perfect way to do this is by changing the narrative of the Easter bunny and championing the Easter bilby. 

Cate Storey is an Australian Children’s Author and founder of @Wet Season Books.