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Welcome to Murray Wildlife

Murray Wildlife is a biodiversity research, education and conservation consultancy, led by Wildlife Ecologist Matt Herring. We specialise in wildlife conservation on farms, community engagement, wetland management and ecology, and waterbird conservation.

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"The best thing we can do for nature is simply spend more time in it. From there, reverence grows and action flows.”

M. Herring, 2013.

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Brolgas Breeding in Rice Crops

Posted on: August 26th, 2013 by Matt Herring No Comments

It’s a rare event. I’d heard about it but until the beginning of this year I hadn’t seen it for myself. There they were – a pair of Brolgas that had bred in a rice crop. The landholders were delighted, as was I. In the New South Wales Riverina, the 2012-2013 season amounted to more than 100,000 hectares of rice. And that amount isn’t unusual outside of drought.

Brolga pair in rice crop with chick Jan 2013 Deniliquin NSW

So why don’t Brolgas breed in rice crops more often? By the time there’s sufficient material to build a nest (late November – early December), it might be too late in their season. Is there a lack of tubers from native waterplants like Eleocharis spike-rushes that they love to eat? Maybe they breed in rice crops more than we realise. Can we encourage Brolgas to make better use of these agricultural wetlands? So many questions, so much work to do!

The Bitterns in Rice project, a collaboration between Birdlife Australia, the Rice Growers’ Association of Australia and other organisations, is developing rice-growing guidelines that will benefit the globally endangered Australasian Bittern. Along the way, we hope to incorporate the conservation of Brolgas and other threatened waterbirds like the Australian Painted Snipe.

This short article first appeared on the OzCranes website.

 

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