Chart-topping birdsong
Songs of Disappearance is an album of Australian bird calls, released in December 2021 to bring attention to the sad fact that one-in-six Australian bird species is threatened with extinction, mainly due to climate change, land clearing and bushfires.
The album peaked at number two on the Australian ARIA Charts with a title track that includes the calls of 53 threatened species.
Watch the amazing colourful video of Songs of Disappearance
Plantastic! A to Z of Australian Plants
by Catherine Clowes & illustrated by Rachel Gyan
Reviewed by Leni (age 10)
If you are trying to find some facts for an assignment, this is the place to look! Catherine Clowes describes her Plantastic facts very well, in a way that is easy to understand.
Rachel Gyan’s watercolour illustrations are beautiful! It’s so lovely how the shades of darker and lighter colours collide, and the animals are cute.
I recommend this informative book to gardeners or anyone who is interested in the amazing plants that are native to Australia. It includes fun outdoor activities that you can do while you are out bushwalking.
Act now on climate change
Some of Australia’s iconic and unique natural ecosystems may disappear for good if we keep emitting carbon at current rates. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on climate change says that Australia can expect more hot days, fewer cold ones, more extreme fire weather, and heatwaves on land and in oceans.
Watch a video about the race to save five Australian species from extinction including the Southern Corroboree Frog and Regent Honeyeaters: These are the ecosystems Australia stands to lose in the next decade
Good luck corroboree frogs!
In March, 100 southern corroboree frogs were reintroduced to their native habitat in Kosciuszko National Park.
This critically endangered frog species was badly affected by the 2019–20 bushfires, so the frogs have been placed in field enclosures fitted with irrigation systems for fire-proofing, as well as remote cameras for monitoring.
Watch a short video about the frogs here: Bringing the southern corroboree frog back from the brink, one enclosure at a time
What’s a Goldilocks bird?
This is a nickname for the Plains-wanderer — a ground-dwelling critically endangered bird whose habitat includes the grasslands of south-west NSW.
10 of the birds, hatched in captivity, have now been released there to boost the ever-decreasing population.
Watch a video and learn more about these beautiful birds: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-21/critically-endangered-plains-wanderers-released-into-wild/100925912
Critically endangered ‘Goldilocks’ birds gifted 13,000ha of habitat by farmers
Plains-Wanderer – Bush Heritage Australia ]
Floods and wildlife
We’ve seen lots of media coverage of people, pets and livestock in recent floods, but have you ever thought about our wildlife?
According to researchers “we know surprisingly little about the impacts of floods on wildlife”. Most non-human animals are born with the ability to swim, but that doesn’t mean they can survive sudden and/or strong flood waters. And even if they do, how can they survive in flooded habitats and find food? “The extent to which flooding affects animals will depend on their ability to sense what’s coming and how they’re able to respond.”
Read and watch some interesting examples in this article: ‘The sad reality is many don’t survive’: how floods affect wildlife, and how you can help them
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