Bird Diversity

Wattlebewillbe supports an impressive diversity of native birds, with 139 species visually confirmed on the property. That’s twelve more than recorded in the adjoining Coominglah State Forest and only four fewer than the total recorded within a 10 km radius in the WildNet database.

Of these, 4 species are listed as Special Least Concern, 3 as Vulnerable, and 1 as Endangered. Another four species have been detected through acoustic monitoring but are yet to be visually confirmed.

Listening to the landscape

Ahead of baseline bird surveys for Wattlebewillbe’s Accounting for Nature® Woodland Bird Environmental Account, a PUC (Portable Universe Codec) using BirdNET Sound ID software developed by Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Chemnitz University of Technology, was deployed to better understand which species use the property. The recordings revealed a rich and active soundscape, confirming many previously observed species and identifying several new ones not yet recorded on-site.

🎧 Explore the soundscape: listen to bird calls recorded at Wattlebewillbe by selecting station ThriiveEco#1 and your preferred dates on the acoustic sound file portal at BirdWeather.

Why so many birds?

Wattlebewillbe’s strong bird diversity is a reflection of the property’s ecological integrity, strong landscape connectivity, and the effectiveness of ongoing conservation management actions in maintaining diverse and structurally complex woodland environments.

The property’s position between Coominglah State Forest and surrounding open grazing country also contributes to the species richness found here, providing valuable habitat continuity and meaningfully contributing to broader landscape-scale connectivity and biodiversity.

🔍 Discover more species: explore the evolving record of flora and fauna observations on iNaturalist.

What’s next

The Woodland Bird Environmental Account is now under review and will be submitted for certification in the coming months, with results expected to be publicly available in early 2026.

*Wattlebewillbe is a 22-hectare Wildlife Land Trust sanctuary in the Brigalow Belt, managed for conservation and ecological restoration since 2010. Previously cleared for intensive grazing and timber harvesting, it is now being restored as a regenerative conservation landscape that integrates low-impact food production with biodiversity recovery, with a particular focus on habitat for the endangered greater glider.