{"id":54040,"date":"2025-08-08T23:18:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T23:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/54040\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T23:18:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T23:18:11","slug":"hope-for-critically-endangered-helmeted-honeyeaters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/54040\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope for critically endangered helmeted honeyeaters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ask Victorians to name the official bird emblem for their state and few will know it\u2019s the helmeted honeyeater. More affectionately known as a HeHo, this small, social bird has gold, black and olive colouring and a crown, or\u00a0helmet, of bright yellow feathers.<\/p>\n

Its habitat was once dispersed across thousands of kilometres of southern central Victoria, but less than 1 per cent remains, largely due to human-led land damage since colonisation, blooming populations of invasive species and climate change.<\/p>\n

In 1989, the number of wild helmeted honeyeaters was estimated at fewer than 50 \u2013 or just 15\u00a0breeding pairs. Even after four decades of dedicated conservation and advocacy, there are still fewer than 250 of the species remaining in the wild \u2013 a statistic classifying it as critically endangered, or \u201cfacing an immediate and extremely high risk of extinction\u201d.<\/p>\n

Losing these iconic birds would represent not only the tragic disappearance of another individual species, it would further highlight Australia\u2019s leading role in mass extinction events that we\u2019re all increasingly forced to confront.<\/p>\n

The honeyeater is now found in three contained areas: Yarra Ranges National Park, Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area and \u2013 thanks to the careful efforts of Zoos Victoria, Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, Monash University and other partners \u2013 it has been reintroduced to Cardinia for the first time since the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires incinerated the region\u2019s remaining HeHos.<\/p>\n

In May, Zoos Victoria helmeted honeyeater field officer Dr Nick Bradsworth helped to coordinate the historic release of 21\u00a0young honeyeaters \u2013 hatched at Healesville Sanctuary \u2013 into the monitored ecosystem along Cardinia Creek, along the south-eastern fringe of metropolitan Melbourne.<\/p>\n

Bradsworth has been working with threatened bird species for more than a decade. He fell in love with birds as a child \u2013 his interest grew alongside the aviaries his mother kept. \u201cIt\u2019s birds, always been birds for me,\u201d he says. Having completed his thesis on the urban movements of powerful owls, he now focuses on the newly released juvenile honeyeaters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just have to be hopeful, have to keep trying,\u201d Bradsworth says from his Healesville Sanctuary office, on a rare day he\u2019s not doing fieldwork.<\/p>\n

Cooperating in complex social groups for survival, the birds need to be close to fresh water. They also rely on midstorey vegetation, often protective prickly currant bush \u2013 a dense, fruiting native shrub \u2013 to build their nests in and feed on the red-orange berries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey also need eucalypt canopy to feed in,\u201d Bradsworth says, \u201cforaging for flowering blossoms and the small lerps, psyllids and other insects living there.\u201d<\/p>\n

He tracks the released honeyeaters via tiny radios \u2013 VHF transmitters attached to the birds\u2019 tail feathers. Hours of observation mean he can distinguish each individual bird by the colour of its distinctive leg bands.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the historic recent release of young birds into the Cardinia habitat, Bradsworth\u2019s voice softens. \u201cLook, it was a really special morning; many of the partners got emotional seeing the birds fly off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Project partners, including the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater, Parks Victoria and Monash University, attended a smoking ceremony and Welcome to Country led by Bunurong Palawa Traditional Custodian Josh West.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really nice to release the young birds alongside the Bunurong Land Council, especially,\u201d Bradsworth says. \u201cBecause if we didn\u2019t have all this habitat destruction and clearance \u2013 all the damage \u2013 we wouldn\u2019t need to be doing these releases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three months after their release, Bradsworth says he works to remain positive despite ongoing challenges. Asked how many of the honeyeaters survived, Bradsworth says, \u201cTwelve of the 21 released birds remain onsite.<\/p>\n

Dr Bradsworth tracks the released honeyeaters via tiny radios \u2013 VHF transmitters attached to the birds\u2019 tail feathers \u2026 He can distinguish each individual bird by the colour of its distinctive leg bands.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re really happy with that number,\u201d he continues, explaining that unfortunately with any conservation translocation it\u2019s a given that you lose a few individuals and that some animals disperse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was tracking two piles of feathers for a while there,\u201d he adds. \u201cUnfortunately, we think five or six of the 21 birds have been predated by feral cats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aware that cats \u2013 both domestic and feral \u2013 are a large driver of native animal extinctions across Australia, the partners to the conservation effort have been working together on a trapping program.<\/p>\n

The feral cat suspected of recently hunting the HeHos was successfully caught and removed.<\/p>\n

Jethro Sallmann, pest and wildlife team leader in the Balirt Biik team of the Bunurong Land Council, says working alongside Zoos Victoria has been a valuable experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really special for us to work alongside Zoos Victoria\u2019s threatened species team and to help with all the work that goes into reintroducing an endangered species back into the wild, back onto Bunurong Country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s essentially what we\u2019re about: restoring Bunurong Country to what it was before colonisation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to learn from the zoos team about things like specialised breeding programs and species re-releases and, in return, they recognised our time as really valuable. I hope the collaboration, built on respect, is where more environmental programs are headed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Victorian government\u2019s Faunal Emblems Program \u2013 established in 1971 to protect the helmeted honeyeater and its fellow state animal emblem, the Leadbeater\u2019s possum \u2013 has also helped with the restoration of select honeyeater habitat.
\u00a0<\/p>\n

Providing more than just aesthetic wildlife imagery for corporate letterheads and thematic postage stamps, the Faunal Emblems Program lays groundwork for future significant conservation work.<\/p>\n

Since 2018, more than $8 million has been invested in programs such as the recent coordinated juvenile honeyeater release, as well as a genetic rescue program run by world-leading experts at Monash University to help combat the dangers of inbreeding within the tiny surviving population of honeyeaters.<\/p>\n

The present lack of genetic diversity has been shown to lead to shorter life spans and poor health in the birds. However, there is hope in the program\u2019s progress. Genes from the closely related yellow-tufted honeyeater have been woven through HeHo populations \u2013 aiding the species\u2019 resilience to threats such as climate change.<\/p>\n

The project\u2019s long-term goal is to establish five self-sustaining helmeted honeyeater populations, a task that will require continued monitoring, further releases and habitat restoration for many years to come. The strategies are in place and effective but take time. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

There are already plans to supplement the numbers of helmeted honeyeaters at the Cardinia reserve with additional birds \u2013 bred through the Zoos Victoria program at Healesville Sanctuary \u2013 in April next year.<\/p>\n

New wetlands along Melbourne\u2019s eastern fringe are also being developed using recycled water to establish honeyeater-friendly, climate-resilient swamp habitat.<\/p>\n

Additional revegetation work is being done at bushland in Coranderrk \u2013 a\u00a0reserve on\u00a0the outer north-eastern fringe of\u00a0Melbourne \u2013 for future honeyeaters, lowland Leadbeater\u2019s possums, platypuses and other threatened local species that fall even further under the conservation radar than Victoria\u2019s chosen fauna emblems: tiny native rodents such as the broad-toothed rat.<\/p>\n

Given the scale of the conservation effort ahead, state and federal governments will need to take further significant steps to ensure future generations can see the bright flutter of HeHo feathers through binoculars, not just on expanding online extinction lists.<\/p>\n

Jethro Sallmann hopes further funding enables them to keep contributing to caring for Bunurong Country \u2013 protecting and restoring country for generations to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to work together,\u201d he says. \u201cLearn from each other. Move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bradsworth counters the view that efforts to preserve the Australian emblem are too little, too late. He acknowledges, though, that the work will take years, even generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really just the start. We\u2019re going to keep building from here and hopefully we can create more helmeted honeyeater neighbourhoods throughout eastern Victoria \u2013 throughout their former range.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe honeyeaters are already showing signs of natural foraging and nesting,\u201d Bradsworth says. \u201cIt\u2019s very promising for the zoo-bred birds, still not even a year old.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a long road but, again, we have to remain positive \u2013 we can\u2019t just sit on our hands.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on
\n August 9, 2025 as “Emblem of hope”.<\/p>\n

\n For almost a decade, The Saturday Paper has published Australia\u2019s leading writers and thinkers.
\n We have pursued stories that are ignored elsewhere, covering them with sensitivity and depth.
\n We have done this on refugee policy, on government integrity, on robo-debt, on aged care,
\n on climate change, on the pandemic.\n <\/p>\n

\n All our journalism is fiercely independent. It relies on the support of readers.
\n By subscribing to The Saturday Paper, you are ensuring that we can continue to produce essential,
\n issue-defining coverage, to dig out stories that take time, to doggedly hold to account
\n politicians and the political class.\n <\/p>\n

\n There are very few titles that have the freedom and the space to produce journalism like this.
\n In a country with a concentration of media ownership unlike anything else in the world,
\n it is vitally important. Your subscription helps make it possible.\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Send this article to a friend for free.<\/p>\n

Share this subscriber exclusive article with a friend or family member using share credits.<\/p>\n

\"drawing<\/p>\n

Used 1 of … credits<\/p>\n

use share credits to share this article with friend or family.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve shared all of your credits for this month. They will refresh on September 1. If you would like to share more, you can buy a gift subscription<\/a> for a friend.<\/p>\n

\n SHARE WITH A FRIEND
? CREDITS REMAIN<\/p>\n

SHARE WITH A SUBSCRIBER
UNLIMITED\n <\/p>\n

\n Loading…\n <\/p>\n

RELATED READING<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

\n News <\/p>\n

\n \u2018Mind-boggling stupidity\u2019: The consultancy that captured universities <\/p>\n

Rick Morton <\/p>\n

Nous Group has slowly taken over the university sector, filling VCs\u2019 offices with ex-staff and buying \u2018incredibly sensitive\u2019 data that is sold back for benchmarking.\n <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ask Victorians to name the official bird emblem for their state and few will know it\u2019s the helmeted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,75,128],"class_list":["post-54040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}