The Longlea and District Landcare Group has provided many new homes along Axe Creek at Longlea by installing a further 10 nest boxes. Nest boxes are a great way to encourage wildlife to a bushland setting or even your garden.

This well-known quote (‘build it and they will come’) can be reliably used to describe many new locations, including baseball fields, playgrounds, swimming pools and even wildlife nest boxes.

Nest boxes are a great way to encourage wildlife to a bushland setting or even your garden. Many of our native wildlife species are hollow dependent and providing nest boxes adds a vital location to breed, socialise and escape predators.
The Longlea and District Landcare Group has provided new homes for an array of species including but not limited to Pardalotes, micro bats, Sugar Gliders, Tuans (or Brush-tailed Phascogale) and an array of Parrots. Boxes of different dimensions and entrance sizes can be specifically made to target certain species.

These nest boxes were purchased through a successful Communities for Nature Landcare Grant. Other aspects of the grant included weed control and revegetation activities along Axe Creek. Each box was purposely burnt on the inside of the lid to help deter feral honey bees from taking up residence.

Many areas along Axe Creek and throughout the local area have lost a lot of habitat through vegetation removal. Large old trees are of particular importance as they usually have the best diversity of hollow sizes. A combination of trees of all ages creates a healthier ecosystem; even a dead tree provides vital habitat in a landscape.

Installing nest boxes should be implemented with minimal impact on the chosen tree. Nest boxes can be easily built at home with the right type of timber to ensure the box will last for many years.

Our group purchased the nest boxes from Wildlife Nest Boxes, a local Bendigo business. They are purpose built from Australian grown pine ply-board and accommodate local native animals of all shapes and sizes. Check out the website: www.wildlifenestboxes.com.au to work out what species you would like to encourage to your garden.