Lion Island little penguins get man-made burrows after freak fire

A tiny island at the mouth of the Hawkesbury River spectacularly caught fire last year, ruining nesting options for a colony of Little Penguins. National Parks has come up with the cutest solution.

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A freak lightning strike that set fire to Lion Island in August last year has provided a unique opportunity to test new ways of protecting a colony of Little Penguins.

National Parks and Wildlife Service and Local Land Services staff and volunteers recently installed 20 hand made aerated concrete nesting burrows on the small island reserve in Broken Bay.

NPWS Director Deon van Rensburg said after a lightning strike caused a fire on the island the community was concerned it may have impacted the penguin colony.

Lion Island on fire in 2018 after lightening strike taken from Pearl Beach by Rita Kurpiewski (@ritametermade).

“NPWS monitoring since the fire has recorded penguins successfully however installing these new burrows will improve the nesting habitat of the Little Penguins on the Island.

“The ongoing conservation management of Lion Island to protect this important colony of Little Penguins by the parks service, with the help of Local Land Services and the community, has been terrific.

“This is no ordinary program and these are no ordinary burrows — they are superior ‘penguin-friendly’ burrows in comparison to previous models which have been installed along the NSW coast for decades.

Usual nesting style for a Little Penguin.

“They have been developed to be weather and fire resistant, as well as having improved thermoregulation and preventing predators such as goannas preying on eggs and chicks — they really are prime penguin real-estate so I am expecting it to go fast.

“NPWS bird specialists have found the earlier plastic and timber designs to have problems such as rotting and poor thermoregulation,” Mr van Rensburg said

Designed and developed by not-for-profit group, ‘Fix It Sisters’, these new Little Penguin homes were created to stand the test of time as penguins breed for life and will continue to return to the same burrow each breeding season.

A colony of Little Penguins.

NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean said the burrow program was part of a push to protect the Little Penguins’ future.

“We’re installing these nests to protect penguins, enable them to nest and hopefully grow the population,” he said.

Habitat on the island is also being protected and maintained through bush regeneration, thanks to a NSW Local Land Services (LLS) grant of $17,885 and a Floating Landcare initiative, which sees volunteers visit the island twice a year to undertake habitat restoration.

NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean on Lion Island with NPWS ranger Rachel Labador.

Little Penguins mostly mate for life, but about 25 per cent of them may change their partner from year to year.

Between June and August, male penguins return to their colonies to reconstruct old burrows, dig new ones and attract mates so NPWS will be waiting eagerly to see how popular the new burrows will be.

Little Penguins only exist on mainland NSW in one location — Manly Beach — but that colony is under threat from predators and human activity.

NPWS hopes that if the burrows on Lion Island are successful, they could be used at other Mainland locations as well.