Kookaburras in the exhaust fan: Tree clearing moving birds to the backyard

A few months ago, Kristina Dodds walked around the side of her Northbridge home to find a pair of persistent kookaburras who had decided the warmth of the metal exhaust fan was a good place to build a nest.

“You feel for them: their hollows are gone,” said Dodds, who is on the executive committee of the Willoughby Environmental Protection Association. “We are hearing more reports of displaced wildlife in the area since they felled the trees at Cammeray Golf Course.”

More than 750 trees were cut down after 40 per cent of the golf course was compulsorily acquired as part of a $1.1 billion upgrade to the Warringah Freeway.

Hundreds of trees have been cut down at Cammeray Golf Course for the upgrade to the motorway.Credit: Nick Moir

After The Sun-Herald reported an ongoing stoush between Transport for NSW and a common myna living in a North Sydney traffic light last week, several readers said they were also witnessing birds and other wildlife, such as possums, in unexpected urban places on the lower north shore.

Ecologists who surveyed the area for the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment didn’t consider where the myna birds would go; they were only required to consider the impact on native endangered and threatened species.

The myna is a pest – the species attacks native birds to claim their nesting hollows – so Transport for NSW will continue to remove the nest from the traffic light until it stops rebuilding.

The association is concerned plans to remove trees at Flat Rock Gully at Northbridge as part of the project will displace even more wildlife.

Larissa Penn, a spokesperson for the Stop the Tunnels lobby group and a former independent candidate for Willoughby, said the stoush was symptomatic of the impact of tree felling on native wildlife.

“If the myna birds can’t find a hollow, that means there aren’t hollows for natives they can compete for,” she said. “They are like a symptom of what’s going on: they’re a canary in a coal mine.”

University of New England Emeritus Professor Gisela Kaplan, an animal behaviour expert, said the situation in North Sydney was being seen in other cities where limited green space was being cleared, leaving animals homeless.

“Birdlife, small marsupials, lizards: pretty much any urban fauna you can think of has been disrupted by this project.”

Zoe Baker, North Sydney mayor

Transport for NSW said in a statement it was “committed to protecting local flora and fauna” during the project.

“Qualified ecologists complete site inspections to identify habitat trees prior to any tree removal as part of this upgrade,” it said. “Before any tree clearing takes place, a pre-clearing process is followed to ensure no fauna species are present that may have moved into the area since undertaking the previous surveys.”

In a speech to state parliament last week, Liberal MP and member for Willoughby Tim James said it was “clear that a considerable portion of the Willoughby community disagrees with parts of the projects in their present form”.

James said he would ensure Transport for NSW upheld its commitment to replace felled trees at a ratio of 2:1 with a net increase to the tree canopy, meaning mature trees could not be replaced with seedlings. He has started an online petition calling for a green space canopy over the Warringah Freeway, reconnecting ANZAC Park and Cammeray Park.

North Sydney Mayor Zoe Baker said the detail of where trees would be replaced and their size and species needed to be provided urgently, expressing concern this would be left up to the contractor on the project.

She said the council’s environmental staff was “constantly lobbying [Transport for NSW] about the devastating loss of habitat” caused by the project, following concern from the public.

“Birdlife, small marsupials, lizards: pretty much any urban fauna you can think of has been disrupted by this project,” she said.

“It’s become more intense the more trees have gone. There have been lots of dead possums and small marsupials in the streets around Cammeray Park. But it’s moving where the trees are being removed.”

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