Environment Matters - August/Winter 2022

Swooping season starts now Winter marks the beginning of swooping behaviour by birds such as magpies and plovers.

In 2021 council received requests about swooping birds as early as July. Swooping is a natural behaviour to protect eggs and chicks. Magpies and plovers are protected under the Nature Conservation Act 1992

and harming these native birds is against the law. Ipswich City Council has a procedure for managing the risks from aggressive native birds. It considers factors such as location, severity and duration of the behaviour.

Council uses a range of approaches including signage, education and – in extreme circumstances – bird assessment and potential relocation by a qualified fauna consultant. To report a swooping bird call council on (07) 3810 6666 or email council@ipswich.qld.gov.au

Bringing cod back from the brink About 100 years ago the Brisbane River cod, once plentiful in the Bremer River, was driven to extinction through fishing pressure and habitat loss.

A similar relative, the protected Mary River cod – one of Australia’s most endangered fish – is now central to a program to re-introduce this large apex predator to the freshwater reaches of the Bremer River. In late 2021 about 2,000 juvenile cod were released into the Bremer catchment at several strategic locations. Mary River cod can grow to over a metre long and weigh up to 23kg. They can live to 40 years old. They have a broad diet that includes fish (including pest fish such as tilapia and carp), crustaceans, insects, small reptiles, amphibians, small birds, bats and rodents.

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