Mission Beach Fringe Dweller Identification Project – Part 2 Call us now!

Part 1 (link back to Part 1)

The information gathered will be invaluable to help authorities in considering the needs of the cassowary when making planning decisions for Mission Beach. The study will involve residents who have regular sightings of cassowaries on their property or on the fringe of their block and give good representation of the whole study area. As many rainforest plants do not fruit annually and to take into consideration seasonal fruiting it is anticipated records would give reasonable results within a 24/36 month period.

If the community is happy to continue taking records in the long term, the project could be perpetual. An unlimited number of people are encouraged to participate in the survey by maintaining a diary of sightings. The more the better.Dr Dave Westcott and Adam McKeown from CSIRO have kindly offered to help by creating the online database for the project. The project would complement the CSIRO Scat analysis research and will include an upgrade to the regular local and visitor sightings collected by C4 through the environment visitor centre.

The process of information gathering is kept simple so it does not become a chore for the participants or in any way increase interaction or stress for the birds. Photo uploading will give an excellent record of incidences, interactions and changes of bird/birds over time. It will also offer the opportunity to study the differences between individual birds by noting the shape of wattles and casque and other often easily distinguishing characteristics.

Volunteers will be guided by an induction process to establish a system and education of proper identification of the different birds and protocol to follow for appropriate observation to avoid close interaction with birds.

C4 will be asking for ongoing advice and guidance from CSIRO, QPWS and other relevant authorities, agencies, experts and interest groups to streamline the project and correlate information that is currently being collected by the different stakeholders. Records will be entered on hard copies until the electronic database is completed.

Time is running out but with a focused effort we can show that the people of Mission Beach will work together toward a common goal that will see the protection and continued existence of the important population of cassowaries at Mission Beach.

If you see cassowaries on a regular basis and would like to take part in the Fringe Dweller Identification Project please call 4068 7197 to register your interest and arrange for your sightings form.

Mission Beach Fringe Dweller Identification Project – Part 1 (link back to Part 1)

Mission Beach Fringe Dweller Identification Project – Part 3 (link back to Part 3)