page_title: Charcoal Tank Nature Reserve
section_title: Fauna
hierarchical_section_title: Charcoal Tank Nature Reserve / Fauna
context_page_description: The Charcoal Tank Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve in the central western region of New South Wales, Australia. The 86.4-hectare reserve is situated 10 kilometres south of West Wyalong and may be accessed via the Newell Highway and The Charcoal Tank Road. The reserve is an important refuge for native flora and fauna in a highly fragmented landscape, one in which the majority of the original vegetation has been removed.
context_section_description: Birds represent the largest number of vertebrate species occurring within the reserve with over 165 species identified; 96 species have been banded and released as part of a long-term monitoring study in the Reserve. Some of the Reserve's breeding residents such as Climacteris picumnus victoriae (brown treecreeper) and Daphoenositta chrysopyera (varied sittella) are listed as vulnerable under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation (TSC) Act 1995. Data from the long-term bird banding project shows a decrease in the number of brown treecreepers present.  There are twenty other birds that utilize the reserve that are also listed as vulnerable under the NSW TSC Act; some examples are Grantiella picta (painted honeyeater), Polytelis swainsonii (superb parrot), Anthochaera phrygia (regent honeyeater) and the Lathamus discolor (swift parrot). Under Australia's national Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 the regent honeyeater and the swift parrot are listed as endangered and the superb parrot as vulnerable.
  Sadly, species such as Leipoa ocellata (malleefowl), Pachycephala inorta (Gilbert's whistler), Drymodes superciliaris (southern scrub robin)  and Falcunculus frontatus (crested shrike-tit) have become extinct from the Reserve in the past 30 years; the last crested shrike-tit banded in the reserve was in 1997. The disappearance of the malleefowl not only in the Reserve but the surrounding region is due to a number of pressures; these include predation by Vulpes vulpes (red fox) and Felis catus (cat), fragmentation and loss of habitat, isolation, competition and degradation of habitat by domestic livestock and introduced vertebrates such as Oryctolagus cuniculus (European rabbit) and Capra hircu (goat). More recently the Reserve's long-term bird monitoring study has recorded a decline in species that were previously abundant or regular visitors to the Reserve, this includes species such as the Pomatostomus temporalis (grey-crowned babbler), Hylacola cauta (shy heath wren), Stagonopleura guttata (diamond firetail), and Eopsaltria griseogularis (eastern yellow robin)
  Other fauna found in the Reserve includes mammals such as Macropus giganteus (eastern grey kangaroo), Wallabia bicolor (swamp wallaby), Tachyglossus aculeatus (short-beaked echidna) and Petaurus breviceps (sugar glider). Five amphibians are known to occur in the Reserve and nine species of reptile such as Varanus varius (lace monitor) and Pseudonaja textilis (eastern brown snake).  Some invertebrates found in the Reserve are Cherax destructor (common freshwater yabby) and at least nine species of butterfly including Delias aganippe (spotted Jezebel) and Vanessa kershawi (Australian painted lady). The reserve may also be important to the long-term survival of the locally threatened butterfly Candalides hyacinthinus simplex (western dusky-blue), this species is dependent upon Mallee for its survival and has been located in remnant mallee habitat close to West Wyalong.
  Vertebrate pest species recorded infrequently in The Charcoal Tank Nature Reserve include Felis catus (cat), Vulpes vulpes (red fox), Sturnus vulgaris (common starling), Oryctolagus cuniculus (European rabbit) Lepus europaeus (European brown hare), Mus musculus (house mouse)  and Sus scrofa (pig).
caption: Grantiella picta (painted honeyeater)
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