Sugar Gliders very much enjoy snacking on bird eggs, nestlings and smaller adult bird species as you probably have read from studies on the endangered orange-bellied parrot. We have numerous Sugar Gliders on our property and it is probable that they access every tree regularly. Gliders can also fly from tree to tree, adding an extra complication for nest box protection! 

Any nest box a glider can enter is fair game!

Gliders are a particular concern for our nesting parrots (and other smaller birds), but they probably couldn’t break into a duck egg. Gliders were responsible for raiding all Crimson Rosella nesting attempts in our second nesting season, and the 2 Crimson Rosella nesting attempts in our first season (I was guessing early on as my wildlife camera collection and installation locations and timing were missed this action). 

A Crimson Rosella nest raided by a Sugar Glider. Only one egg had been laid, just the day before. The nest box was abandoned after this egg had been eaten.

Much of this year’s efforts have involved figuring out effective exclusion methods while the parrots and Wood Ducks were attempting to nest, and then rapidly applying what appeared to have worked to all other active and not-yet-active nest boxes where possible. Success!! This year, two sets of Crimson Rosella chicks (2, 3) have successfully flown from their nest boxes, there is a third nest box with 3 young Crimson Rosella chicks, and also a fourth nest box with 4 fully feathered Eastern Rosella chicks. A Tree Creeper chick also successfully fledged, as did one group of Kookaburra chicks, and one set of Wood Duck ducklings.

My most successful Sugar Glider protection method for our smaller bird nest boxes. Polycarbonate plastic possum tree-guards installed above and below the nest box (1m wide, each), and a panel installed at the back of the nest box, covering all possible tree trunk landing spots. Also plastic panels are installed on the bottom, sides and top of the nest box, leaving the front of the nest box for the Rosellas to climb up.
Our first two Crimson Rosella nest box bubs ever, on our property.

Only one nest this year was raided by a Sugar Glider and abandoned while I was trialing exclusion methods, just as the parrots were beginning to nest. I relocated this nest box to a safer tree and painted the box to match tree bark colours. This box is now occupied by the Eastern Rosella family. 

This nest box was raided by a Sugar Glider. I now install the possum guards much closer to the nest boxes to reduce the landing area for a glider to cross from an nearby tree. This tree also had very small leafy branches dangling right next to the nest box. Now I either choose solitary trees, or trim all leafy branches to 1-2 m from the nest box or extremety of the possum guards.

The successful nests boxes are on solitary straight trees with possum guards just above, and just below the nest boxes. On one nest box very close to a stand of bushy black wattle trees, I installed polycarbonate plastic panels to the top, sides and base of the nest box, and also covering the tree bark at the back of the box. The Rosellas access the nest box entrance via the front of the box, so this needs to be uncovered. An egg had already been laid when I discovered the too-close branch issue, so I had to do my best for this box while not disturbing the nest lest it be abandoned. 

Same nest box as above, showing closeness of vegetation to tree. I trimmed nearby branches of Black Wattle back to their trunk.

I have also trimmed the branches of any shrubs and small trees to below the height of the possum guards for all nest box trees, and also to approximately 2m in distance horizontally from any nest box and possum guards. The single raided nest box had top and bottom possum guards, but there was a nearby small twiggy branch that almost touches the unguarded trunk of the tree with the nest box attached.

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