Gliders of Pittwater

What are the main threats?
• Loss and destruction of habitat. Including tree removal
in urban areas.
• Absence of wildlife corridors. Gliders can follow
the flowering of different tree species and they are
particularly vulnerable when trees are removed.
• Fires are potential cause of death and may also affect
food resources.
• Cat attacks are a major threat (recent Australian
Museum specimens are all gliders killed by cats).
Our website has plenty of information to help you learn
more about:
• Creating wildlife friendly gardens
• nest boxes
• native animals dependent on hollow bearing trees
• wildlife corridors
Gliders of
Pittwater
• Dog and Fox attacks.
• Road casualties.
What can you do to help?
;; Keep your cats and dogs in from dusk to late morning,
as this is when Gliders are most active.
;; Plant local Glider food sources, such as Banksia,
Acacias, Eucalypts and Corymbias.
• other threatened wildlife
• how to join a bushcare group
• upcoming events such as spotlighting and guided
bushwalks.
Visit it here:
www.pittwater.nsw.gov.au/environment
;; Where possible, leave old dead trees with hollow
branches as potential nesting places. Note: Dead Gum
trees are protected in the PIttwater area. However if
they pose a threat, erect a man-made nesting hollow.
;; Take a close look before lopping dead trees or limbs.
You may be destroying a Glider’s home. If unsure, get a
wildlife carer on site to assess.
;; Participate in a local bush regeneration group to help
restore Squirrel, Sugar and Feathertail Glider’s habitat.
;; If you encounter an injured Glider, wrap it in a towel
and place in a box to keep it calm in a quiet, dark
place. It will be frightened. Contact your local Wildlife
carers - WIRES 8977 3333 or Sydney Wildlife 9413
4300. If you find a dead Glider, please report it to
Council and take a photo if possible.
Squirrel Glider
PO Box 882
Mona Vale NSW 1660
Phone: 9970 1111
Email: pittwater_council@pittwater.nsw.gov.au
Squirrel Glider
Photo: Michael Todd
Wildlife Profile
Squirrel Glider
The Squirrel Glider is a Vulnerable Species in New South Wales
and listed as an Endangered Population on the Barrenjoey
Peninsula under the Threatened Species Conservation Act
(1995). Sugar Gliders are similar but not endangered, nor are
the tiny Feathertail Gliders.
What do Squirrel, Sugar and Feathertail Gliders look like?
The Squirrel Glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) is a medium-sized
marsupial, which is similar in appearance and gliding ability
to its more common relative, the Sugar Glider (Petaurus
breviceps). The Squirrel Glider has a distinct dark stripe running
down between its eyes to its back. It has a soft and bushy tail,
and its fur is blue-grey to brown-grey with a white belly. While
its body may be around 20cm in length, its tail is even longer
- averaging 27cm!
The similar smaller Sugar Glider is 16-21cm long with a tail
about the same length. The tiny Feathertail Glider (Acrobates
pygmaeus) is mouse-sized. Its flattened tail is fringed with stiff
hairs on each side like a feather.
Sugar Glider
Squirrel or Sugar Glider?
What do they eat?
When you first spot one of these cute, bushy-tailed Gliders it may
be tough to distinguish between the Squirrel and Sugar Gliders.
Both occupy similar habitats, and are often recorded together,
however, an adult Squirrel Glider is larger in size and has more
distinct facial markings than those of the Sugar Glider.
Squirrel Gliders enjoy variety! They choose habitats with a diverse
range of trees and shrubs that will flower or provide nectar, across
the seasons. It is believed that some Squirrel Gliders will travel
long distances to get the variety they need in their diet.
Sugar Glider
Photo: Ian Ralph
Feathertail Glider (image: fauna.com.au)
The Gliders are all highly agile and are expert tree climbers.
They have a special membrane between the front and back legs
which spreads like a parachute when they leap from the highest
branches. Their tails work like a rudder to guide their descent and
they can easily navigate thick tree trunks, branches and twigs.
Squirrel and Sugar Gliders can reach up to 50 metres in a single
leap!
The Sugar Glider has a variety of calls, a shrill yapping that is a
warning to others of danger and a sharp threatening growl when
they are fighting. The Feathertail Glider can glide over 20 metres.
It has broad pads beneath the toes which enables it to cling onto
smooth-barked Eucalypt trunks and even vertical glass windows.
Where do they live?
Squirrel Glider Tree Markings
Feathertail Glider
Gliders are strictly nocturnal and live in the trees of dry Eucalypt
forest and woodlands. They require trees which develop hollows
for use as a refuge and nesting sites. Hollows in dead and live
trees are used, preferably with tight-fitting entrances to stop any
large animals from entering.
w w w . p i t t w a t e r. n s w . g o v. a u / e n v i r o n m e n t
In Pittwater the following species have been identified as
important food sources for Squirrel and Sugar Gliders on the
Barrenjoey Peninsula.
•
Winter flowering Coastal Banksia
(Banksia integrifolia)
•
Spotted Gum (Corymbia maculata)
•
Summer flowering Old Man
Banksia (Banksia serrata)
•
Autumn flowering Red Bloodwood
(Corymbia gummifera)
•
Grey Ironbark
(Eucalyptus paniculata)
•
Sydney Red Gum
(Angophora costata)
Coastal Banksia
Sydney Red Gum
Feathertail Gliders feed on pollen, nectar and insects. Rarely seen
in the wild, there are occasional reports of aggregations of 40
or more of these animals in a single flowering tree. More often
Feathertail Gliders are encountered only after they have been
brought in by the family cat or during tree clearing operations.
Their diet includes nectar, sap (to feed on sap gliders will gouge
and lick incisions on the trunks and main branches of eucalyptus,
corymbia and angophora trees), gum from acacia trees, and
honeydew (sugary secretions of sap-sucking insects). They will
also eat protein-rich foods such as beetles, caterpillars and
pollen.