Animals
Bold Park is home to many species of animals
Mammals
Quenda (Isoodon fusciventer) are the most commonly encountered wild mammal in Bold Park. They reappeared in 2022 after being long extinct from the area - possibly reintroducing themselves from Lake Claremont (where they were released in early 2022) or perhaps the result of an unauthorised translocation. Either way, they have since become well established and have started expanding into nearby reserves and home gardens.
Quenda are omnivores and eat a mix of invertebrates, fungi and plant material, especially underground bulbs. They use their keen sense of smell to detect buried food, and then their sharp claws to dig it out - look for their cone-shaped holes throughout the bushland. Quenda are "ecosystem engineers" turning over 4 tonnes of soil a year which helps to break down leaf litter, spread useful fungi, and makes it easier for rain to soak into the soil. They don't dig burrows, instead relying on dense vegetation to hide from predators. Quenda can be active at any time of day, but late afternoon and early evening are the best times to spot them.
Common Brushtail Possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) can be seen after dark as they climb through the trees feeding on leaves, flowers, and the occasional insect or bird egg. While they are known to shelter in the roofs of houses, they usually rely on large old eucalypts for hollows to hide in during the day.
Another nocturnal mammal group are bats, with all of our local species belonging to the microbat suborder. At least six species have been recently recorded at Perry Lakes and they can also be seen at dusk flying above and through the trees of Bold Park. They use high-pitched squeaks to echolocate, allowing them to find food and avoid obstacles in the dark. For most species these calls are too high frequency for humans to hear, however the white-striped free-tailed bat can be heard at night if you listen carefully.
Introduced species include rabbits and rats, which require us to install tree guards around newly-planted vulnerable species. Foxes and cats are also seen occasionally on camera-traps, but don't appear to be in high numbers. However, with each cat (both ferals and free-roaming pets) killing an average of 186 animals each year in Australia, any introduced predator is bad news for native species. Please keep cats inside (and keep dogs on lead when walking through the park) to protect our native species.
Birds
Over 60 species of birds have been recorded in Bold Park in recent years. Most common are the same species found across much of the metropolitan area, such as Australian Magpies, Australian Ravens, and Red Wattlebirds, as well as Rainbow Lorikeets and Laughing Kookaburras which were introduced to WA in the past century. However, Bold Park is also a great spot for small bushbirds including Weebills, White-cheeked Honeyeaters, Western Gerygones, Purple-backed Fairywrens, and both Striated and Spotted Pardalotes. For birdwatchers seeking uncommon birds, Bold Park is one of the more reliable places to see Painted Button-quails, Tawny Frogmouths, Little Eagles, and recently Square-tailed Kites.
Some birds are only seasonal visitors to Bold Park. Rainbow Bee-eaters (featured in our logo) visit each year from Kambarang to Bunuru (Oct to Feb) to breed in tunnels that they excavate in the sandy ground. Fan-tailed Cuckoos and Shining Bronze Cuckoos are seen from Makuru to Kambarang (June to Oct) when they visit to lay their eggs in the nests of smaller birds, tricking other species into raising their young. Red-tailed Black Cockatoos and Carnaby's Cockatoos can be seen most of the year, but depart to breed in the hills and wheatbelt. If the summer months have been particularly dry, species now mostly only seen outside of the city, like Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters and Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters, will travel to the Swan Coastal Plain and bushland areas like Bold Park to look for food.
With only one small, seasonal wetland in Bold Park, waterbirds are not resident within Bold Park, although ducks and Nankeen Night Herons can be seen at Camel Lake during the wetter months. However, many waterbirds can be seen nearby at Perry Lakes Reserve, with birds often crossing the road to forage at the edge of the bushland or to breed in tree hollows within Bold Park.
More information to come on reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates
Further Information
BirdLife WA has created guides to the birds of Bold Park, as well as many other parts of Perth & WA. See the BirdLife website for more information.
Written by Steve Lofthouse