The efficacy of nestboxes versus spotlighting for detecting feathertail gliders

Abstract

A series of spotlight transects were carried out over a two-year period within a 7-ha area of the Wombat State Forest, Victoria, which contained nestboxes used by feathertail gliders, Acrobates pygmaeus. Spotlighting was carried out on foot through open forest, not along tracks, and only one feathertail glider was detected in 13.8 h of spotlighting. The nestboxes were checked on days following spotlighting surveys and 72 captures of feathertail gliders were made over the same two- year period. Spotlighting can provide important information on the biology of feathertail gliders when used in long-term scientific studies by experienced spotlighters. However, it is an unsatisfactory technique for broad surveys of feathertail gliders, and nestboxes provide a better technique but require a longer time-frame and additional cost.