Northern Victoria wetlands face avian influenza threat during breeding season

Northern Victoria is home to thousands of individual wetlands on public and private property, and in September they are brimming with birdlife.

With spring comes the breeding season, when many threatened species like brolgas and black swans congregate, make nests, lay eggs and hatch fledglings.

This year, there is another threat, the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which is spreading through the wild bird population.

That risk has led the Victorian government to consider "emergency extractions" of threatened bird species from the wild for protection.

Chief biodiversity officer at the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), James Todd said he was concerned the already small populations could plummet.

"We are looking at whether there's also some direct interventions that we can undertake for ... species that are not yet in captivity," Mr Todd said.

Zoos Victoria and other wildlife facilities already have populations of threatened species in captivity to ensure their protection.

"That's the orange-bellied parrot, plains wanderer, regent honeyeater, and the helmeted honeyeater, one of the state's formal emblems," Mr Todd said.

Although it is uncertain what will happen with the spread of H5N1, Mr Todd said there were no reported cases worldwide of a species going extinct yet.

"That's kind of the light on the hill," he said.

"But again, we have to be careful because we can't exactly translate the overseas experience to Australia and Victoria because of our unique fauna."

Victorian Brolgas already under threat

Victoria's population of brolgas sits around 1,000, with most found in the south-west of the state.

In northern Victoria and southern New South Wales, that number is even smaller, with an estimated population of 50, making them an incredibly rare sight.

Mr Todd said the Victorian population was effectively isolated from the central Australian brolga population "where they're obviously much more abundant and common and not threatened."

The low numbers have been attributed to habitat loss and predation from introduced species like foxes.

"They've been impacted by loss of habitat, you know, because of agriculture and urbanisation areas and they rely on temporary wetlands," Mr Todd said.

Farmers protecting wetlands

Just outside Rushworth, among the fields of wheat and canola, Adrian Weston has about 8 hectares of wetland on his farm.

Mr Weston purchased the property 35 years ago, and was the former director of the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority.

He said he had seen a shift over the past 30 years, with more farmers helping to conserve them.

"I think out of the 3,000-odd wetlands in the Goulburn Broken catchment, the overwhelming majority of them are on private land and a lot of them got drained," Mr Weston said.

"Over time I've seen a shift in the attitudes toward incorporating … more ecological outcomes into farm enterprise."

Mr Weston said he hoped to leave the land better than when he found it, but he had also found lots of productive benefits as well.

This year, Mr Weston has witnessed brolgas nesting in the wetland, and has seen a chick hatch.

Each week, the Rushworth Field and Game group of volunteers and some of the students from the local school come to Mr Weston's wetland and check hen houses and nest boxes for any activity.

During the year, the Field and Game group also hunt foxes to keep numbers low around the wetlands.

Mr Weston said he was concerned about the impact H5 avian influenza will have on the wetland birds.

"There's a lot at stake," Mr Weston said.

"I suppose we hope for the best, but time will tell."