Photo E. Rotherham © Museum
Victoria
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The Feathertail Glider is the smallest gliding mammal in
the world, having an average weight of just 12 g.
So named because of its feather-like tail fringed with
stiff hairs, which acts as a rudder during flight. Gliding
membranes stretch from front to rear feet, allowing a giant
sized glide of up to 20 ms between trees.
(Quite an effort for an animal the size
of a mouse}.
Eucalypt woodland and forest, with an abundance of natural
tree hollows is their preferred habitat, ranging from eastern
Australia in Queensland, through to New South Wales, Victoria
and South Australia.
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Being
arboreal, (tree dwelling) these gliders feed almost exclusively
in the canopy of trees and shrubs - especially eucalypts and
banksias - on a wide variety of insects, nectar, pollen and
sap.
Feathertails are gregarious, and build ball-shaped
nests inside tree hollows, constructed from dry eucalypt leaves.
They will quite readily take to artificial nestboxes, where
up to 16 individuals have been recorded in one box. (although
2 - 5 animals is the norm). Feathertails may become torpid
in cold wet weather. Torpor is not true hibernation, and usually
only lasts a few hours or days.
Female Feathertails can breed from the age
of 6 months. Often producing 2 litters per year, with 2 or
3 babies in each litter, the young stay in the pouch for about
65 days, and are then left in the nest for a further 7 weeks.
Being so small makes this glider vulnerable
to many predators, such as owls, currawongs, antechinus, quolls,
snakes, large lizards, foxes, and cats. To minimise this risk,
Feathertails are rarely active on bright moonlit nights. |
