A Squirrel Glider surprise
With its Grassy White Box Woodlands, Tarcutta Hills is perfect habitat for Squirrel Gliders, but we haven’t officially recorded them on the reserve before.
Among the most acrobatic of Australia’s small mammals are the gliders – small, possum-like marsupials that spend much of their time in tree canopies, leaping and gliding extraordinary distances with their limbs outstretched.
Measuring between 6.5 cm and 46 cm in length (excluding their tails), gliders have large eyes, short faces and soft, silky fur. The largest among them – the Greater Gliders – can weigh up to 1.6 kg, while tiny Feathertail Gliders weigh around 12 grams and are the size of a small mouse.
Gliders can also change direction mid-air thanks to their long tails, which they use as rudders.
Several species of marsupial gliders are found in Australia.
- Greater Gliders
In 2020 the Greater Glider was split into three species: the Southern Greater Glider (Petauroides volans), the Central Greater Glider (Petauroides armillatus) and the Northern Greater Glider (Petauroides minor).1 - Feathertail Gliders
Include the Broad-toed Feather Glider (Acrobates frontalis) and the Narrow-toed Feather Glider (Acrobates pygmaeus)2 - Sugar Gliders
In 2021 Sugar Gliders were split into 3 distinct species: the Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps), the Savanna Glider (Petaurus ariel) and Krefft’s Glider (Petaurus notatus)3. - the Squirrel Glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) 4
- Mahogany Glider (Petaurus gracilis) 5 and
- the Yellow-bellied Glider (Petaurus australis). 6
Image Information
Squirrel Glider at Tarcutta Reserve. Photo by Wayne Lawler/EcoPix.
Where do our gliders live?
All gliders depend on tree hollows to make their homes, but each has unique needs.
Greater gliders require certain altitudes where specific eucalypts can be found. They prefer old-growth forests and can be found along the Great Dividing Range.1 Feathertail gliders have a range extending down the eastern states from northern Queensland, to NSW, Victoria and South Australia. They will live in rainforests at any altitude and even in city parks and backyards where eucalypts grow.2
Sugar gliders occur on the coastal side of the Great Diving Range, while Savanna Gliders are found across Northern Australia and Krefft’s Glider in Eastern and Northern Australia.3
Sugar Gliders can flourish in both wet and dry forests and woodlands and in remnant vegetation. They’ve also been successfully reintroduced in some areas. The Mahogany Glider is found in a very small area of Northern Queensland and is the most endangered of all Australian gliders. It finds its home in open forests with a diverse array of flowering plants that provide a food source.5
Squirrel Gliders inhabit dry forests and open woodlands in Victoria and up the eastern states as far as Cairns and the Yellow-bellied Glider also inhabits the eastern states from Victoria up to Queensland.
Four separate glider species have been observed at our Yourka Reserve.
Another two glider species (the Northern Glider and the Biak Glider) can be found in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, respectively.
Glider behaviour
Gliders are arboreal (tree-dwelling), nocturnal animals that spend their nights leaping between trees in the hunt for food. Most are omnivorous, feeding on nectar, pollen, seeds, insects and even – in the case of Sugar and Squirrel Gliders – on small birds and their eggs. Greater Gliders, however, are herbivorous and feed mainly on eucalypt leaves.
Gliders are known for their aerodynamic leaps and fantastic climbing ability. Feathertail gliders, for example, are known to spend about 80% of their time over 15 metres above the ground and typically glide between trees three to five times an hour throughout the night. They’ve also been reported to be able to climb up vertical panes of glass!7
Image Information
Squirrel Glider at Scottsdale Reserve. Photo by Jiri Lochman.
Most gliders are social creatures, with family groups crowding together sharing the same nest hollow.
Greater Gliders are the only solitary glider group, coming together only in the breeding season, and using many nests in their home range. They're actually more closely related to the Lemuroid Ringtail Possum than to other glider species.1
Feathertail and Sugar Gliders are both known to enter torpor, where an animal slows its breathing and dramatically reduces its physical activity for days or even up to weeks, dropping its body temperature and oxygen consumption and wrapping its body into a ball. This enables them to reduce energy needs and survive periods of food shortage.
Breeding habits vary across glider species. Feathertail gliders, being small and susceptible to heat loss in cold weather, are known to nest in artificial sites such as telephone boxes and meter boxes. Nest hollows are often lined with dry leaves, whereas Greater Gliders, are not known to build nests. And while the Yellow-bellied Glider is monogamous, male Squirrel Gliders and female feathertail gliders are promiscuous.
Greater Gliders give birth to only one young and feathertail gliders can give birth to up to four. The other species usually have one or two young. Being marsupials, they carry their young in a pouch.
Are gliders endangered in Australia?
Like many Australian species, gliders are in decline.
They require mature trees with well-developed hollows. Habitat destruction and fragmentation are of particular concern, reducing the number of available hollows.
However, other threats include fire and feral predators, the impacts of climate change, as well as the use of barbed-wire fences that can trap the animal’s gliding membrane causing a slow and painful death. Natural predators include owls, goannas, pythons, kookaburras and quolls.
The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) lists the Greater Glider as vulnerable, the Mahogany Glider as Endangered, and the Yellow-bellied Glider as Near Threatened. In addition, a lack of information about the new species of Greater Glider and Sugar Gliders means much more research is needed to properly manage and protect them.8
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A Sugar Glider. Photo Steve Parish.
Conservation efforts by Bush Heritage Australia
We preserve remnants of old-growth forest where tree hollows are present and habitat for gliders is good. Feathertail Gliders are at home on our Yourka and Carnarvon reserves (Queensland) as well at Tarcutta Hills (NSW), while Carnarvon has also recorded Yellow-bellied Gliders. Both Yourka and Carnarvon and also Burrin Burrin Reserve in NSW have Greater Gliders. Many of our reserves in the eastern states support Sugar Gliders. Squirrel Gliders live on our Tarcutta Hills, Reedy Creek, Yourka and Carnarvon Reserves.
We also manage fire, weeds and invasive species in these areas to maintain and enhance the quality of the habitat for gliders and other native species. In some places nest boxes are used to provide additional nesting habitat for gliders (for example, at Yourka to encourage feathertail gliders).
Image Information
Sugar Glider. Photo Steve Parish.
