2022-09-06 P&E Agenda - Item 5 - Attachment 1 - Six Mile Creek Bridge Replacement Offset Report - TMR

2.3.4        Rufous fantail

2.3.4.1      Ecological background
The Rufous fantail is medium sized bird, approximating 14.5 cm to 18.5 cm in length. The bird’s forehead is
a rich reddish-brown colour across the eyes. The eyes have a white arc underneath and the top of the head,
back of the neck and the upper back, transition from an olive to reddish-brown colour, which then blends into
a blackish-brown, long, fan-shaped tail. This blackish-brown tail, contrasts with the base of the tail, which is
tipped with a paler colour, often white. The species is monomorphic (i.e. sexes are indistinguishable) (DAWE
2021d).
The Rufous fantail is primarily insectivorous, consuming a range of invertebrate. Food is typically captured
aerially, however the species is also known to glean food from foliage (DAWE 2021d).
The Rufous fantail has a coastal and near coastal distribution and occurs along the east Australian coast,
from Adelaide and the southern parts of Victoria, through to the tip of Cape York Peninsular, west to Darwin
and into northern Western Australia (DAWE 2021d). Within this range, two subspecies are known (i.e.
Rhipidura rufifrons subsp. rufifrons and Rhipidura rufifrons subsp. intermedia) (DAWE 2021d).
The Rufous fantail primarily associates with wet sclerophyll forests, subtropical rainforest and monsoon
rainforests, including semi-evergreen mesophyll vine forests, semi-deciduous vine thickets or thickets of
Paperbarks (Melaleuca spp.). When on passage/migration, they are sometimes recorded in drier sclerophyll
forests and woodlands, including Spotted Gum (Eucalyptus maculata), Yellow Box (E. melliodora), ironbarks
or stringybarks, often with a shrubby or heath understorey (DAWE 2021d).
The Rufous fantail breeds from September to February and nests at elevations of >600 m above sea level in
south-east Australia. Clutch size changes from 2 to 4 eggs which are laid in a small cup-shaped nest which
is usually made from grass, roots, fine strips of bark, plant-fibre, decayed wood, moss and spider web. Nests
are constructed in a trees, shrubs or vines, between 0.34–6.0 m above the ground (DAWE 2021d).
The main threat to populations of Rufous fantail is fragmentation and loss of core moist forest breeding
habitat through land clearing and urbanisation; especially forest remnants and corridors along the species'
migration routes (DAWE 2021c).


2.3.4.2      Potential impact
The Rufous fantail and its associated habitat was confirmed to be present within and immediately adjacent to
the area of the proposed action. Approximately 0.173 ha of the Rufous fantail habitat, which corresponds to
the Lowland Rainforest of Subtropical Australia TEC has been identified as being contained within the area
of direct disturbance associated with the proposed action (refer Figure 2.3).
An assessment of significance related to potential impacts upon the Rufous fantail (and its habitat), as a
result of the proposed action, has been undertaken in accordance with the Significant impact guidelines 1.1
(DotE 2013) (refer Appendix A; Section 6.1.7 - Table 40).
In consideration of the relatively small area of disturbance (i.e. 0.173 ha), the localised nature of potential
impacts, the nature of disturbance, the proposed mitigation measures, and in consideration of Significant
impact guidelines 1.1, the proposed action is not likely to result in a significant impact to the Rufous fantail.
Mitigation measures to reduce the severity of these impacts include the provision of voluntary direct, land-
based offsets (refer Section 3.2) for the Lowland Rainforest of Subtropical Australia TEC (noting that the
Rufous fantail habitat is synonymous with this TEC), clearing the minimum extent necessary for the
proposed action, and management measures to reduce edge-related impact from degrading areas that have
been retained. Further detail related to mitigation measures to reduce the potential impacts associated with
the proposed action are provided within Section 3.2.




                             Project number 511784 File Six Mile Creek - Matters of National Environmental Significance Report 2021-12-03 Revision 1   25