 Photo Jeff Larson | The proposed heliport in Mission Beach, when operating, will create considerable loud noise from the industrial helicopters at irregular times seven days a week, during daylight. The proposed heliport is to be sited among known cassowary corridors (albeit fragmented). Cassowaries are diurnal birds and walk considerable distances in search of food, so anything that disrupts their normal behaviour and movement may have a negative effect. Anthropogenic noise pollution is a relatively recent phenomenon that birds now have to cope with throughout much of the world, and investigators have recently found that responses to this include avoidance of noisy areas, changes in reproductive success, and changes in calls and singing (Ortega 2012). |
While there have been no studies carried out specifically on cassowary responses to loud or constant anthropogenic noise, there have been several carried out on two of their closest relatives, the emu and ostrich, under captive conditions, in which emus showed behaviours indicating stress and agitation (e.g. Jakob-Hoff et al 2019). A study of birds’ reactions to constant traffic noise through good habitat showed that constant noise degrades that habitat that is otherwise suitable, and that the presence of a species does not indicate the absence of a negative effect (the bird is just tolerating the noise) (Ware et al. 2015).
Cassowaries’ hearing has not been studied but it is known that they produce very low-frequency sounds as long-distance communication in the forest (Mack and Jones 2003). It is unknown how these sounds travel in a noisy environment. It has been observed that cassowaries respond to helicopter noise in a panicked way – Jeff Larson photographed an adult bird running in fear from a military helicopter flying overhead in Wongaling Beach on 17 April 2014 (2 of the 4-photograph sequence below).
Cassowaries’ hearing has not been studied but it is known that they produce very low-frequency sounds as long-distance communication in the forest (Mack and Jones 2003). It is unknown how these sounds travel in a noisy environment. It has been observed that cassowaries respond to helicopter noise in a panicked way – Jeff Larson photographed an adult bird running in fear from a military helicopter flying overhead in Wongaling Beach on 17 April 2014 (2 of the 4-photograph sequence below).
Birdlife Australia Guardian, Coastal Wet Tropics Key Biodiversity Area.
Curator Emeritus, Fishes, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT
Research Associate, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Townsville, Qld
Co-chair, Goby Group of the Marine Fish Red List Authority, International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Dr Helen K. Larson
65 Reid Road, Wongaling Beach, Qld 4852
Email: eviotahkl@gmail.com
Curator Emeritus, Fishes, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT
Research Associate, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Townsville, Qld
Co-chair, Goby Group of the Marine Fish Red List Authority, International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Dr Helen K. Larson
65 Reid Road, Wongaling Beach, Qld 4852
Email: eviotahkl@gmail.com
REFERENCES:
Jakob-Hoff, R.1., Kingan, M., Fenemore, C., Schmid, G., Cockrem, J.F., Crackle, A., Van Bemmel, E., Connor, R., and Descovich, K. 2019. Potential Impact of Construction Noise on Selected Zoo Animals. animals 9(8): 1-25.
Mack, A.L. and Jones, J. 2003. Low-Frequency Vocalizations by Cassowaries (Casuarius spp.). The Auk 120 (4): 1062-1068.
Ortega, C.P. 2012. Effects Of Noise Pollution On Birds: A Brief Review Of Our Knowledge. Ornithological Monographs 74: 6–22.
Ware et al. 2015. A phantom road experiment reveals traffic noise is an invisible source of habitat degradation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112(39): 12105-12109.
Jakob-Hoff, R.1., Kingan, M., Fenemore, C., Schmid, G., Cockrem, J.F., Crackle, A., Van Bemmel, E., Connor, R., and Descovich, K. 2019. Potential Impact of Construction Noise on Selected Zoo Animals. animals 9(8): 1-25.
Mack, A.L. and Jones, J. 2003. Low-Frequency Vocalizations by Cassowaries (Casuarius spp.). The Auk 120 (4): 1062-1068.
Ortega, C.P. 2012. Effects Of Noise Pollution On Birds: A Brief Review Of Our Knowledge. Ornithological Monographs 74: 6–22.
Ware et al. 2015. A phantom road experiment reveals traffic noise is an invisible source of habitat degradation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112(39): 12105-12109.
 Photo Jeff Larson |  Photo Jeff Larson - detail "Bird upside down, feet in air, in ditch after slipping on road in fear". |
“Photos I took while an Australian Army helicopter flew overhead as I was watching a cassowary deciding what to do from inside the fence of the Happy Days farm on Wheatley road. The helicopter came over and the bird immediately tore through the fence and across the road slipping in the act, falling over and sliding into the grass verge on the other side of the road. It then got up and quickly shot into the forest. If a vehicle had been coming the bird probably would have been killed. 5:05pm on the 17th of April 2014.”
(in litt. J. Larson 7 December 2020).
(in litt. J. Larson 7 December 2020).
Photo Jeff Larson
