Trees, tree hollows and fallen logs are frequently the homes and hiding places of Australian birds, animals and pollen dispersing insects.
The NSW Dept of the Environment tells us that in south east Australia this includes some 17 % of bird species, 42 % of mammals and 28 % of reptiles (Gibbons and Lindenmayer 1997). They include bats, possums, gliders, owls, parrots, antechinus, ducks, rosellas and kingfishers as well as numerous species of snakes, frogs and skinks.
It also points out that: Trees with hollows and the animals that depend on them are disappearing. Natural tree hollows are valuable and often essential for many wildlife species. They provide refuge from the weather and predators, and safe sites for roosting and breeding. Destroying living or dead hollow-bearing trees displaces or kills wildlife dependant on those hollows.
This photograph found at the Royal Botanic Gardens' Hollows As Homes website is an example of one possum hiding away in the daylight hours.
While this is an example of a lorikeet using another naturally occurring hollow.
The photographs below were supplied by an Iluka resident highlighting some of the homes and hiding places on a 19ha lot which is currently the subject of a 162 lot subdivision development application before the Northern Joint Regional Planning Panel and Clarence Valley Council.
A bolt hole for a small creature or somewhere to spend a night?
A place to hunt for beetles or ants?
A raptor's nest
A hollow to hide from large birds looking for lunch
It too high to tell but a colony of bees or wasps has created a home near the sky
An enterprising bird built this secure home for its young
Frogs, lizards and snakes often rest in the center of ferns like this
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