Mistletoe is often associated with Christmas, yet native mistletoe is something of an unsung hero when it comes to woodland birds.
It provides food, shelter, and nest sites, including for the critically endangered regent honeyeater, but repeated bushfires in recent years have wiped it out from a key breeding area in New South Wales' Lower Hunter region.
Mistletoe does not regenerate after bushfires and, without intervention, it will take many years to re-establish in the Tomalpin Woodlands — time the regent honeyeater does not have, as there are only about 300 left in the wild.
