Art Meets Penguins

A collaboration between ceramic artist Jane Bamford and a group of scientists is giving Little Penguins a chance to bunker down in some beautiful, hand-crafted artificial burrows.

Artificial burrow by Jane Bamford. [Photo: Peter Whyte]

In early 2026, Keep Tassie Wild purchased a clay burrow to be placed in a Little Penguin colony on the banks of Timtumili Minanya (the Derwent River).

We caught up with Derwent Estuary Program's previous Biodiversity Officer Ellie Green to chat about how the project came about, and what is involved in creating homes for some of Nipaluna/Hobart’s most vulnerable residents.

Little Penguin.

Hello! Thanks for chatting with with us. Can you tell me a bit about how this project started?

Monitoring of the little penguins in the estuary started over twenty years ago when some keen people from Hobart City Council (HCC) and Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania started doing it off the back of their desk, basically.

They knew that there were penguins in the area, but they didn't know where they were nesting. So, someone walked the whole shoreline on the western shore and mapped out the area. They were just into penguins and wanted to help.

They continued mapping the area and periodically checking the nests but it wasn’t formally approved, so it became obvious that there needed to a more official way to look after these penguins.

How did it become more ‘official’?

They wanted to do more management interventions because it fell within their area of expertise, but they couldn’t allocate a lot of time, so through the Derwent Estuary Program the Penguin Advisory Group was created, a collaborative effort between a few different organisations where everyone could dedicate a little bit of time.

Fast forward a few years, what's the role of the Derwent Estuary Program with this project?

We now coordinate the Penguin Advisory Group and coordinate the monitoring. We are able to recommend things because our volunteers are out in the colonies each month. So, they're on the ground seeing what work is done and what is needed. Whereas the councils, because they've got so much land to manage, they're not really going to the colonies that often.

We're seeing the changes in numbers and can contact the council and say “Hey, look, this colony would benefit from some planting, or some weeding…” Stuff like that.

HCC has been doing some really awesome revegetation works. But even so, because this area doesn’t have many natural burrows the penguins are reliant on artificial ones.

Ellie Green in the field. [Photo: Peter Whyte]

Is the low number of burrows because of the nature of the landscape, or from human impacts?

Basically, it’s because of urban development. So, the areas where the Little Penguins were nesting would have been much larger, but when people built houses, it took away all that vegetation. And the penguins got confined to what was quite a weedy, messy, forgotten area.

And then in the mid-2000s when they figured out that penguins were nesting there, they were like “Okay, let's go in, strip out all these weeds, put these artificial burrows and replant it with the native vegetation that they need.” And now vegetation is growing up and it's almost a bit too much! The overstory is quite thick and it doesn't have much understory.

But now the area has expanded and they've replanted it with a really awesome mix of vegetation.

That’s interesting. It seems there’s a lot more understanding about the need to include a variety of plants in regeneration works these days.

Yeah, I think just probably better knowledge on what plant species are more beneficial to Little Penguins. I think back then it was just a bit more about chucking stuff in to get them some cover. And maybe not as much thought went into the kind of coastal species that the penguins would ultimately benefit from.

Is this new plant species list based on food, habitat, protection from predators? Or something else?

Yeah, it's mainly for cover. Cover for heat reduction and protection from predators. So, these plants create a bit of a complex burrow with a few different hollows and entrances. A bit more of a complicated structure which works well for Little Penguins.

Is that structure formed from roots underground? And they dig around them to form burrows?

It can be like a bunch of things. Roots, fallen trees, branches and vegetation. But I'm mainly thinking of bower spinach, Tetragonia implexicoma, which forms these amazing curtains over the area and makes a wonderful habitat.

Hold on, so the burrows are like on the ground? Not underground?

Yeah. So up in the northwest they have underground burrows. But I haven't seen any underground burrows in these colonies.

So, they're all hanging out in the in the bushes?

Yep, they're all in the bushes, or where is there are rock outcrops, they nest in rock hollows like little caves.

Artificial penguin burrow in the wild.

Interesting! I know that keeping the locations of these colonies secret is really important. Can you talk a bit about that?

The more people know about them, the more likely it is that people will visit the colonies to get a glimpse of the penguins. And the more human disturbances there are there's more risk of the birds abandoning their nests. Or say, if people are waiting to see them come in at night and are accidentally blocking the entrance, the penguins might be too afraid to walk past. Which can mean that the chicks are not getting fed that night.

It’s more stress for the birds and honestly, everyone has the best intentions, but they could be literally loved to death. We've had situations in the past of keen neighbours just wanting to check in the on the penguins and they actually look inside nests and disturb the penguins.

Is there a danger even in the talking with us about it today?

Yeah, it's a fine balance. We talked about that a lot with this project. Like, could the benefits outweigh the potential risks?  So, we just want to be very controlled around the narrative. We really don't want questions focussed on where the colonies are. And we don't want people visiting these areas. So, yeah, it is a fine balance.

What is the story you’re wanting to tell?

For us the story is really about habitat degradation, how it impacts species in urban areas and, importantly, how amazing it is that they're still here! And how can we help them through art and through replanting and by caring for our coastal areas.

Work in progress. [Photo: Peter Whyte]

That brings us to these wonderful penguin shelters, created by ceramicist Jane Bamford. Keep Tassie Wild has purchased one that has now been placed in a colony. What role does philanthropy play these days?

We are definitely a lot more interested in philanthropy as a way to help fund projects because there's just so much uncertainty with funding for environmental projects. There’re just budget cuts, budget cuts, budget cuts. And it's filtering down to these types of projects.

Funding from the public, you know, between five dollars or five thousand dollars, however much you want to give, can have a huge impact. (Find out how you can help at the end of this interview!)

How did the collaboration with artists come about?

The initial project happened in 2021, was coordinated by Jane and involved eight other artists. It was a bit more about the art. It was a little bit more experimental, a little bit more artistic. And there was an exhibition where people could view the burrows and have that interaction with them and then purchase them to be gifted to the habitat.

But now the design that Jane is using, I mean, it is artistic and beautiful because Jane made it, but the design has developed and is more about the penguins than it is about artistic form.

They do look beautiful. Of course, she does put little decorative elements in it because she’s an artist. But the big decisions are based on what the penguins need. Like making them the right size, including ventilation holes. It's spiral shape to prevent predators getting in, and the coils, while beautiful, are a practical element of the build.

The artist at work. [Photo: Peter Whyte]

When I saw the artificial burrows for the first time I was blown away by how beautiful they are. I get very excited about that intersection between art and science.

Yeah, definitely. And it's engaging people in a different way. Like, scientists are often focused on reason and expect people to care because it's important. And yes, that makes sense. But everyone engages with things differently.

Someone might need to read a story to have that emotive language brings them into it or to see a beautiful handmade burrow and feel moved by that. And art can engage a broader audience and really connect with people in different ways.

You can be tricked into helping the environment by just loving the art!

Yeah. And maybe we could make twenty concrete burrows for the price of one and put them everywhere and do it really quickly. And maybe three of them might get used. But they haven't had the thought put into them. They don’t have the quality, they might not last as long, they might not have had as much thought into where they’re going to be placed.

If you've got this one borrow that Jane has put so much thought and research and love into, that is designed so well because she spent the time talking to penguin researchers, you’re going put a lot more thought into where the best spot for this one precious burrow will be.

She's been in the colonies. She's refined the design. So, it's like a very well-designed burrow.

I think an artist's work is just so valuable and it's something that benefits all of society. Having those different multidisciplinary aspects to a project has just shown that what good can be done.

It is such an awesome project. Thanks for chatting to us today.

Thank you. We appreciate Keep Tassie Wild helping out with penguin habitat!

Want to help?

To purchasing a Little Penguin Module and gift it to a colony please get in touch with Jane through her website: www.janebamford.com

If you would like to make a smaller donation directly to the Derwent Estuary Program, go here: www.derwentestuary.org.au

Main image photo credit: Peter Whyte