drinks nectar from flowering trees. The species has been reported to attack domestic poultry. The Brush-tailed phascogale is a host of the Acanthocephalan intestinal parasite Australiformis semoni. Reproduction Breeding occurs between June and August when the females come into estrus. All male brush-tailed phascogales die before reaching one year of age, generally from stress-related diseases brought about by the energy expended in a bout of frenzied mating. However, some captive males have lived to the age of three, though they were reproductively unviable after the first year. Females nest in hollow trees, bearing litters of 7 to 8 young which stay in the nest to the age of 5 months. References External links Brush-tailed Phascogale, the National Parks and Wildlife Service of New South Wales, Australia. "Writing their names in ink", Brush-tailed phascogale survey, Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife. Foundation of National Parks and Wildlife Brush-tailed Phascogale Project, Brush-tailed Phascogale information and image Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife. Dasyuromorphs Mammals of the Northern Territory Mammals of Western Australia Mammals of South Australia Mammals of New South Wales Mammals of Queensland Mammals of Victoria (Australia) Marsupials of Australia Mammals described in 1793