In October 2007 I have recorded 67 species of birds in a 3
hectare area around our house on Whiskers Creek Road (or, for those in
brackets, other parts of the area). An
asterisk in the list below shows those species which I have noticed undertaking
breeding activities.
Water
birds:
White-faced heron, Australian wood duck, ( Little pied cormorant, Masked
Lapwing, Australasian grebe, Pacific black duck, Grey teal)
Birds
of prey Brown goshawk,( Nankeen kestrel)
Parrots
and relatives:, Sulphur-crested cockatoo, Galah,
Crimson rosella, Eastern rosella, Gang-gang cockatoo, Yellow-tailed
black-cockatoo.
Kingfishers
and other non-songbirds: Laughing kookaburra, Pallid Cuckoo,
Sacred kingfisher, Crested pigeon, Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo, Shining Bronze-Cuckoo,
Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Southern boobook, (Australian Owlet-nightjar)
Honeyeaters:,
White-eared honeyeater, Yellow faced honeyeater, Red wattlebird, Noisy
friarbird, (Noisy Miner ).
Flycatchers
and similar species: Golden whistler, Rufous whistler,
Welcome swallow, Tree martin, Dusky woodswallow, Willie wagtail, Grey fantail
(Scarlet robin, , Magpie-lark,)
Other,
smaller, birds: Western gerygone, ,White-browed
scrubwren, Weebill, Striated thornbill, Yellow-rumped thornbill, Buff-rumped
thornbill, , Superb fairy-wren, White-throated treecreeper, Silvereye, Spotted
pardalote, Striated pardalote*, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Olive-backed Oriole,
Red-browed finch, European goldfinch (Common starling, House sparrow,
Richard’s Pipit) Mistletoebird, White-throated Gerygone, Speckled
warbler,)
Other,
larger, birds: Pied Currawong*, Grey currawong, Grey
butcherbird, Australian Magpie*, Australian Raven, Little Raven (White-winged
chough)
I have been particularly impressed by
the number of cuckoos seen around the area, especially seeing 4 species from
our veranda! They are readily
distinguished by song: Pallid cuckoo, a plaintive repeated whistle, Fan-tailed
cuckoo, a repetitive churr; Horsfield’s bronze-cuckoo, a descending whistle;
Shining bronze-cuckoo, an ascending whistle.
Bird of the Month
This is based upon material in the
very good book “bringing birds back” published by Greening Australia. Comments in brackets are by this author.
Grey fantail: Rhipidura fuliginosa
Appearance: Grey with a white throat, black bib and
buff underparts. Long dark grey tail
with white edges held cocked and fanned (note the name!) or opened and closed,
switched this way and that. (The
juvenile is much browner.)
Voice: A sweet squeaky tinkling song; also
often-repeated single note ‘check’.
Habits: Singly or in pairs. Energetic and conspicuous, performing
constant aerobatics after flying insects.
(The fluttery flight of the bird can be very distracting.)
Food: Mostly
insects.
Nest: Small
neat cup with a tail; of grasses and fine strips of bark bound with spider web
on a thin branch or vertical fork in shrubs or young trees.
Occurrence in Revegetation: recorded in 69% of revegetation sites at
least once. A spring/summer migrant
(note its food!), with most birds recorded from late August to April although
some birds can be found overwintering in the region (mainly at lower elevations
than Stoney Creek/Carwoola).
(Garden Bird Survey: This Survey, run in the gardens
of members of the Canberra Ornithologists Group, shows that the bird increased
in numbers from the start of the Survey in 1980 until the late 1990s, since
when it has declined in numbers.)
