In January 2008 I have recorded 69 species of birds in the
catchment area of the Gazette. (I have
decided not to differentiate between those in our patch and elsewhere: this
allows me to present the birds in a more standardised order!) An * in the list below shows those species
which I have noticed undertaking breeding activities. For this month that usually means seeing an
adult feeding a dependent young bird: there has been a lot going on.
Last month I referred to currawongs as possible
predators. Perhaps coincidentally but
this month I trapped a feral kitten (passed to the RSPCA) and have had small
birds everywhere. Not only has the
number of species been high, but so has the number of birds, as the young
fledge and start moving around, scrounging food off their parents.
Water
birds:
Australasian Grebe*; Masked Lapwing; Australian white ibis; White-faced
heron; Australian Wood duck; Pacific Black Duck; Grey teal
Birds
of prey: Brown Goshawk, Nankeen kestrel
Parrots
and relatives: Yellow-tailed black-cockatoo:
Gang-gang cockatoo; Sulphur-crested cockatoo; Galah; Crimson Rosella; Eastern
Rosella; Red-rumped parrot
Kingfishers
and other non-songbirds:, Common bronzewing; crested pigeon;
Laughing Kookaburra; Sacred Kingfisher; Pallid Cuckoo; Brush Cuckoo;
Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo
Honeyeaters:,
Brown-headed honeyeater; Eastern spinebill; Yellow-faced honeyeater*;
White-eared Honeyeater; Noisy Miner; Red wattlebird*; Noisy friarbird*
Flycatchers
and similar species:
Welcome swallow; Tree Martin; Dusky woodswallow; Grey fantail*; Willie
wagtail; Leaden flycatcher”; Scarlet robin; Golden whistler; Rufous whistler;
Grey shrike‑thrush; Magpie-lark,
Other,
smaller, birds: Black-faced
cuckoo-shrike; White-throated gerygone; Western gerygone; Weebill; Striated
thornbill; Brown thornbill; Buff-rumped thornbill*; Yellow-rumped thornbill;
White-browed scrubwren; Rufous songlark; Superb Fairy-wren; Dusky woodswallow;
Varied Sitella; White-throated treecreeper; Spotted pardalote; Striated pardalote;
Silvereye; Red-browed finch*; Olive-backed oriole; Skylark; House sparrow;
European goldfinch; Common starling
Other,
larger, birds: White-winged chough; Pied Currawong;
Grey butcherbird; Australian Magpie*; Australian Raven; Little Raven
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.
Eastern Rosella: Platycercus eximius. (The bird from the
soup can!)
Appearance: Bright,
colourful, unmistakeable. Head and shoulders red with white cheeks;
yellow-green underparts. blue shoulders, greenish tail.
Voice: Three note bell-like call. Also soft chitterings and, in flight,
‘chink-chink’.
Habits:.Pairs or (more in Winter) flocks. Feeds largely on ground, fleeing noisily for
cover when disturbed.
Food: Various
plant matter, seeds, nuts etc. (A
feeding party of these is a good indicator that something has seeded.)
Nest: Hollows
in mature eucalypts, 2 – 15m above the ground.
Occurrence in Revegetation: Found in 58% of sites. More common in sites 5 years or more
old. Small windbreaks as well as large
blocks.
(Garden Bird Survey: This Survey, run in the gardens
of members of the Canberra Ornithologists Group, records this bird as common,
being observed in more than 90% of sites each year and recorded in at least 1
site every week of the year.)
