In
December, 83 species of birds have been recorded in the catchment area of the
Gazette, including the species reported by observers in Hoskintown, Whiskers
Creek Road and the Molonglo valley. We
have also added 1 more species to the
list: Peregrine Falcon. I have underlined breeding birds (where there has been
evidence of this).
Waterbirds:
Australasian Grebe; Little Pied Cormorant; Masked Lapwing; Black-fronted
Dotterel; White-faced heron; White-necked Heron; Australian Wood Duck;
Pacific Black Duck; Grey teal.
Birds of Prey:
Brown Goshawk; Collared Sparrowhawk, Wedge-tailed Eagle; Brown Falcon; Peregrine
Falcon; Nankeen kestrel.
Parrots and Relatives:
Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo; Gang-gang Cockatoo, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo;
Galah; Australian King-parrot; Crimson Rosella; Eastern Rosella; Red-rumped
parrot.
Kingfishers and other non-songbirds:
Common bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Feral pigeon; Southern Boobook; Tawny Frogmouth; Dollarbird; Laughing
Kookaburra; Sacred Kingfisher; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo; Brush Cuckoo;
Shining Bronze-Cuckoo; White-throated Needletail.
Honeyeaters: Brown-headed honeyeater; Eastern spinebill;
Yellow‑faced honeyeater; White-eared Honeyeater; Noisy Miner;
Red wattlebird; Noisy friarbird.
Flycatchers and similar species:
Welcome swallow; Fairy Martin; Grey fantail; Willie wagtail; Leaden flycatcher;
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; Superb Fairy-wren; Dusky woodswallow;
White-throated treecreeper; Mistletoebird; Spotted pardalote; Striated
pardalote; Varied Sitella; Silvereye; Richards Pipit; Olive-backed oriole;
Common blackbird; Skylark; House sparrow: Diamond Firetail; European
goldfinch; Common starling.
Other, larger birds:
White-winged chough: Pied Currawong; Grey currawong: Grey butcherbird:
Australian Magpie; Australian Raven; Little Raven
Bird of the Month
From the Greening Australia book
“Bringing Birds Back. Comments in
brackets are by this author.
Red
Wattlebird: Anthocaera carunculata
Appearance: Large honeyeater, grey with strongpale streaks, pale
yellow belly; red neck wattles (sometimes hard to see), red eye.
Voice: Harsh loud coughs as though
clearing throat.
Habits: Single or pairs when
breeding, loose flocks when migrating or congregating on food source. Loud and
aggressive (very - I have seen them attack Magpies to defend a nest site). Bounces around through through trees or
shrubs feeding on nectar or chasing insects.
Food: Insects, nectar, fruit.
Nest: Untidy shallow cup of sticks, grass and bark in fork
of shrub or branchlet 2-16m high.
Occurrence
in Revegetation: Found in 30% of sites from
small narrow sites to large, from 4 years onwards small and large sites from 3
years of age onwards, but not recorded in the narrowest windbreaks.
(Garden
Bird Survey: This Survey, run in the gardens of members of COG, records
this bird as very common, in some years the commonest honeyeater. It is usually observed in all sites, and in
every week of the year – albeit not every week in every site. )
