In May2009,
83 species of birds have been recorded in the catchment area of the Gazette,
including the species reported by an observer in Hoskinstown, and other
observers in the Molonglo Valley, Wanna Wanna, Widgiewa, and Plains Roads.
1 Waterbirds: Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Grey
Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Australasian Grebe; Little Pied Cormorant; White‑necked Heron;
Australian White Ibis; Purple Swamphen; Masked Lapwing
2 Birds of Prey: Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen
Kestrel; Brown Falcon; Peregrine falcon.
3 Parrots and
Relatives: Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo; Gang-gang
cockatoo; Galah; Sulphur-crested Cockatoo; Crimson Rosella; Eastern Rosella;
Red-rumped parrot
4 Kingfishers
and other non-songbirds: Brown quail; Rock Dove; Spotted Dove;
Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Laughing Kookaburra;
5 Honeyeaters: Eastern
Spinebill; Yellow-faced Honeyeater; White-eared Honeyeater;
Fuscous Honeyeater; White-plumed Honeyeater; Noisy Miner; Red Wattlebird;
New Holland Honeyeater; Brown‑headed Honeyeater; White-naped Honeyeater
6 Flycatchers
and similar species: Golden Whistler; Rufous Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush;
Rufous Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin; Flame Robin; Eastern
Yellow Robin; Welcome Swallow;
7 Other, smaller
birds: White-throated Treecreeper; Superb
Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Weebill; Striated Thornbill; Yellow Thornbill;
Yellow-rumped Thornbill; Buff-rumped Thornbill; Brown Thornbill; Southern Whiteface;
Spotted Pardalote; Striated Pardalote; Spotted Quail-thrush; Varied Sitella; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike;
Dusky Woodswallow; Silvereye; Common Blackbird ; Common Starling; Zebra Finch; Double-barred
Finch; Red-browed Finch; Diamond Firetail; House Sparrow; Richards Pipit; European
Goldfinch
8 Other, larger birds: Satin Bowerbird;
Grey Butcherbird; Australian Magpie; Pied Currawong; Grey Currawong; Australian
Raven; Little Raven; White-winged Chough
Bird of the Month
From the Greening Australia book
“Bringing Birds Back”. Comments in
brackets are by this author.
Common Starling: Sturnus vulgaris
(This
species is introduced to Australia, and is sometimes referred to as a “rat with
wings”.)
Appearance: Shiny
black plumage with bronze-green and purple sheen. In Autumn-Winter feathers are tipped
buff-white giving a finely spotted appearance.
(Juveniles are much plainer brown).
Voice: Variety
of rates, whistles, wheezes clicks.
Harsh alarm call. Good mimic.
Habits: Flocks
large (often hundreds of birds) in Autumn.
Bold, jaunty walks or runs with rapid jabs of bills into ground.
Food: Omnivorous:
insects, fruit, carrion.
Nest: In
hollow of tree, also holes or cavities in buildings .
Occurrence in revegetation: Found in 27% of sites but nearly always observedin
mature remnant trees incorporated within the revegatation.
(Garden Bird Survey: Undertaken by COG in the gardens of members of that Group records
this species as very common. It is now
usually recorded in about 80% of sites. However
both abundance and frequency have dropped recently, possibly due to competition
from the Common Myna – which has fortunately
not appeared in this area.)
