August 2009

In August, 73 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 Widgiewa Road.  The total has swung up, reflecting the return of some migrants – shown in italics below - probably a bit earlier than usual.  Breeding has also started: those species are underlined.

1  Waterbirds:   Australian Wood Duck; Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe; Little Pied Cormorant; White-faced Heron;  Purple Swamphen; Eurasian Coot; Masked Lapwing

 2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite; Brown Goshawk; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown Falcon; Australian Hobby; 

3 Parrots and Relatives:  Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo; Galah; Sulphur-crested Cockatoo; Crimson Rosella; Eastern Rosella

4 Kingfishers and other non-songbirds: Brown quail; Rock Dove; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Laughing Kookaburra;

 5 Honeyeaters: Eastern Spinebill; Yellow-faced Honeyeater; White-eared Honeyeater; White-plumed Honeyeater; Noisy Miner; Red Wattlebird; 

6 Flycatchers and similar species: Golden Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush; Grey Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin; Flame Robin; Welcome Swallow; Tree Martin

 7 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper; Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Weebill; Western Gerygone; Striated Thornbill; Yellow-rumped Thornbill; Buff-rumped Thornbill; Brown Thornbill; Southern Whiteface; Spotted Pardalote; Striated Pardalote; Varied Sitella; Olive-backed Oriole; Dusky Woodswallow; Skylark; Silvereye; Common Blackbird; Common Starling; Diamond Firetail; House Sparrow; Richards Pipit; European Goldfinch

 8  Other, larger birds: Grey Butcherbird; Australian Magpie; Pied Currawong; Grey Currawong; Australian Raven; Little Raven.

Bird of the Month

From the Greening Australia book “Bringing Birds Back”.   Comments in brackets are by this author.  

Australian Raven:   Corvus Coronoides

Appearance:.Large ‘crow’ (scientifically they are ravens  not crows), glossy black plumage, eye white. (Obvious ‘hackles’ extended on throat when calling.)

Voice: Strong deep “Aah-aah –aaaaah” late note long and descending.  (The closely related Little Raven – also common in this area - has a higher pitched call with more clipped syllables “aah, aah, aah”.)

Habits: Singly pairs or small groups.  Bold when used to humans, otherwise wary, especially around nest.  (The Little Raven  typically occurs in large flocks – sometimes several hundred.)

Food: Omnivorous – insects reptiles, carrion, fruit.

Nest: Large flattish bowl of sticks lined with bark, hair, in fork in tree or powerlines,  Usually over 10m high. (Old nest sometimes taken over by Australian Hobby.)

Occurrence in revegetation:  Found in 25% of sites, but often only seen once.  Most often found where mature remnant trees are present.

(Garden Bird Survey: Undertaken by COG in the gardens of members of that Group records this species as very common, recorded in 95% of sites.  It is recorded in all weeks of the year.)