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.)
