July 2010

In  July 77 species of birds were recorded in the catchment area of the Gazette.  Thanks to several observers in: Hoskinstown; the Molonglo Valley and Widgiewa Road.   Highlights for the month have been the first report (since I moved to the area) of a Barking Owl from the Hoskinstown Plain and a Yellow‑tufted Honeyeater in Hoskinstown.  An Emu continues to be spotted in the general vicinity of Hoskinstown and Australian Shelduck are appearing throughout the area.

Migrants are shown in italics below and species for which breeding has been observed this month are underlined.

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

2 Birds of Prey:  Brown Goshawk; Collared Sparrowhawk; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown 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: Emu; Rock Dove; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Fan-tailed Cuckoo; Barking Owl; Eastern  Barn Owl; Laughing Kookaburra.

5 Honeyeaters: Eastern Spinebill; Yellow-faced Honeyeater; White-eared Honeyeater; Yellow-tufted Honeyeater; White-plumed Honeyeater; Noisy Miner; Red Wattlebird; Brown‑headed Honeyeater; White-naped Honeyeater.

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

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species:  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Speckled warbler; Weebill; Striated Thornbill; Yellow-rumped Thornbill; Buff-rumped Thornbill; Brown Thornbill; Southern Whiteface; Spotted Pardalote; Striated Pardalote; Silvereye; Red-browed Finch; House Sparrow.

8 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper; Skylark; Common Blackbird; Common Starling; Mistletoebird; Australasian Pipit;

9  Other, larger birds: Satin Bowerbird; Grey Butcherbird; Australian Magpie; Pied Currawong; Grey Currawong; Australian Raven; Little Raven; White-winged Chough

Seasonal issues

Although it is still cold as I write this there have been a number of indications that birds believe the season is changing.  The most obvious of these are the onset of breeding activity by a number of species and the arrival of some species regarded as migrants.

There are many definitions of what is meant by breeding.  The ‘purest’ definition is when a nest is found and the young birds are known to have achieved independence.  However most species take care to conceal their nests and it can be disturbing to them to search for the nest.  So other indicators are used (in these reports and more generally). These range from males displaying to females, bird carrying nesting material, carrying food to the nest to feeding young birds out of the nest.  7 species have been observed undertaking some form of breeding activity this month.  I’d welcome any observations of breeding activity from readers.

In this area most migrants are those which arrive in the warmer months to feed upon the insects and nectar.  

The two largest groups are in the flycatchers and similar birds and the cuckoos.  The first cuckoos (Fan-tailed Cuckoo and Tree Martin) have already appeared.  However there are a few species (Golden Whistler and the ‘red’ robins) which find our Winter weather more amenable than that of their breeding areas up in the mountains: they will head back up as the weather warms, but are currently still being reported in this area.