January 2011

In  January 2011 a good score of  94 species of birds were recorded in the catchment area of the Gazette with a very pleasing 17 species recorded as breeding.  Thanks to several observers in: Hoskinstown; the Molonglo Valley, Captains Flat Road,  and Widgiewa Road.   

There continue to be reports of a good number of cuckoo species in the area.  As they call frequently they, and thus their host species, may still be breeding.  Waterbirds continue to be very low in diversity.  Apparently all the ibis at least are breeding in the Riverina! Migrants are shown in italics below and species for which breeding (broadly defined) has been observed this month are underlined.

1  Waterbirds:  Musk Duck; Black Swan;  Australian Wood Duck; Pacific Black Duck; Australasian Grebe; Little Pied Cormorant; Great Cormorant; White-faced Heron; Eurasian Coot; Masked Lapwing

2 Birds of Prey:  Brown Goshawk; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown Falcon; Australian Hobby; Peregrine Falcon.

3 Parrots and Relatives:  Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo; Gang‑gang Cockatoo; Galah;  Sulphur‑crested Cockatoo; Australian King-parrot; Crimson Rosella; Eastern Rosella; Red-rumped parrot

4 Kingfishers and other non-songbirds: Emu; Stubble Quail; Rock Dove; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Australian Owlet-nightjar; White-throated Needletail; Horsfield's Bronze‑Cuckoo;Shining Bronze-cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan-tailed Cuckoo; Brush Cuckoo; Southern Boobook; Laughing Kookaburra;Sacred Kingfisher;

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

6 Flycatchers and similar species: Rufous Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush; Grey Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Leaden Flycatcher; Magpie-lark; Eastern Yellow Robin; Welcome Swallow; Fairy Martin; Tree Martin

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species:  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Weebill; White-throated Gerygone; Striated Thornbill; Yellow‑rumped Thornbill; Buff-rumped Thornbill; Brown Thornbill; Southern Whiteface; Spotted Pardalote; Striated Pardalote; Silvereye; Double-barred Finch; Red‑browed Finch; Diamond Firetail; House Sparrow; European Goldfinch

8 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike; Olive-backed Oriole; Dusky Woodswallow; Skylark; Australian Reed-warbler; Rufous Songlark; Common Blackbird; Common Myna; 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

A brief annual summary

The list for the area now totals 161 species.  We added 16 species to the list in 2010.  In part this reflects an increasing number of people reporting, and increasing familiarity with the birds of the area.  Reports for other areas indicate a decreased diversity of birds in 2010 as they followed the floodwaters to the inland areas.

In 2010, 144 species of birds were recorded at least once in the Gazette catchment area.  40 of these were recorded breeding (using a wide definition, covering all stages from “Display” to “Dependent Young”).  

We recorded 42 species in every month of this year while 21 species have been recorded every month since we moved here in 2007.