In April 75
species of birds were recorded in the catchment area of the Gazette. This is 13 less than in March this year and 3
less than in March 2010. I suspect a
reduction in reporting may explain some of that! Thanks to several observers
in: the Molonglo Valley, Captains Flat Road, and Widgiewa Road.
Only
2 species were recorded as breeding. The
dependent young Sulphur-crested Cockatoos were late, but the nest with young
Red-browed Finch was surprising as I had n’t noticed a quite large nest being
constructed until the young squawked. Juvenile
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos are heard
begging as they fly over but I regard this as evidence of indolence rather than
breeding in the area. The regular events of Autumn/Winter have been noted:
flocks of finches feeding on grass-seeds, mixed flock of several small bird
species, and flocks of migrating honeyeaters.
Migrants
are shown in italics below and species
for which breeding (broadly defined) 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: Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen
Kestrel; Brown Falcon; Australian Hobby;
3 Parrots and
Relatives: Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo; Gang‑gang
Cockatoo; Galah; Sulphur‑crested Cockatoo;
Crimson Rosella; Eastern Rosella
4 Kingfishers
and other non-songbirds: Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon;
Tawny Frogmouth; Shining Bronze-cuckoo;
Fan-tailed Cuckoo; Southern Boobook; Laughing Kookaburra;
5 Honeyeaters: Eastern
Spinebill; Yellow-faced Honeyeater; White-eared
Honeyeater; White‑plumed Honeyeater; Noisy Miner; Red Wattlebird;; White-naped
Honeyeater; Noisy Friarbird
6 Flycatchers
and similar species: Golden
Whistler; Rufous Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush; Rufous Fantail; Grey Fantail;
Willie Wagtail; Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin;, Flame Robin; Eastern Yellow Robin;
Welcome Swallow; 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; Dusky Woodswallow;
Common Blackbird; Common Starling; Mistletoebird;
9 Other, larger birds: Grey Butcherbird;
Australian Magpie; Pied Currawong; Grey Currawong; Australian Raven; Little
Raven.
Parrots and Relatives
The list
for the area includes 11 species in this group, which includes the Parrots and
Cockatoos
4 species
are very common and seen every month. These
are Crimson and Eastern Rosella, Galah, Sulphur‑crested Cockatoo. A fifth species, the Yellow-tailed
Black-Cockatoo has only failed to be reported in 1 of the 49 possible
months. Gang‑gang Cockatoos are
also pretty common being recorded in 42 months.
The small
Red-rumped Parrot is moderately common being recorded approximately 50% of the
time. This may reflect its liking for
the grassy habitat of the Hoskinstown Plain and if we don’t spend time down
there tend to miss it.
The
remaining species are rarely recorded.
The beautiful Australian King-parrot has only been recorded in 8 months
and the Superb Parrot in 4. The
observations of the Superb Parrot have all been in early Summer as the species
moves out from its core territory near Boorowa (although they are becoming much
commoner in Canberra). Little Corellas
have only been recorded in 3 months, but as the Canberra population is exploding
they are likely to become more common out here.
