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The COG December 2000 meeting was a quiz night. Everyone was given a table number, which randomly set the teams and the raffle tickets. There were ten teams of six or seven people. The quiz had seven parts: four rounds of 10 written questions, 10 calls and two rounds each of 20 bird slides to identify. These were speedily delivered and scored. Much of it was hard. Mark says it is surprising just how much people know. A list of 21 scientific names required their common names. Few of these were of common local birds and only teams 2 and 4 did well-some teams got none. It did elicit some humour: e.g. Eurostopodus mysticalis (White-throated Nightjar) as a mystical European stopover and Nymphicus hollandicus (Cockatiel) as a little Dutch water nymph. The questions were avian except some mammalian ones: Who is the President of COG? - Barry Baker. Who recently retired as ANWC curator and who is his replacement? - Dr. Dick Schodde and Dr. Terry Chesser. One of the calls was a male Koala. One of the scientific names was of the platypus and that Prince Phillip contributed to the conservation of the Noisy Scrub-bird.
Hopefully each team had fun and have stories about the questions they just got or just missed. There would have been many close but wrong answers (e.g. I guessed that Pygoscelis papua was an Adelie [instead of Gentoo] Penguin). A past COG meeting heard why an Antarctic bird is named "Papua". It took lateral thinking to answer what the Manx Shearwater, Purple Swamphen, Black-tailed Godwit and European Goldfinch have in common--the species name is the genus name. One picture featuring a bowerbird for identification had a Spinifex Pigeon hidden in the foreground, providing a clue that was easily missed.
We were given the correct answers at the end of each round and the scores went up on the board. The total possible points were 129. The winning team (No. 2), with 108 points comprised Philip Veerman (yes, again) with Dorothy Anderson, Alan Ford, Shirley Kral, Anne Robinson and Helen Stephinson. The runner-up team (No. 4, with four COG Committee members and one RAOU Councillor) with a score of 98, was Barry Baker, Alistair Bestow, Jenny Bounds, John Goldie, David McDonald, Alison Russell-French and Doug Watkins. The score from the other eight teams ranged from low 80s, mid 50s to 37. The door prize was won by Helen Stephinson. There were many bird shirts but the best-dressed "bird" was Stuart Harris in a cleverly crafted Diamond Firetail costume.
Many thanks to: Mark Clayton for organising the questions and running the quiz and Anthony Overs who did the calls segment; Sue and Andrew Newbery and Anthony Overs who did the checking of answers and scoring; Jenny Bounds for coordinating the arrangements on the night; Horst and Kay Hahne for organising the drinks; and also CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems for hosting a most successful night.
Philip Veerman
Jenny Bounds presented the Bird-of-the-Month talk featuring the Pink Robin. This shy and illusive bird is easily confused with the Rose Robin although its habits are quite different. The Rose Robin generally acts like a Grey Fantail while the Pink Robin has the pounce habit of the other robins and generally occurs in the lower strata. The male Pink Robin has a lilac rose coloured breast and a sooty back and head. The female has buffy orange wingbars. Neither gender has any or very little white in its outer tail feathers in contrast to the Rose Robin. The Pink Robin will often be heard before it is seen and it generally always occurs in fern gullies in wet eucalypt forests. It is a rare non-breeding winter migrant in the ACT.
Dr. Dick Schodde was the main speaker for the evening. He presented the talk "The Species Problem is a Conservation Problem". To conserve our species, conservationists must know what species are present in the areas of interest. Normally this is accomplished by surveying the species and developing a plan of action to preserve habitat and whatever other means are deemed appropriate to accomplish the preservation of these species. The conservation of biodiversity depends on maintaining a gene pool that provides sufficient genetic diversity to keep a species viable. Dick asks the question: "Are the current methods employed to taxonomically define species sufficient?" The White-backed and Black-backed Magpies across Australia interbreed where their ranges overlap and thus they are considered the same species. However, this cannot be said of the Golden Whistler in all areas. Dick showed differences in the Golden Whistler at different areas in Australia and their similarities. However, why is the species found in Bougainville, Papua/New Guinea considered to be the same species as the one found in NE Queensland? It is because it is THOUGHT they would interbreed, but there are no data substantiating this. The birds appear to be quite different. Dick presented ideas that may possibly solve these problems. The species concept is very ingrained and cannot be easily replaced. The answers are not simple and more research is certainly necessary. The debates on conservation issues are just beginning.
Charles Buer
Chris Davey presented the Birds-of-the-Month talk on the 'sounds of the night' in preparation for the upcoming night atlas. The two orders of owls and their relatives the frogmouths, nightjars, and the Owlet Nightjar were introduced and an overview of sampling methods were covered. Chris then played several calls from tape and illustrated the calls using sonograms. Also included were a fox barking and a Brush-stone Curlew. The tapes and sonograms were provided by Peter Fullagar.
Our main speaker for the evening was Dr. Jim Davis. Jim is the editor of Interpretive Birding Bulletin, a newsletter devoted as a resource for interpreting bird behaviour. Jim explained what an interpretive approach to birding is about and how deciphering the meaning of bird behaviour can provide personal enjoyment. On your next excursion bring a chair, patience, and a notebook to jot down your observations. It is better to go alone. The process doesn't require special training although a basic knowledge of the principles of animal ecology and behaviour is helpful. Jim explained the basic behaviours one should be familiar with: stimulus response, habituation, social facilitation, imprinting, prepared learning, and insight learning and provided examples of each. One should adopt an evolutionary perspective and assume that the behaviour being observed is evolutionary. The main things to keep in mind are that you do not need to be an expert and to keep an open mind. Jim demonstrated his points with five volunteers from the audience. Further information on interpretive birding can be found on Jim's website http://www.ibirding.com
Charles Buer
Chris Tidemann, live subjects on hand, led off the evening with a report on his research towards decreasing the introduced Common Myna population in Canberra. The myna is now recognised as a biodiversity problem in Australia and in many other countries where they have become feral. In Australia they compete aggressively with native mammals and birds (ie, sugar gliders and rosellas) for hollows. They appear capable of colonising most woodlands in eastern Australia.
Chris proposes the time has come to see if (1) Common Mynas can be reduced in numbers by simple, cost-effective and humane methods and (2) if this results in an increase in numbers of native species. Preliminary trials indicate that the species can be controlled at flock level by manipulating communal roosts (using a shroud trap) and "mop-up" control can be implemented by trapping mynas in nest-boxes and at feeding areas. Other means of control could include habitat manipulation (keeping lawns at a greater height), and reducing food sources (ie, dog and cat food). He maintains a web site http://www.anu.edu.au/srmes/wildlife/myna.html with further information. Some discussion arose as to COG's participation in informing the general public on ways they could help.
Charles Buer
Our main speaker for the evening was Julian Reid. Julian is currently studying the relationships between flooding in the rivers of the Lake Eyre Drainage Basin (LEB) in central Australia and changes in abundance of waterbirds and their breeding success. Julian pointed out that few of the 82 breeding species of inland waterbirds are confined to particular biogeographical regionsoccurring therefore, in the ephemeral wetlands of central Australia. The most important wetlands in central Australia are those associated with episodic flooding in the major rivers of the LEB, primarily Cooper Creek and the Eyre / Georgina / Diamantina / Warburton river system. The amount of flooding in these rivers varies prodigiously from one year to the next, and they have the most extreme hydrological variability of any large rivers in the world! Julian explained that this variability, which occurs over many time and space scales, helps to explain why the LEB wetlands are so productive when large floods occur. They are classic boom-bust environments.
It is this variability that has been removed from the major rivers of the Murray Darling Basin and which has contributed to the decline of this system's health. Other key factors are the rising water tables and salinity and the large-scale diversion of water from the rivers for intensive irrigated agriculture such as cotton and rice. Recent moves to harvest the waters of Cooper Creek at Currareeva in Queensland, to allow the development of a major irrigation scheme, have been squashed by the Queensland government for now, but only after intense lobbying and representation by the Channel Country pastoralists, environmentalists and conservation scientists.
Julian described how lucky the ARIDFLO team (large collaborative study funded by the federal government's Environmental Flows program [NHT]) was to have the opportunity to study major floods down the Diamantina and Cooper this year. Drawing on the knowledge of many pastoralists in the region, Julian and colleague Roger Jaensch have documented over 25 colonies of the large, altricial, colonially nesting waterbird species (pelican, darter, cormorants, ibis, spoonbills, herons and egrets). The largest colony involved at least 70,000 pairs, including 15,000 nests of Nankeen Night Herons alone.
Roger and Julian have found 45 waterbird species breeding in the LEB during the floods this year, including about a dozen species of waterbird not usually found (in any numbers) within the LEB. They estimated 250,000 birds (mainly Hardhead and Coot) to be on one lake from aerial surveys, and the total number of waterbirds in their study region extrapolated from the aerial surveys is in the several millions.
As the floods recede and the wetlands dry out over the next year or two, most of these birds will be forced out of the region, and many will die. The wetlands of northern, eastern and southwestern Australia provide vital habitat in the dry times. Julian emphasised that because many of these species use Australian wetland habitats at the continental scale, society will have to manage wetlands correctly around Australia to ensure there are sufficient numbers of inland waterbirds when the next major inland flood occurs. There is ever-increasing pressure on these wetlands in more humid parts of the country, and with the Murray-Darling system only likely to continue to deteriorate, the wetlands of the LEB are assuming greater significance.
Julian Reid
Editor: For further information, visit the URL http://www.lakeeyrebasin.org.au/
Peter Fullagar launched the evening's program with a talk on the larger members of the Rallidae Family that includes the rails, coots, and gallinules. His presentation focussed primarily on the Buff-banded Rail, but also included the similarities between several other members of this cosmopolitan family. He compared the Eurasian Coot to the American Coot and the European Moorhen's likeness to the Dusky Moorhen. Also included were photos of New Zealand's Takahe, the flightless Tasmanian Native Hens, and the wood hens from Lord Howe Island.
Contrary to current records, Peter suspects the Buff-banded Rail is a year round resident of the Canberra region as the bird is difficult to observe, but if seen the bird's striped head pattern is distinctive.
The keynote speaker for the evening was Darren Evans, currently undertaking his thesis at the University of Canberra. His presentation was "Exotic woody shrubs in Canberra woodlands-just weeds, or is there more?" Darren's focus is on the Yellow Box (Eucalyptus melliodora) woodlands in Canberra. His field sites were at the fringes of Mt. Majura and Mt. Ainslie and the Red Hill Nature Park. The exotics covered in his study are cotoneaster, privet, briar rose, pyracantha, and blackberry (all with bird dispersed seeds). The talk was particularly pertinent for several reasons. Over 500,000 km2 of woodlands have been cleared in Australia. One quarter of the woodland birds are in decline and 25 species are threatened. Yellow Box woodlands are protected by the Conservation Act. A previous study utilising boneseed showed no real evidence that an exotic shrub greatly influenced the birdlife. Weeding programs are being conducted in an attempt to reduce exotic shrub populations in the nature parks around Canberra.
Darren's data show a positive correlation between increasing exotic woody cover and a mean yearly abundance in many common woodland birds. There is also an increase in bird populations during the seasonal fruit bearing periods. Another impact is shelter for birds from predators.
Removing woodland exotics may be difficult on the long term as extensive seed populations still exist in the populated areas surrounding the woodlands under test. The possibility the removal of exotic shrubs populations causing an increase in predation is a threat. A lively discussion followed Darren's talk indicating the interest shown in the subject.
Charles Buer
Geoffrey Dabb led off the evening's program with "On the Road past Trundle and the Blue-billed Duck". Geoff's talk was a lighthearted look at the Easter COG fieldtrip near Tullamore, featuring some of the birds, distinctive features (COG long-drop loo), and participants (see the June Gang-gang for the trip report). The second part of his presentation featured the distinguishing characteristics of the Blue-billed Duck. Geoff presented pictures of its worldwide relatives and several photographs taken at the Fyshwick Sewage Ponds of the birds that have been frequenting the area. Also included was a trivia question regarding the similarity of about 50 species of Australian birds that is not shared by the rest of the species.
Our main speaker for the evening was Dr. Dominique Homberger, a visiting fellow at the ANW Museum at CSIRO, Gungahlin. Dominique is a comparative anatomist with a passion for parrots and is currently on sabbatical from Louisiana State Uni-versity in the USA. She completed her doctorate in Switzerland studying parrots from around the world, but which were kept in captivity. Her subjects were examples from all the parrot families except the black-cockatoo, which proved impossible to acquire due to Australian export restrictions on live birds. Of the species she studied, all parrots shelled their seed before swallowing except New Guinea's Pesquet's Parrot.
Parrots have a specialised bill for seed shelling, including a notch in the upper mandible plus a roughened surface at the tip to keep the seed from slipping as the hull is cracked loose. Usually this feat is accomplished without the use of the parrot's foot. Parrots can also rotate their lower mandible side-to-side, providing considerable dexterity in seed eating. No other bird has this ability.
When Dominique finally managed to visit Australia and see Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos in nature and as study skins, she discovered large differences in bills existed between these parrots and the ones she had studied for her dissertation. This realisation has led to a desire to answer more questions about the species.
Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos are divided into five subspecies, which inhabit a large portion of Australia in separate populations. The nominate species Calyptorhynchus banksii banksii occupies NE Australia along the coast from NE NSW to NE Qld. C.b. macrorychus inhabits the north and NW parts of Australia, C.b. naso the SW corner of WA, and C.b. samueli, WA's central west and central parts of Australia, across NT and into northern NSW. C.b. graptogyne forms a remnant population in Victoria. The biologically significant different feeding habits and bill shape of these subspecies are where Dominique's interests are now focussed. The C.b. samueli and banksii groups feed on the ground, eating burrs of Tribulus terrestris while the C.b. naso and graptogyne populations feed on gum nuts. The bills of these groups of subspecies differ considerably. Are they classified correctly or have they merely adapted to different foods? It is apparent the C.b. samueli group can change food habits as they have now begun eating junk food, the fruits of White Cedar. Keep your eyes on the feeding habits of these birds. Perhaps we can help with scientific discovery!
Charles Buer
The talk "Regent Honeyeaters: Going, going, gone?" a synopsis of the status of this endangered species, was presented by David Geering. David is the coordinator for the Regent Honeyeater Recovery Effort and oversees research, organises revegetation programs, liases with property owners, and heightens public awareness-all in an attempt to bring this colourful species back from the brink of extinction. Called the Warty-faced Honeyeater in the early 1900's, optimism is difficult faced with the bleak situation for this distinctive species. The Regent Honeyeater (once present from South Australia around the ranges to east central Queensland) is now reduced to three nearly separated populations in SE Australia.
They breed in the Bunderra-Barraba district and the Warrambungles in northern NSW, around Chiltern and Benalla in Victoria, and the most successful population in the Capertee Valley. It is suspected the NE Victoria breeding population has aged to the point of low viability. Once the birds have bred and the young are independent, they disperse to unknown areas. The remaining numbers of the species (estimated around 1000 individuals) is dismal for a bird that was abundant historically.
A show of hands by the audience revealed less than 50% had seen the bird. Scientists are not entirely sure why the species is declining, but habitat loss owing to deforestation is the likely reason. Regent Honeyeaters favour 'key' eucalypts, namely Mugga Ironbark, Yellow Box, and White Box, requiring flowers with profuse honey flows. It also utilises Needle-leaved Mistletoe.
Clearing of woodlands for grazing and other agricultural practices has fragmented the bird's habitat to a level that hinders the bird's movements. Although the future is bleak, no one has given up the battle to save this species. Everyone can do his or her bit to help the Regent Honeyeater by volunteering for the tree-planting excursion to the Capertee Valley.
Charles Buer
Graham Shephenson provided a light talk about a trip several Coggies undertook in March/April to the Broome Bird Observatory in Western Australia. Graham and company drove their 4WD vehicles, but due to a flooded river were several days late in arriving at the Observatory, and thus they were late for their observatory bird course. No matter, they joined in and enjoyed identifying waders. Particularly interesting was the breeding plumage of those waders that were shortly to make their way to Siberia for the breeding season. Graham provided details of the Red Knot and the Great Knot.
The main talk for the evening was by Dr. David Lindenmayer who provided details about an on-going research project covering the impact extensive pine plantations have on birds in the surrounding eucalypt woodland. The survey plots were divided into three types: pine plantation, remnant patches of eucalyptus woodland, and extensive areas of woodland. A total of 192 survey sites were included, comprising 86 remnant sites, 40 pine sites, and the remainder being control sites of large areas of eucalypts.
A meaningful survey over such large numbers of plots requires the services of many volunteers for the sample surveys of each transect. Information was also needed about the vegetation at each site. Particularly important was accounting for the difference in the abilities of each observer. It was determined that even within a group of experienced observers, there was considerable difference in the results observers obtained. It was decided to have each site surveyed by two different observers on the same day.
The results were unpredictable, confound theories of ecology, and are more complex than first thought. Birds do live in the pine trees - particularly Rufous Whistler and Eastern Whipbird. The birds living in pines near eucalyptus were not the same as those that lived deep in pine plantations far from eucalyptus remnants. Nearby eucalypts have an influence on the birds living in the pines. The distribution of the 90 species found in the surveys were influenced by a range of factors, including the height of trees in which to nest, the nest type, the shape of the patch of remnant woodland, vegetation structure, presence or absence of blackberries, and whether they are foragers.
It was determined that different species preferred different remnant sizes of forest. It was not a simple linear relationship between the size of the remnant patch and the number of species in those patches. Some species preferred medium size remnants, and were not located in larger remnants, which is inconsistent with ecological theory.
The application of some of the results determined in Tumut will be applied to the pine plantations being grown at Nanangroe, on former grazing land. What is the best way to grow pines and enable native birds to survive? This is an area that would not have been considered in the past as being suitable for pine plantations. As the pines develop, surveys will be undertaken to determine the influence the growing pines have on the bird populations. Preliminary surveys have shown that the remnant woodland on the former grazing land, although as small as half a hectare, is still a useful refuge for native birds.
Alistair Bestow
Jack Holland selected the Common and Brush Bronzewings (Phaps chalcoptera and P. elegans) as the birds-of-the-month and showed us how to differentiate between them. Both species can be seen in the ACT but, true to its name, the Common is more often recorded. It can be seen in a variety of habitats from the high country to the urban fringes. Being quite common in most of the Canberra Nature Parks it is the species which frequently startles the casual bushwalker or the observant birdwatcher with is sudden rapid flight as it rises from the ground and flies off to safety. The Brush, on the other hand, only occurs in the wet gullies of the ranges, especially in the Cotter catchment, and it is in this area where both two species can occur.
There are four features to rely on for identification purposes; wing bars, throat colour, general colour and size. The Brush has pronounced double wing bars while the Common has only indistinct wing markings, the Brush has a definite and obvious dark spot on its throat, the Common has a pale throat, the Brush is quite a dark brown bird, the Common is pale, and finally, the Brush is the smaller species (but this is not a reliable diagnostic feature).
A big "thank you, Jack" for another of your very enjoyable talks.
***
Sarah Legge, a doctoral candidate at the Australian National University, spoke about her research into the life and death of Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae). Sarah explained that she had started out to study the social structure of Kookaburra groups but had soon realised there was another story within the Kookaburra family which needed to be told.
She has found that within a group, the off-spring from previous broods remain with the parents and that these younger birds assist in the feeding and raising of the following brood. This type of co-operative breeding is common among other species but Kookaburras are different on several fronts - firstly, the most successful breeding outcomes are realised when there are males rather than female birds involved as helpers and unlike all other co-operative breeders, Kookaburras are guilty of siblicide.
Sarah showed some very graphic slides of the nestlings from embryonic stage through to the very cute and recognisable young Kookaburra we all know. Closer examination of these young birds in the nest revealed wounds and bruises that are consistent with battery and biting.
Factors that influence the survival rate among the young are age gap between hatches, sex order in the brood and the size of the chick when hatched. The volume of the egg determines this last one. A healthy, well nourished mother bird may have the vitality to lay a large third egg in a clutch and the hatchling may then survive the rigours of competition from siblings, but if the female is malnourished and has had to work hard to keep herself alive, her third egg may be small. The resultant hatchling is not likely to survive.
Sarah also found that, apart from factors that determine the health of the chick when hatched, a further impediment to survival is the presence of a hook-like appendage on the tip of the bill of each hatchling. The strongest sibling uses this appendage to maim the others in the nest and within a few hours the smallest will generally die. In the majority of nests only one bird will fledge although most clutches contain 3 eggs. Certainly there is a crisis in the Kookaburra cradle!
The amount of aggression will depend on the food supply and this is where Sarah believes that the more males in the family group the higher the survival rate of hatchlings will be. She believes the males are more consistent workers than their female counterparts.
Thank you Sarah for an interesting view of these birds. You have shattered my illusions about the rather docile Kookaburra.
Hazel Wright
Thanks to Denis and Steve Wilson for their excellent presentation on the key features of Brown Goshawk and Collared Sparrowhawk and to Dr Robert Heinsohn for his presentation and slides on the fascinating Eclectus Parrots of the Iron Range.
Dr Robert Heinsohn, from the Division of Botany and Ecology at the Australian National University, informed us of the 5-year study of the behavioural ecology of Eclectus Parrots (Eclectus roratus) which he and Sarah Legge are currently carrying out. These stunning birds are found throughout the Moluccas, Indonesia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands, with a sub-species (E. r. macgillivrayi) in the rain-forested Iron Range of eastern Cape York Peninsula. Rob and Sarah are studying a population in the Iron Range, and have gone to dizzying heights to do so. Nesting hollows are found 20-30 metres up, in parts of trees that are above the canopy in direct sunlight, so serious tree climbing ability with the latest in ropes and safety equipment is a must.
Three major objectives of this research project are being addressed. The first is sexual selection. In the bird world, if there is any sexual dimorphism, the female is usually duller, and she is the one who chooses a male. In this species it is the opposite. For years the green male and the brighter, showier red and blue female were considered separate species. Why is the female the brighter one? Rob and Sarah are trying to find out. They have discovered there is a shortage of good nesting hollows (ones that will not flood in heavy rain, and are safest from predators - mainly scrub or amethystine pythons). Females vigorously defend their nesting hollows from other females, and do not leave them. They are fed and looked after by several males. The red of the female is a strong signal of home ownership.
The second objective is to understand their cooperative breeding in groups up to 10 or 12. Why do some individuals forego their own chance to reproduce and help others instead (only 20% of the females are successful breeders)? Could it be because of the shortage of good nesting hollows? Are the groups closely related - do older siblings help? Molecular biology and DNA fingerprinting should help answer this last question.
The third objective is sex allocation. It appears that females in captivity can determine the sex of their chicks, which implies that sons and daughters have different values. It has been found that female chicks are preferred in poor conditions, perhaps because they are smaller, need less feeding and fledge two weeks earlier than males. The sex of the chick can be determined as soon as the down starts to appear. Females are a much darker grey than the lighter males. The first coloured feathers appear on the head, red in females, green in males, and by the time they fledge they look just like the adults. There must be an advantage in this early, strong signalling - infanticide perhaps?
Thanks, Rob, for a great talk and slide presentation. I'm sure most of us will never realise the first-hand observation of this very beautiful but localised species in such a hard-to-get-at area!
Kay Hahne
With slides and overheads, Steve and Denis Wilson helped us to differentiate between these two similar raptors. Looks easy when everything is listed, but a glimpse at a distance in the wild of only one at a time is a different matter! Especially when the smaller male goshawk can be the same size as the larger female sparrowhawk.
Brown Goshawk Accipiter fasciatus: 40-50 cm
- Heavy, chunky bird with thick legs (think of a rugby fullback)
- Strong hooded effect over eye
- Tail relatively long and rounded at the end
- Toes of even length
- Sits out in an open, high position, waits for rabbit or ground bird and then pounces on prey up to two times its body weight.
- The most evenly spread raptor in the ACT
Collared Sparrowhawk Accipiter cirrhocephalus: 30-40 cm
- Smaller, daintier bird with very slender legs (more like a basketball ace)
- Wide-eyed, startled look
- Tail shorter than goshawk, and square or very slightly forked
- Middle toe much longer than the others
- An agile, light flier, just over the treetops, plucking out small passerines such as sparrows, starlings, and hopefully they are acquiring a taste for Common Mynas!
- Common in the suburbs, not frightened of mixing with people
Kay Hahne
Thanks to Jenny Bounds for telling us more about South Africa and to Ian Fraser for his talk on the evolution and distribution of birds in Australia. A report of the second 1999 COG South African trip appears here and provides a full account of the issues Jenny discussed in her talk. David Pfanner reports on Ian Fraser's talk.
Ian Fraser, well-known local naturalist and tour operator, entertained and informed a capacity crowd on his topic, 'Birds, with a pinch of time'. In his well researched and light-hearted delivery, Ian demonstrated the ways in which a better understanding of time can give us a better understanding of the origins, adaptation, evolution and distribution of birds in Australia.
Using a remarkably effective long piece of string as a prop, Ian showed the tiny portion of time we and the birds occupy since the origin of the earth. The geology and natural history during this time involved dramatic changes in climate and the isolating effects on species of the coming and going of rainforests and drying out of the continent.
Throughout the talk, many examples were offered concerning the effect of time on changes in bird speciation and population distribution. Though there have been many natural changes that have eliminated species in the past, evolution has enabled new species to arise in changed environments. However, we are now destroying species more rapidly than has ever happened before and we must arrest this destruction in order to retain an adequate pool of species from which evolution will be able to continue its work.
All those present on the evening of 9 February were much indebted to Ian for applying his knowledge and good humour to an unusually interesting topic.
David Pfanner
Chris Davey opened proceedings encouraging members to follow his path-finding footsteps in completing the inaugural Australian postgraduate degree on ornithology conducted by Charles Sturt University, Bathurst campus. Chris described the various modules, which comprised both theory and field work projects such as letting sleeping wood ducks lie in the vicinity of the Mitchell Crematorium while documenting their every movement. Chris completed the course over two years but it could be completed in a shorter period. He advised prospective applicants not to be intimidated by academic requirements, noting that the university could be rather more flexible about one's previous qualifications, as entry criteria, than the $600 per module cost of the course.
Jenny Bounds profiled COG's work in monitoring bird populations across six survey areas of threatened grassy woodlands where Blakely's Red Gum and Yellow Box dominate the landscape. Jenny foreshadowed a further four survey areas to come during the course of this year. Designation of these areas as threatened ecosystems by the ACT government had been extremely valuable although listing tended to leave in limbo areas such as the Newline Quarry woodlands and Condor grasslands which were compromised by invasive weed and understorey species. However, endangered birds hungry for flowering blossom and nesting holes could still use such areas. Jenny ended with a short but inspiring political polemic of which any aspiring candidate could have been proud. Jenny reappeared later in the evening to show some pretty pictures of people gazing skyward on the Errinundra Plateau in apparently rare bright sunshine. Somewhere up there in the foliage, Pink Robins gambolled frenetically, we were told, while Crescent Honeyeaters monopolised the resident waratahs. Come to think of it, she also appeared earlier in the evening with pretty pictures of tropical sunsets across languid lagoons. Goodness, she gets about!
Geoff Dabb then recounted life in Madang in a chat with a title - A Night of New Guinea Trivia and a Little Known Australian Bird. The little known Australian bird turned out to be the Singing Starling which was photographed by Geoff in Madang sitting atop the mast of Robinson Crusoe's' raft. The raft had mysteriously beached itself on a neat lawn in front of a Madang resort hotel after Piers Brosnan and a group of Hollywood hangers on had done dreadful things to Daniel Defoe's heroic tale in a place poor old Daniel probably hadn't even heard of. The starling, by the way, subsequently turned up on Boigu Island, which lies a kilometre or two off the coast of PNG in the Torres Strait, but is actually part of Australia. So we colonised it, just as we do the mud, which flows south out of New Guinea's big rivers and continues to build islands like Boigu and Saibai. Geoff noted that the starling had once been very common around Port Moresby but, as a hole nester, was in serious decline as old dead trees were increasingly cleared for firewood.
Doug Laing continued on a Torres Strait theme. If he'd had the foresight to give his talk a catchy title it might have been 'What I Don't Know about the Birds of the Torres Strait'. Recounting a tour of duty in 1988-89, he featured Booby Island, a tiny rock with a lighthouse, about 30 km east of Thursday Island. Once forested, the island was targeted for its guano early in the century, so that now barely a decent tree remains. But that doesn't stop the birds which stop over during migration in their thousands. Many also stopped off along the chain of islands between the two mainlands but others apparently did not or did so infrequently. The Forest Kingfisher, for instance, regularly passed through Booby Island but was rarely seen again before arriving on the New Guinea mainland. It was almost never seen at Booby Island on the southward migration. The Large-tailed Nightjar was, by contrast, never recorded migrating north but arrived by the score heading south. The Satin Flycatcher was, perhaps, the most enigmatic of all, crowding into Booby on migration but never seen by Doug on any of the other islands or in rainforest areas on Cape York. Presumably it makes two big jumps - and doesn't like rainforests! Huge questions - few answers!
Malcolm Fyfe and Nicki Taws outlined Atlas efforts and early results in COG's area of interest. Malcolm was concerned that many less than those initially registered were yet to submit sheets and wondered if accurately locating survey areas was a problem. He was also interested in surveying areas such as stock routes. He urged all of us who have not yet become involved to get going. There were plenty of helpful hands to get the GPS challenged amongst us to get started.
Chris Bellamy extolled the virtues of Blue-faced Honeyeaters, which he characterised as campsite comedians. Or pests, depending on your point of view. I lost my last two teabags to a feral Blue-faced Honeyeater at Hattah Lakes National Park a few years ago. Then it recruited the extended family to raid the sultanas and the unwashed porridge pot! Chris cautioned that the juveniles actually have yellow faces and that they can be confusing. Not really a problem when one of them is up to its eyeballs in your packet of sultanas with its brightly blue-faced parent lovingly looking on!
Phil Gibbons showed us that a bird in the hand is truly worth two in the bush, frightening us with statistics of the numbers of species (at east 60 birds and a host of other cuddlies and not so cuddlies) which depend on tree hollows. About 20 hollows per hectare were available at the turn of the century. That number is now about two per hectare! He also showed how tree hollows in logged areas are very short lived as dead trees simply fall over in fairly short order after an area is logged. Beware, said Phil, of assuming that native is necessarily good. Sure, aggressive nasties like Starlings and Indian Mynahs denied natives tree hollows, but so did aggressive natives like Galahs, which have expanded and expanded like locusts out of the west and fearlessly protect nesting hollows, not just while they nest, but throughout the year. To make matters worse, we don't have birds like woodpeckers to go forth and make more!
Thanks to all speakers for an informative, very entertaining and politically correct evening.
Doug Laing