Bird Monitoring – Winter 2013 Update
Posted on 18 September, 2013 by Connecting Country
Connecting Country’s bird monitoring program continued during winter 2013. Landholders from across the region allowed bird-specialists Chris and Kerryn to undertake surveys on their properties within areas of intact woodland, in grassy agricultural paddocks and in areas being actively restored (e.g. sites with new plantings, direct seeding or natural regeneration). Fifty sites of 2 hectares were visited twice for 20 minutes each time; once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
The attached list displays the 77 bird species that were recorded from the transects during Winter 2013, plus another 19 species recorded nearby (click here).
Some of the highlights include:
* A single Banded Lapwing seen in a paddock near Bradford
* A pair of Tawny Frogmouth on Mount Tarrengower
* Little Corellas near Ravenswood (NB: the typical local species is the Long-billed Corella).
* Small numbers of threatened or declining woodland birds such as Hooded Robin, Speckled Warbler, Diamond Firetail, Crested Bellbird and Painted Button-quail.
The comparison between the different types of sites also provided interesting insights. For example:
* The White-throated Treecreeper, Eastern Yellow Robin, Fuscous Honeyeater and Yellow-tufted Honeyeater were commonly recorded in ‘intact’ habitats, but almost not at all elsewhere.
* Many small insectivorous birds were most commonly recorded in the ‘restoration’ habitats, particularly the thornbills, Superb Fairy-wren and Silvereye.
* Agricultural grasslands had fewer bird species seen, although there were some specialists in this area, particular Australasian Pipits, Welcome Swallows and Flame Robins.
Thank you to all of the landholders who allowed us to continue our bird surveys on their property. Now looking forward to the Spring bird surveys, which will commence in early October.
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