As others have pointed out, in Australia we are fortunate that the
birding community is small enough for this not to be such a big
problem. In fact the use of such devices as tape recorders and spot
lights may help the birds. In that more information becomes known
about distribution, more interest is gained in birdwatching etc. By
enlarge I believe the national parks staff have this well in hand
already particularly in the more sensitive areas.
There is a ban on using tape recorders at Two Peoples Bay, which is
more than reasonable given the confined population and the species
involved. There is a ban on landing on many sensitive Islands such
as Cabbage Tree, Raine Island and parts of the Barrier Reef, Ashmore
Reef, there are strict conditions to visiting Macquarie Island and
many more that involve nesting birds.
The only places that I can think of in Australia that are possibly
over exploited in my opinion include Rufous Scrub-birds at O'Rielly's
SE QLD, Sooty Owls Royal National Park, NSW and a few of the Golden
Bowerbird sites Mt Lewis, NE QLD. How many more are there?
The species that real suffer are not those that may be affected by
tape recorders or spotlights but those affected by disturbance on our
beaches, land clearing, bushfires, clearing of mangroves, filling in
swamps, hunting, collecting, ringing and flagging etc. etc.
Regards
Tony Palliser (.....Sydney, Australia)
Phone.....+61 2 9900 1678 or Home +61 2 9427 7563
Fax.......+61 2 9900 1669
http://www.zip.com.au/~palliser
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