At 16:11 8/09/98 +1000, Michael Atzeni wrote:
>It also dawned on me that, with Brahminy Kite now recorded, all the endemic
>species of eagles, hawks and falcons have now been seen in the Lockyer
>Valley, located between Toowoomba and Brisbane. All the owls (excluding
>Rufous and Lesser Sooty) have also been recorded.
>
>Can any other area of Australia boast a similar raptor list (and a total
>species list of some 300 species to boot)?
Is the Brahminy Kite endemic? Anyway, I would think that Cairns / Atherton
Tableland would go close.
Kununurra in the north of Western Australia has had all the Australian
resident raptors recorded, although I wish I could have found that Red
Goshawk that occasionally frequents the Dunham River and Lake Kununurra :-(
I haven't seen Grey Falcon or Letter-winged Kite there but I know people who
have.
It is a bit short of owls / nightjars with (only?) Southern Boobook,
Barking, Barn, Grass, Rufous, Spotted Nightjar, Australian Owlet-nightjar.
Masked is rumoured to be in the area, but I have yet to meet anyone who
claims to have seen it.
There are 11 species of finch - Zebra, Masked, Double-barred, Long-tailed,
Crimson, Star, Painted, Gouldian, Yellow-rumped Mannikin, Chestnut-breasted
Mannikin, Pictorella Mannikin. Most of them (except Painted) can readily be
found, at least in the late dry season. I consider Kununurra to be the
finch site of Australia.
Parrots, etc are a bit disappointing but even so there are Red-tailed
Black-Cockatoo, Little Corella, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Cockatiel,
Budgerigar, Red-winged Parrot, Northern Rosella, Rainbow Lorikeet, Varied
Lorikeet.
Honeyeaters are also a bit thin, but they include Brown, Rufous-throated,
Grey-fronted, Singing, White-gaped, Yellow-tinted, Blue-faced,
White-throated, Bar-breasted, Black-chinned, Banded, Yellow-throated Miner,
Little & Silver-crowned Friarbird.
The only problem with Kununurra is that it is not close to the major
population centres. If anyone is visiting the Kimberley, then look at my
web pages at http://www.iinet.net.au/~foconnor/sites.htm
____________________________________________________________
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8C Hardy Road PMB 11
Nedlands WA 6009 West Perth WA 6872
Phone +61 8 9386 5694 +61 8 9167 1445
ICQ 14655047 Fax +61 8 9167 1438
Email
Birding WA http://www.iinet.net.au/~foconnor/
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