Hi Michael, and birding-aus,
The following is my thoughts on Michael's email.
A couple of questions on their behaviour that that could shed some light on
our local situation and help explain the lack of Toowoomba records in the
past:
Is there any data on how far they roam during the day to feed?
In areas where they turn up each year, is it usually to the same
patch of habitat?
There are no data on how far Swift Parrots go as such, but they usually feed in
an area of about 10-15 hectares from what I have seen. This is a rubbery figure
though, with the birds some times roaming across a much larger area, or in a
stand of just a few trees.
They are creatures of habit to a degree, with Swift Parrots turning up at a
caravan park near Coffs Harbour, and a 90 hectare remnant near West Wyalong in
successive years, suggested they "know" these sites.
The Glen Lomond Park birds seem extremely loyal to one particular patch -
perhaps no more than a 500m x 100m strip along the top of the escarpment.
If that's typical behaviour, and if birders don't visit these areas, then I
can well understand how swifties could be completely overlooked year after
year in patches of habitat they regularly visit, even in well-populated
areas. Also, there's a marked bias to spring/summer birding in the
escarpment parks which is not conducive to finding swifities!
This could well be what has contributed to lack of observations in Toowoomba
in the past and I'd be interested to hear of similar experiences elsewhere.
Swift Parrots can indeed be overlooked easily. Some of the best Swift Parrot
sites in well-populated Victoria were not found until systematic surveys began
in 1995! There is indeed a possibility that these areas in Vic, and possibly
Toowoomba, have been used by Swift Parrots since before the birth of christ.
Until the Swift Parrot tip-off this year, Glen Lomond Park was one of the
least visited parks for birding! Why? I guess the perception has always
been there are better places to bird lower down along the escarpment and
with easier walks, particularly Redwood Park, so Glen Lomond never got
priority. As it turns out, Glen Lomond has proven an exceptional winter
birding area and one that will get lot more attention from now on.
I am sure there will be interest in Glen Lomond from now on. Please don't be
put off if there are no Swifties there in 2001. Swift Parrots will often "skip"
a year, or even two years, only to return to the spot when conditions are again
right. It is important to monitor the sites through the poor years, and these
poor years do occur almost everywhere, including such important sites as
Chiltern in Victoria or Charcoal Tank in NSW.
Eventually some patterns may arise from the seemingly nomadic movements of this
species. In the meantime, we will all have a lot of fun trying to find out what
these are!
Simon Kennedy
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
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