That these atlas results indicate bad news for many spp is no surprise,
indeed the surprise is that there are many spp that have apparently
increased in abundance.
Now while I can accept that certain native spp have increased in recent
years: eg Crested Pigeons, Yellow-rumped Thornbills, Noisy Miners, Galahs
&c, I fail to understand how certain spp on the list have increased. How on
earth can Brown Gerygones be more numerous now than they were 20 years ago,
when it must be case that their habitat has decreased in acreage in that
period? I could query a number of other spp on the list we got the other day
for the same reasons.
My explanation of the Brown Gerygone result, and similar ones, would be that
the average competence of observers has increased over the last 20 years
(and we have much better field guides). Now those 'Small Brown Jobs' are not
nearly so challenging.
My worry about presented so many spp as having increased when this
qualification might apply, apart from being a natural pessimist and being
suspicious of any environmental 'good news', is that the finding might be
reported by the media in terms of 'On balance survey shows birds have
increased', or something equally misleading.
Any thoughts?
John Leonard
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