birding-aus

Black Swans in the Gulf Country

To: "Birding Aus Messages" <>
Subject: Black Swans in the Gulf Country
From: "Bob Forsyth" <>
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2002 16:49:33 +1000
g'day all,
This morning I was honoured to be asked to answer questions from a class on the local School of the Air.
The students were spread from Brunette Downs in the Territory to 400km south of Mount Isa and up to the Gulf of Carpentaria
A variety of good questions were asked which kept me on my toes.
 
After the session I received a phone call from one father who told me he was seeing Black Swans on his property ( which is near the Gregory River area) for the first time in the 40 years he has been there.
 
They were at what we call a "Turkey's Nest" i.e. an above ground earth water storage.
 
His question was "What do they eat ?"
Rather than guess I said I will mail him.
I will be mailing him stuff from Hanzab and The Food of Australian Birds (Barker/Vestjens)
(I now know ...entirely herbivorous, usually taking leaves and shoots of aquatic plants, in some places subsisting on pasture)
 
But .. afterwoods I wondered "How the Swans took off again ?"
I have only seen them taking off from water. And it has always appeared hard going for them and taken plus 100m
 
When I rang him by phone this afternoon he told me that there were 24 birds,
1 died landing on the roof (8.30am)
2 died of malnutrition (Duck food had no appeal for them)
2 died taking off and getting caught in a fence.
 
Apparently the drought is causing birds to move far afield
I would be pleased to receive observations of --
-- how often they are seen taking off from land ?
-- or feeding on pasture ?
 
Regards,
Bob Forsyth, Mount Isa, NW Queensland.
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