Bruce was surprised to find Yellow-throated Thornbills foraging in
mangroves.
I lived at Fullerton Cove (a large tidal bay off the Hunter and main
feeding area for shorebirds), just north of Newcastle, for six years. The
house was basically among saltmarsh and just a stones throw (literally)
from the mangroves (mosquito heaven). While the mangroves petered out to
a small sandy beach (a major shorebird roost) near the house the mangrove
forest was up to several hundred metres wide a bit further from the house.
I birded regularly in the more extensive part of the mangrove forest
(actually doing some regular RAOU ABC surveys). While the most common
birds were Yellow Thornbills, Grey Fantails and Mangrove Gerygones, other
commonly reported species (often a long way from the adjacent farmland)
were Superb Fairy-wren, Rufous Whistler, Yellow Robin, Shining
Bronze-cuckoo (obviously very happy with the densities of thornbills and
geygone) and YELLOW-RUMPED THORNBILL. All of these birds were invariably
foraging in the trees - I rarely saw the birds on the mud - I guess most
of these species aren't keen on crab.
Cheers
David
David Geering
Threatened Species Unit
NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service
P.O. Box 2111
Dubbo NSW 2830
Ph: 02 6883 5335 or Freecall 1800 621 056
Fax: 02 6884 9382
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