Gday Birding-aussers.
I find this topic quite interesting, Around my
way (Sydney's Northern Beaches) there is no shortage of S F-w's despite
urbanisation. My local observations indicate S F-w's like feeding in fringe
areas. Providing there is dense cover to retreat to they will happily feed on
lawns, playing fields, mud, floating weed, road verges etc. I have seen them
utilising 4 of the above 5 at Warriewood Wetland. We have created
habitats they like.
On the other hand around my way Variagated
Fairy-wrens seldom feed out of cover. At Warriewood Wetland they feed in rank
grass and reeds, sometimes up into the Swamp Mahoganies but never into the
upper foliage where I have seen Superbs. I was amazed the first time I saw
movement in the top of a mahogany, put my bins on it and saw a S F-w. There
was a whole family up there.
Bruce Cox.
Where is the actual numerical evidence from
continuous, long-running bird population surveys, with a consistent survey
method, that Superb Fairy-wrens and various other species are declining in
urban areas? I searched for such evidence of surveys when I prepared the
report on COG's GBS. The Atlases report on recording rate but that is of
limited use and there is a big gap in years between the two and two different
data collection method sets. There are various other limited bits of
publications but nothing continuous over a whole bird community over many
years in Australia. The only reference I know is the full analysis of Canberra
Ornithologists Group's (COG) Garden Bird Survey (GBS). This is in my 130 page
book "Canberra Birds: A Report on the first 21 years of the Garden Bird
Survey" (and the earlier 18 year edition). This describes population
trends of all our birds by month and year from July 1981 to June 2002 and is
also intended as a fitting
tribute to all those who have contributed to the survey over that time. Sure
Canberra is only one small area and may be a special case but at least we have
data. Another reason for publishing the book was to promote the GBS method to
other bird groups around Australia and beyond. It is also a fun
survey.
For what is it worth, it documents the steady and
dramatic increase in abundance of the Superb Fairy-wren and White-browed
Scrubwren and various other species over that time. For those two species it
is surely the increase in available habitat that has helped them. Of course
others have declined and others are stable or fluctuating.
Philip
