Message below asks: Are Noisy Friarbirds known to migrate? Is anyone interested
in the timing of such a thing?
Yes to both. Absolutely they migrate. Although the "New Atlas" doesn't
obviously show that. This is what my book "Canberra Birds: A Report on the
first 21 years of the Garden Bird Survey" says about them. Relevant bits
highlighted in bold. (Is bold permitted to go through the filters?). Though
this is just based on Canberra.
Noisy Friarbird Philemon corniculatus
In its conspicuous size and aggressive dominance of the honeyeater community
this species is the only rival of the Red Wattlebird and when present the two
species display considerable mutual aggression. However the abundance patterns
of the two species are totally different. This species is very consistent each
year in showing the typical double peak of common summer migrants. If there is
a reason why this species migrates, it may relate to the bald head of this
species and the cold Canberra winter. There are very few between May and
August, in some years there are none. Numbers rise rapidly in September to peak
in October, then they dip in November and December as many birds go into nearby
woodland to breed. January to March has a second peak before the birds almost
all depart during April. Abundance was high in Year 1, especially high in Year
2 as with many summer migrants but has declined smoothly since then to a low in
Year 13, then increased slightly again with another small peak in Year 19. It
may relate to changing conditions in northern Australia or the impact of the
increasing population locally of the Red Wattlebird.
This species has the most breeding records by far of any summer migrant.
Breeding frequency was low only in Year 2 (because of drought) and Years 10 to
14. Their nest can be conspicuous and this species can be aggressive, even
attacking people, in defence of their nest. Dependent young are conspicuous by
their calling. Activities at nest commence soon after arrival with some nest
building as early as third week of September but most start later. There are a
few dependent young from the end of October. The majority of records are of
activities at nest before December and dependent young from early January until
late February with just a few in late March.
Graphs on page: 98, Rank: 12, Breeding Rank: 7, Breeding graph on page: 106, A
= 0.97264, F = 94.15%, W = 44.2, R = 39.240%, G = 2.48.
Philip
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