White-throated Needletail (Hirundapus caudacutus) Report for
2013/14 Season.
Again your records for the past season indicate that the extremes of
weather did correlate with unusual swift behaviour. Needletails
delayed their arrival to much of Victoria apparently remembering the
extreme heat and dry of the previous season. They were very scarce
over the forests where I usually find them.
I received almost 300 reports after distributing last years report,
so this year I sent out a reminder and have received hundreds of
extra sightings again. As a result the 2,393 reported sightings are
418 more than finally received last season. Thank you very much for
this extra effort.
It appears some birds over-wintered last year. Luke Jackson saw lots
(I wish he had defined how many he calls lots, so his observation
would be useful in the study of the decline of this species) in Qld
on 10.6.2013. Then single birds were seen on 3.8.2013 in NSW by Peter
Struik & Toni Marsh, and in Qld by Andy Jensen. The first probable
migrants were 17 birds seen at Bowra Qld, 16.9.2013.
The first report from NSW was of 20 birds at Sawtell seen by Michael
Cheers on 3.10.2013. The first seen in Victoria is usually on
Melbourne Cup Weekend in East Gippsland, but this year we did not see
any there on that long weekend. The first were 2 birds seen by Nicole
Spillane & Paul Jacobson at Croajingolong N.P. on 6th Nov. The first
reported sighting for Tasmania was on 17 January when Dion Hobcroft
saw a single bird at Black River Picnic Area. The first sighting
from South Aus. was made by Terry Dennis at Lyndoch North 13th Feb.
There were 2 (0 last year) reports from the NT this season. There
were no records from WA (1 last year), 3 (3) records from SA, 25 (39)
from ACT, 23 (11) from TAS, 716 (426) from Qld, 343 (327) from Vic,
& 1233 (902) from NSW.
With needletails again clumping more than is usual in NSW & Qld five
flocks of 2,000 birds or more were recorded compared to last years
three, and the previous years one. There were nine sightings of a
thousand or more birds.
The average flock size this season was 41 the same as last year.
This compares with 40 for the previous year & 44 for the year before
that. All figures are lower than the mean of 52 for the last
decade. So not even the clumping caused by the extrememly hot dry
weather in southern and central Australia, was able to raise the mean
flock size by more than one.
Two weeks ago I returned the final proof-sheets of a paper on the
decline of this species. It is soon to be published in Australian
Field Ornithology so if you are interested to see more of what we
have learnt from your collective observations, check this paper out.
This past season the clumping also evidenced itself in Victoria. For
three days running Paul Jones had a flock of 3,000 Needletails
around the Mt St Leonard Fire Tower, while the rest of us had almost
no birds in the rest of Victoria. It is almost as if many of those
that wanted to brave the dryness and heat of Vic decided to follow
some experienced birds to known and proven feeding areas,that are
worth visiting in drought conditions. The birds were so thick around
the tower that it was difficult to estimate their numbers, so Paul
took five or six zoom photos and we worked out that with 98 to 104
birds in each zoom photo and 30 fields around the tower that 3,000
birds was a good estimate.
OK so who reported the most Needletail sightings this season? If you
live in a city most of your sightings are going to come while
driving, away from home. If you live in the forest, you will see
them more often around home. If you live in the forest and
deliberately go outside throughout the day to look for Needletails,
then you will see lots more. That’s where Irene lives and that is
what she does. So once again the top recorder for the season was
Irene Allan, making 165 sightings. Irene has made an important
contribution to understanding the birds behaviour and numbers. If
you reported just one sighting however, that is also an important
contribution, as 196 of this seasons sightings were lone reports
from faithful reporters. That is a significant proportion of the
seasons sightings. So please keep them coming. Phil Murray reported
78 flocks, Andy Jensen 77, David Charley 58, Paul Jones 56, Len &
Jacquie Axen 48, Tim Morris 47, Ross Smith 41, Bas Hensen 40, Julie
Sarna 38, Mike Tarburton 33, Peter Alexander 32, Jenny Stiles 29,
Kaye Pointer 28, Liz Hawkins 28, Alan Morris 27, & Ben Lawson 26. If
you want to see who reported less than 25 flocks, you can see that in
the following list.
Thanks again to all those who have taken the trouble to send me your
sightings. It does not matter whether you sent in 1 report or more
than 100, they are all useful in helping determine the WTNT
population status and defining other aspects of their behaviour.
Remember to check out the big Picture in the next issue of Australian
Field Ornithology. A big than you is due to local bird club officals
who have forwarded sightings from their members – very much appreciated.
Thank you & happy swift watching in the coming season.
Mike Tarburton
I thank all these contributors:
ABBOTTS, Susan (1), ADAMS, D. (3), ADAMS, Jack (4), ALCORN, Richard &
Margaret (1), ALLAN, Robert (1), ALLSOP, John. (14), ANDERSON, Craig
(6), ANDERSON, David. (2), ANTRAM, Frank, (2), Ap-THOMAS, David (1),
APPLEBY, George (4), ARMSTRONG, Chris (2), ASHBY, Richard (1),
ASHTON, Tony (1), ATTEWELL, Chris, (1), ATZENI, Mick (1), AYRE, Gavin
(1), BAILEY, Ian (1), BAKER, George & Teresa (1), BAKER Tony (2),
BARBER, Daphne (2), BARNES, Chris (11), BARRAND, Peter (13), BARRETT,
Jo. (1), BARTRAM, Kevin (1), BARWELL, Graham (2), BAUMANN, Matt.
(1), BAWDEN, Tim (3), BEAVIS, Sarah (19), BECKER, Freddie (1),
BECKER, Ron (3), BELLING, Neil (3), BENDING, Brian. (1), BENNETT,
Mark (3), BENSON, Alan (5), BERGMARK, Joshua (2), BERRY, Steve (1),
BERZINS, Leo (2), BIELEWICZ, Julian & Fay (2), BISCHOFF, Tony (3),
BISHOP, David (2), BLAKE, Iain (1), BOARDMAN, Alan (2), BOEKEL, Con
(1), BOND, Emma (1), BOOTH, Peter (1), BOYD, Brendan (1), BOYD, Glen
(1), BRADWORTH, Nick (1), BRAGGE, Katrina (1), BRAITHWAITE, David
(1), BRANDIS, Christopher (2), BRANDWOOD, Keith (4), BRECKENRIDGE,
Max (5), BRISIE, Grant (2), BRITTON, Hazel (1), BROOK, Philip (3),
BROOKING, Stephen (3), BROOKS, Paul (6), BROSIE, Grant (4), BRUCE,
Niel (1), BUCKBY, Mark (4), BUGEJA, Vince (12), BURCHER, Paul (2),
BURGOYNE, Robert (2), BURROWS, Todd (21), BUTCHER, Don (1), BUTLER,
Jim (1), BUTTERFIELD, Martin (1), BYSOUTH, Mike (5), CACHARD, Martin
(2), CAMERON, Margaret (2), CANTON, Alexandra (1), CAREW, Arthur &
Denise (3), CARPENTER, Carole (1), CARPENTER, John (4), CARSON, Nick
(8), CHAPLIN, Dominic (1), CHARLESWORTH, Christopher (2), CHEERS,
Michael (1), CHILD, Rob (2), CHRISTIAN Peter & Christine (1).
CLANCY, Greg (18), CLARK, David (2), CLARK, Kathy (1), CLARK, Rae
(5), CLARK, Ray (1), CLARKE, Rohan (4), CLARKE, Thomas (2), CLOGS,
Jan (12), COCKERELL, John (13), COLLETT, J & P (6). COOK, Bob (1),
CORDEN, Carl (1), COUSENS, Gary (1), COX, Steven (1), CRAWFORD, Liz
(18), CROSS, Linda (1), CULICAN, Jo & Matt (4), CURRY, Alan (1),
CURSON, Clive (2), D. Christine (3), DAHLBERG, Chris (3), DAHLEM,
Michael (5), DALY, Gus (1), DAM, Maria (2), DARTER, Mark (1),
DASHPER, Stuart (1), DAVIDSON, Steven (12), DAVIS, Amy (1), DAWE,
Tony (1), DAY, Nicolas (2), De KLERK, Paddy (1), De ZILVA, Pamela
(1), DENNIS, Terry (1), DESPOT, Peter (3), DOUBIKIN, John & June (1),
DOUGHERTY, Robert (17), DOVE, Charles (1), DRAKE-BROCKMAN, Penny (2),
DRISCOLL, Colin (3), DUFFY, Janine (4), DUTSON, Guy (1), EARL, Hedley
& Irena (1), EASTON, Clive (2), EICHLER, John (1), ELLIOTT, Jon &
Alison (1), ELVISH, Rob (1), EWIN, Peter (20), FARRELLY, Clare (1),
FAWCETT, Adam (7), FENWICK, Earl (1), FERGUSON, Patricia (1), FIELD,
Liz (1), FINLAY, Eric (2), FISHER, Keith & Lindsay (7), FLUMM, Dave
(18), FORD, Trevor (1), FORD, Val (1), FRAZER, Ed (1), FRENCH, John
(1), FRY, Adam (6), FULLER, Mark (1), FULLER, Richard (4), FUNNELL,
Dominic (3), GALLIENNE, Sandra (22), GALLO, Frank (4), GARDNER, Rod
(8), GARLAND, L. (1), GIBSON, Tony (8), GILFEDDER, Mat. (21), GILL,
Norton (3), GILLANDERS, Alan (13), GILLER, Roger (1), GILLESPIE,
Judith (1), GILMOUR, Phil. (21), GOODYEAR, Gavin (15), GORDON, Meg.
(3), GORTA, Simon (20), GOULD, Liz. (1), GRANT, Murray (1), GLYNN,
Will (1), GREGORY, Chris (4), GREGORY, Phil. (1), GRIFFIN, Paul (2),
GROVE, Simon (1), GUPPY, S&M (2), HAASS, Christian (1), HAASS,
Nikolas (2), HALL, Lachlan (3), HAMILTON, Robert (3), HANSBRO, Phil.
(3), HANSEN, Knud. (1), HARMS, Benjamin (7), HARRIS, John (1),
HARTSHORN, Angus (6), HAVENS, Maria Merkling (1), HAYES, Linda (1),
HAYNE, Curtis (11), HEALEY, Chris (13), HEFFERNAN, R. (3), HEMPSTEAD,
Janice (1), HENRY Jennifer (1), HERBERT, Chris (17), HERBERT, Daniel
(1), HETHERINGTON, Scott (1), HINZE, Matt. (1), HOBCROFT, Dion (2),
HOLLANDS, David (2), HORLER, Peter (4), HOSKING, Julee (2), HOWARD,
Peter (1), HUMPHREYS, Keith & Judy (1), HUMPHRIS, Neil (1), HUNT,
Greg (1), HUNT, Steve (5), HUTCHISON, John (1), IMISIDES, Ron (1),
ISLES, Andrew (1), JACKETT, Carla (2), JACKETT, Nigel (1), JACKSON,
Luke (4), JACOBSON, Paul (1), JAENSCH, Roger (1), JAMES, David (1),
JAMES, MAX (1), JAMIESON, Katrina (11), JENKIN, Richard (3), JOHNSON,
Di. (1), JOHNSTONE, Richard (7), JOLLY, Bill (1), JONES, Barbara (3),
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KING, Stuart (2), KIRBY, Neil (3), KNIGHT, Laurie (2), KNOWLES,
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