Over the last week (from the 15th), our group of 4 birders have managed to see
Red-bellied Pitta (Papuan Pitta) at Iron Range (Rainforest Campground). Have
only seen arboreal birds, I do not think they are nesting in this location yet.
Forest is still dry.
Murray Hunt
Clare Anderson
Sent from my iPhone
> On 21 Dec 2017, at 3:00 am, wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
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> 1. Re: Parrot population data and a question for birding aus
> members (Penny Brockman)
> 2. RE RFI RED-BELLIED PITTA (milton smith)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2017 23:11:18 +1100
> From: Penny Brockman <>
> To:
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Parrot population data and a question for
> birding aus members
> Message-ID: <>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
>
> No doubt I will get shouted down but I think it is a mistake to equate
> Australian bird behaviour with that of northern hemisphere birds.? We
> don't have the long cold dark winters and short days that either force
> many birds to migrate south (with all the risks) or see the winter out
> and likely run short of food and starve or freeze to death.
>
> My London son feeds birds in his garden throughout the year, as my
> family did when I was young. They desparately need this in winter when
> the ground is frozen hard or covered in snow and days dark and short.
> There are now more birds in the middle of British cities than in many
> parts of the countryside where modern farming methods have reduced
> habitat, spread herbicides and pesticides, and cleaned up what were once
> scrubby patches in which the birds bred and foraged.
>
> Our birds function according to our weather which is (to be it mildly)
> unreliable - often extremely wet or extremely dry - and they are
> accordingly opportunistic breeders.? I have at the end of my garden
> currently a pair of Torresian Crows and a pair of Magpie Larks - both
> have just seen off their first season's nestlings, started end October,
> and the crows are now re-building their old nest and the Pee Wees
> already incubating in their old nest.? The local Red Wattlebirds are
> also into their second breeding sessions.
>
> A question I have on the Pee Wees is - they fledged 4 nestlings, No. 1
> and 2 on one day, no. 3 next day and no. 4 on the third day. I observbed
> them usually close together in trees at the end of my garden for 3 days,
> and then they were not seen again and the parents were next rearranging
> the nest.? Had these fledglings been eaten by the crows' two active and
> just weaned youngsters or other predators, or had they already been left
> by their parents to look after themselves? (unlikely according to
> Hanzab.) During this time the young crows and some kookaburras were
> being harassed constantly by Willie Wagtails, Figbirds, the Pee Wees and
> Red Wattlebirds, all breeding in the same patch of trees ? These two
> immature crows have now also vanished, I think driven off by their
> parents as I saw some rather nasty interactions between the adults and
> immatures.
>
> Always fascinating to watch what goes on in a small patch, lots of
> questions unanswered.
>
> Happy birding over Christmas and New Year to all,
>
> and weren't the Aleutian Terns great! - Farquahar Inlet, near Old Bar on
> NSW Mid North-Coast for those who maybe haven't yet heard about them.
>
>
>
> n 19/12/2017 3:31 PM, Martin Butterfield wrote:
>> Taking Sonja's point a step further, another possibility is that a lot of
>> birds die over Winter.
>>
>> When I lived in the Eastern US someone authoritative expressed this in the
>> following terms (not rigorous but I think the concept works) :
>>
>> 1. At the start of a breeding season there are x birds in the US.
>> 2. Each pair of them rears on average 2 young (which is another 'x').
>> 3. Thus at the end of Summer there are 2x birds.
>> 4. However by the start of the next breeding season there are only x
>> birds again.
>> 5. Why isn't the US knee-deep in dead birds?
>>
>> The answer offered to the final question is that a lot of them don't make
>> it across the Gulf of Mexico! The timing of point 3 in Australia would be
>> April-May and the timing of point 4 is pretty much September-October.
>>
>> Martin Butterfield
>> http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/
>>
>>> On 19 December 2017 at 15:15, Sonja Ross <> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Don,
>>>
>>> One reason in Victoria is that September and October tend to be our
>>> wettest months so birders may possibly spend less time out birding. It
>>> could also be that if the birds are breeding in our spring, at least for
>>> part of the time, one of a pair could be sitting one eggs.
>>>
>>> Another could be that April is often Easter when people are often out
>>> camping and birding. Successful breeding would also show up in increased
>>> numbers then before winter.
>>>
>>> Sonja
>>>
>>> On 19 December 2017 at 13:38, Donald G. Kimball <>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Sorry Martin but are you suggesting there should be more parrot sightings
>>>> in Sept/Oct? I thought there were more records and birds present in
>>>> April/May. Perhaps I need to scrutinize my findings more. Thanks for
>>>> your
>>>> imput mate!
>>>>
>>>> Don
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Dec 18, 2017 at 1:37 PM, Martin Butterfield <
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Donald
>>>>>
>>>>> Are you adjusting for the total number of checklists submitted? If
>>>> there
>>>>> are more lists in Apr/May than Sep/Oct one would expect more records of
>>>>> parrots.
>>>>>
>>>>> Martin
>>>>>
>>>>> Martin Butterfield
>>>>> http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/
>>>>>
>>>>> On 19 December 2017 at 07:42, Donald G. Kimball <>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I use E-bird a good deal like many I suspect. I have noticed a
>>>> pattern in
>>>>>> parrot data. I looked at aproximately 30 species of parrots in NSW,
>>>> VIC,
>>>>>> NT and noticed that there are more recordings/sightings for most
>>>> species
>>>>>> in
>>>>>> April/May as opposed to Sept/Oct.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I have my own ideas as to why this is so but would love some input from
>>>>>> local Aussies.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks very much!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Don Kimball
>>>>>> <HR>
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>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2017 08:56:35 +1100
> From: milton smith <>
> To: birding-aus <>
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] RE RFI RED-BELLIED PITTA
> Message-ID:
> <CAJ8vPdyVWPCGZKDi=>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Thank you very much to Marie,Peter ,Dave Rob for your info.
> I can see a bit more planning and preparation required for getting up to
> see this bird . So far the the most valuable bird for me as far as costs
> go at seeing Australian birds is the Black Grasswren, But to Birders "Hang
> the expense" is one of our Mottos I'm sure.
>
>
> Regards
>
> Milton Smith
>
>
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> End of Birding-Aus Digest, Vol 50, Issue 19
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