Help with a Blue Mountains Bird

["Greg and Val Clancy" <>]

I am also confident that it is indeed a female Golden Whistler but when they 
have whitish throats and brown underparts they can look a bit like Olive 
Whistlers.  I suspect that some of the coastal records of the Olive Whistler 
on the NSW North Coast may be misidentified Golden Whistlers.  Olive 
Whistlers are very rare in northern NSW and usually restricted to high 
elevations.  As female Golden Whistlers start to assume male characteristics 
as they age some have quite white throats similar to Olive Whistlers.  The 
bird in the Blue Mountains also seemed to have the yellow under-tail coverts 
typical of Golden Whistlers.  One thing that I have found by banding many 
Golden Whistlers is that females can vary greatly in their plumage 
colouration.  This is due to ageing and also due to the origin of the bird. 
It would appear that birds from Tasmania and Victoria reach northern NSW 
during the winter.
Regards
Greg
Dr Greg. P. Clancy
Ecologist and Birding-wildlife Guide
| PO Box 63 Coutts Crossing NSW 2460
| 02 6649 3153 | 0429 601 960
http://www.gregclancyecologistguide.com
http://gregswildliferamblings.blogspot.com.au/

-----Original Message----- 
From: Carol Probets
Sent: Monday, March 12, 2018 5:59 PM
To: Mike Carter
Cc: 
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Help with a Blue Mountains Bird

Hi Mike and all,

Olive Whistler would be extrememly unusual in the Blue Mountains. For some 
reason there's a gap in its distribution here, despite seemingly suitable 
habitat. I raised this question years ago on Birding-Aus. Apparently there 
WAS a small population of them at Mt Wilson around the turn of the (20th) 
century, but an old-timer told me they were shot out. Blue Mountains Bird 
Observers have no records of them in the past 25 years. Apart from a reputed 
occurrence at Mt Werong there seems to be a gap in their distribution 
between the Watagan Mountains and the Illawarra coast.
Anyway, David's bird looks good for Golden Whistler to me, as I’ve already 
replied privately.
Cheers,

Carol

Carol Probets
Blue Mountains, NSW



> On 12 Mar 2018, at 11:08 am, Mike Carter <> wrote:
>
> I wondered about Olive Whistler.
>
> Mike Carter, 03 5977 1262
> 181/160 Mornington-Tyabb Road
> Mornington, VIC 3931, Australia

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