Re: Northside Satin Bowerbird

[Julian Robinson <>]

Thanks Philip - as I guessed, common.  I did also see a Red Browed
Finch and got a poor but recognisable photograph, so am encouraged to go
back.  My bird enthusiasm stems partly from the desire to get
interesting photos of birds.  (Some of my photos here

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/ozjulian/sets/72057594048470618/
)

I am interested in your observation often stated on this group that
bowerbirds and others are in the process of moving into the ACT and/or
Canberra.  What is the force behind this?  Why only in the last
few decades does it seem that so many species are spreading so
much?  (Corellas and Crested Pigeons and maybe Superb Parrots are on
my mind).

Second question while I am on a roll, I looked up the birdata

 http://www.birdata.com.au/map_top.html to see if Satin Bowerbirds
were common here, and their map at the highest level of detail available
to me shows several dots meaning sightings.  But this doesn't tell
me how common they are, after all there may have been only 20 birds in
the last 10 years, on the other hand they could be here all the time. Is
there a web resource that tells you how common a wide variety of species
is in a particular area?

Thanks again

Julian


At 01:00 PM 8/05/06, Philip Veerman wrote:

Hi Julian,
The species is sufficiently common in Canberra now (and at this time of year they are increasingly coming into the suburbs) to not particularly expect it to be the same bird. The point is, that it is much more common on the south side of the city than the north side. This is well documented by writings by Jack Holland and by myself. Their abundance is increasing in all areas. The north side is about 10 to 15 years behind the south side though, in terms of the timing of this increase.
 
I had four in my yard at Kambah last week. They do like to stay within cover, as in not out in the open.
 
Philip