Reporting Koels - why?

["martin butterfield" <>]

Geoffrey

I must disagree with respect to the spoonbills.  People are responding to a request from me, about what I had initially thought was the first breeding event of this species in the ACT.  It turns out to be the second - but there is, as far as I can tell no detail available on the first record, so this event needs to have some detail taken. I will summarise it for CBN, but to summarise more detail is needed.

WRT to Koels, my suspicion is that the entries on the chatline are probably a better indication of the rise and spread of this species across the ACT than either the general records or the GBS.

Martin

On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 8:18 PM, Geoffrey Dabb <> wrote:

Exactly.  But this is an issue with many other species.  At the moment, the spoonbills are equally  over-reported by the 'me-too' school.  The antics of these are definitely of interest, but with such species a summarised series of observations made over time (rather than hour by hour, or even day by day) would be much more useful.

 

To get back to the koels, a recurrent issue (over 2-3 years) is the reason for their increased presence.  My guess is that it is the fruit (see previous messages).  Another possibility is the number of potentially-hosting nesting Red Wattlebirds, as Peter and Anthony have suggested – but surely these have been around for many years.  I do not think we have had a single confirmed breeding event.  Indeed there have been relatively few reports of females, perhaps about 1 in 10 reports.  May I suggest that people be encouraged to report any sign of breeding activity?  It may be (just a guess) that in the absence of such Canberra is an outpost being colonised by young hopefully-breeding ingénues, being driven on by the frantic  breeding activity to our east.  

 

From: Alastair Smith [
Sent: Thursday, 6 November 2008 5:56 PM
To: 'COG List'
Subject: [canberrabirds] Reporting Koels - why?

 

Am I the only person who finds the incessant reporting of Koels on Canberrabirds as incessant as the bird's call? While I respect everyone's right to report sightings and hearings, can we please report what is interesting or different, rather than every time the bird engages in syringeal expansion.

Many thanks

Alastair