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Its great to see people reporting Superb Parrots on
the chatline. Please would people get these records to the COG database,
by competing a data sheet or entering the data direct from COGs website.
We need members help here to try to get a
fuller picture of the use of areas in Canberra by these birds for breeding,
foraging and post breeding, when young birds are brought into the suburbs
eg Belconnen areas. This is really important - we need to know where the
birds are going and what they are doing there, location details and notes
on use of areas for foraging, how many young etc. All this can be provided
on the data sheet.
There has been an expansion of SPs in recent years
into the northern Canberra area and suburbs (from the traditional area around
Hall), and there is an emerging conservation isssue with destruction of many
mature eucalpyts and patches of trees in Gungahlin, especially Harrison, Crace
and other new suburbs to be developed. The ACT Action Plan for SPs, (a
threatened species in ACT, also under Commonwealth
legislation), is out of date, is not achieving the level of
protections needed, and there is dysfunction in the process within the ACT
Government in dealing with the issue of habitat protection for SPs vis a vis
development.
COG has had discussions with ACT Gov officials and
we are about to write to the Environment Minister. Chris Davey and I have
also discussed the situation with Superb Parrot experts, and we are
developing several strategies to respond to the problem. One of the
ideas is to undertake SP monitoring in the next breeding seasons 2009
and 2010 (eg Gungahlin Belconnen, but also other areas such as Molonglo
Valley if we have enough people), to map their habitat use, breeding areas,
foraging habitat areas, corridors used to travel thru suburbs etc and also to
get a better idea of the numbers.
So please support COGs efforts to get more data on
SPs.
cheers
Jenny
Jenny Bounds
ph 02 6288
7802
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