G’day Geoffrey and all,
Geoffrey, I think you mean Regent Honeyeater,
not parrot, as the species listed under “Endangered” in the EPBC Act.
From the relevant NSW Act the Barking Owl
is also listed – it is also occasionally found in the ACT, while the
Square-tailed Kite has been recorded (unpublished) by several COG members and me
at Lowden Forest Park in Tallaganda
State Forest,
within COG’s AOI. Add to that Blue-billed and Freckled Ducks as well as
the Glossy Black Cockatoo, and I am sure there are others I have forgotten. In
the case of the cockatoo, it seems ludicrous that the birds, which I feel
probably come in from places like the Tinderry Ranges
in NSW, lose their NSW “Vulnerable” status (at present) when they
fly in to the ACT over the border.
There is one species on the ACT list that
I do not believe should be there - the White-winged Triller, as it is an
irruptive species that can turn up here anytime conditions are suitable. If we
are going to include the triller then perhaps we should also list the
Black-eared Cuckoo and White-browed Woodswallow among others. There are far
more deserving species that need to be looked at locally, the Jacky Winter is a
good example as is the Southern Whiteface.
So, just to stir the pot a little and
something that has always been at the back of my mind, I feel that ANY
species listed on the NSW Threatened Species List that occurs in the ACT should
automatically be listed in the ACT. Birds don’t recognise political
boundaries and after-all, the ACT is surrounded by NSW. I doubt if the ACT
Government (of any political persuasion) would have the guts to do this as it could
have dire implications for the housing industry in a lot of the ACT. The
present ACT Government doesn’t even follow its own legislation when it
comes to species like the Regent Honeyeater, Swift Parrot and Superb Parrot,
let alone appear to adhere to the provisions of the EPBC Act – just look
at the shambles going on at present in the new “green” suburb of
Crace, where 80 of the recorded 95 Eucalypt trees in the suburb are to be or have
been removed (they are leaving the Pinus radiata amenity block alongside the
Barton Highway though!!!!!). This area is within known habitat for all three
species. I have my doubts, too about the effectiveness of the Federal EPBC Act.
Then of course there are all the species covered by various international
treaties, e.g. Jamba and Camba, many of which occur in the ACT, but that’s
another story.
I’ll be interested in any comments!
Mark
From:
Geoffrey Dabb [
Sent: Thursday, 30 July 2009 10:06
AM
To:
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds]
Species Profile and Threats Database [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Thank you
Benj. Cool indeed. For busy persons not able to consult this
website, I have extracted the following information. For Commonwealth
purposes, 2 birds that occur in COG’s AOI are listed as
‘Endangered’ (Regent Parrot, Swift Parrot) and 2 as ‘Vulnerable’
(Superb Parrot, Australian Painted Snipe).
I might point out
for the beginner birdwatcher that Commonwealth arrangements are distinct from
those in the ACT. Under ACT legislation one bird is
‘Endangered’ (Regent Honeyeater) and the following birds are
‘Vulnerable’: Hooded Robin, Brown Treecreeper, Painted
Honeyeater, Superb Parrot, Swift Parrot, Varied Sit(t)ella, White-winged
Triller. The list on the ACT website is incomplete as the Little Eagle is
not there and this was declared as ‘Vulnerable’ in March
2008. I understand Jenny Bounds is working for the declaration of the
Glossy Black-Cockatoo.
In the extremely
long list of Threatened Species under NSW legislation the following
‘threatened’ species are of interest from an ACT viewpoint: Powerful
Owl, Turquoise Parrot, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Olive Whistler, Pink Robin,
Speckled Warbler, Diamond Firetail, Gang-gang Cockatoo, Glossy Black-Cockatoo.
With respect to the
ACT list, although it has effect only within the ACT, the relevant committee,
under its published guidelines (2001), has regard to the status of the species
in ‘the ACT and bio-region’. ‘Bio-region’ has no
given definition, but the committee gives as examples of what might be the
bio-region ‘the Australian Alps and South Eastern
Highlands’ as recognised by the Australian National
Conservation Agency. The departmental website says the guidelines are
under review but I am not able to find any published draft of the proposed
revision. I am sure everything is in good hands.
From:
Whitworth, Benjamin - BRS [
Sent: Wednesday, 29 July 2009 6:45
PM
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds] Species
Profile and Threats Database [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
This is pretty cool. I
looked ages ago and forgot about it. Provides a quick overview about Nationally
Threatened and listed species and communities.
http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/sprat.pl
Species Profile and Threats Database
The
database is designed to provide information about species and ecological
communities listed under the Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
It
provides information on what the species looks like, its population and
distribution, habitat, movements, feeding, reproduction and taxonomic comments.
The information has been compiled by summarising information from a range of
sources and contributors. At this stage profiles are not available for all
species and ecological communities, but will be regularly added to the
database.
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