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while the Square-tailed Kite has been recorded (unpublished) by several COG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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