White-eared Honeyeater

["Philip Veerman" <>]

Robin,

 

I assume that by my "Birds of the ACT" book you are referring to the COG ACT Bird Atlas. That combines recording rate data for the whole of the ACT in its monthly graphs. That is very different from abundance trends within Canberra which is sort of what your personal observations relate to. If you look at The GBS Report (pages 31-34) that contains a detailed explanation (and graphs for 12 species over the same three year period) about why some species monthly graphs are very different or almost identical between the two studies and two books. It relates to patterns of migration, habitat use and social behaviour differences between species.

 

Beyond that I'm not quite sure how to interpret that observation. It is now late May, so the peak of the honeyeater migration has passed. The White-eared does behave differently from the others, in that one or two will set up in an area and make themselves conspicuous, not least because their cal is much more far carrying than the others. The White-plumed is not very evenly distributed in Canberra.

 

Philip

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Robin Eckermann [
Sent: Tuesday, 24 May 2011 12:23 PM
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds] White-eared Honey Eater

I note from my
"Birds of the ACT" book that Honeyeaters should be around throughout the year,
but lately I've only been able to spot the White-eared species. The
Yellow-faced, White-plumed and White-naped are all supposed to be more common,
but I've not yet seen them this year in the Mt. Ainslie environs.

 

Regards ... Robin Eckermann