canberrabirds

Is this happening elsewhere?

To: "sandra henderson" <>, "Cog line" <>
Subject: Is this happening elsewhere?
From: "Rod's Gardening" <>
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2011 22:53:55 +1000
Below is an extract from a posting I made on the chat line back in 2009 following a trip to the Top End:



"Woolianna on the Daly River - Douglas/Daly area. At sunset, a huge number of Magpie-larks assembled on the powerlines, impossible to count because of the constant movement to and from the adjacent mango trees, but bigger than any similar assembly of Starlings I've ever seen. My gut feeling was in excess of a thousand birds, but no sign of them next morning, at least not those numbers. As we only stayed one night I don't know whether this was a regular occurrence or a one off event. Where from, where to and why?"



I think Sandra's posting almost 2 years down the track probably answers the "why" question I raised at the time: based on the "Birds in Backyard" web page comment they were probably non-breeding and young birds forming a large nomadic flock. We are generally urged to "underestimate" when counting birds, but in retrospect there could easily have been several thousand birds in that flock. It was certainly an unforgettable sight.



Cheers



Rod








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