canberrabirds

Cicadabird rarity

To: "'John Leonard'" <>, "'Canberra Birds'" <>
Subject: Cicadabird rarity
From: "Philip Veerman" <>
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2011 14:34:22 +1100
Hello John,

That is a big question. Ecology is the study of how many of what species
live where. I think that every species would have 100 different answers to
that type of question. Migration is a big thing for any animal to do and the
benefits need to outweigh the big costs and risks. Cicadabirds are normally
a forest bird. BFCS are not. We don't have much forest. More to the point,
there is plenty of unsuitable land between the ACT and their normal range.
That provides a significant barrier. Why should they bother to come here? It
is not as if they are abundant anywhere and need to spread out to get away
from others of their species..... I know some do come here. I have seen them
in the Brindabella range.

Philip

-----Original Message-----
From: John Leonard 
Sent: Thursday, 1 December 2011 9:37 AM
To: Canberra Birds
Subject: Cicadbird rarity


Thinking about my long-standing ACT bogey bird, the Cicadbird. Why are they
so rare?

In SE Qld they live in rainforest and whilst not common, you see them
regularly. On the NSW coast I've seen them a few times in schelrophyll. But
they seem very few and far between the ACT.

They don't need hollows for nesting and they eat caterpillars, so why aren't
they as common as BFCS are in woodland?

Is it that ACT forests aren't as caterpillar-ridden as coastal forests?



--
John Leonard

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