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Thanks
for that, it was Martin who provided the hint to convert the file to a form
that I could use. At a quick count my ACT list is at 223, although there
are some that I was not sure if I remember right as being ACT obs, rather than
COG AOI, so left them off. However I have added one species that is not on the
list. That is Fischer's Lovebird, a pair some years ago across the road from my
house, being watched greedily by some Pied Currawongs. I don't know why they are
not on the list. I did put in a report. These were certainly not Peach-faced
Lovebirds, that I have also seen in Canberra.
I
wonder why the Spotted Dove, Muscovy Duck and Peafowl are not in the main
list but only on the Supplementary List. They are certainly far more abundant
than are many of the (vagrant) waders (for example) included on the main list
and at least the Spotted Dove and Peafowl are known to be breeding and
permanently present as well. Thus are as deserving as Starling, Myna &
House Sparrow to be on the main list and more so than these many vagrants.
I also
note that some editing needed, with species names (BTNH, gull, tern &
cockatoos and no doubt others) are missing a space to separate from the genus
names.
As for
Geoffrey's question. Well that would be an dubious comparison or at least not
relevant to the ACT. The main thing contributing to this is where people have
been.
A
curious question is what species people have seen both in Australia and the
northern hemisphere, especially if you have had limited time in the northern
hemisphere. My list is just three: Black Swan, Fork-tailed Swift and Tree
Sparrow. But then I have only been outside Australia for 3 weeks.
Philip
There
would be some advantages in keeping a personal list. In a previous message
I said I couldn’t remember seeing a Red-backed kingfisher ‘in the
ACT’. Of course I have. Over a couple of seasons Roger
Curnow drew attention to that breeding pair on Ginninderra Creek -
seen by many observers at the time. The point is, why just write down
birds in the ACT? Why not write down EVERY bird you see?
Some people do, of course, and are no doubt better equipped to speak
with authority on what species are out there – at least where they’ve been
personally. But then, if EVERYONE wrote down EVERY bird they saw and then
it was all put together …. but hang on, isn’t that where the world is
heading anyway? It’s the mammals I feel sorry for.
From: Philip Veerman [
Sent:
Saturday, 12 January 2013 11:07 PM
To: 'COG line'
Subject:
[canberrabirds] Big Year 2012 and counts of ACT
birds
David
McDonald wrote
that Steve Wilson's Annotated Checklist has been at COG's website for
quite a few years - see under 'lists'. But the filename has been changed, thanks
for alerting me to that, it is now http://www.canberrabirds.org.au/CheckList.htm
. and 'A site at which birders who have observed 150 or more wild bird species
in the Australian Capital Territory may have their totals listed.' It also gives
inclusion rules.
To which
I note that file is a pdf. I wonder, or more to the point
request, does this list of bird species exist as an Excel file for
example, so that someone can just have a column for yes and put a 1 in it to
have the system add up the ones. (Computers are good at that). Otherwise someone
needs to manually count, which is hard work. I am sort of curious
what would be on my ACT list, as I have never considered
that.
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