Martin et al, To the best of my knowledge the nearest population is in the Ingalba Nature Reserve, about 15 km “west” of Temora. One thing that worries me about this bird being a possible Gilbert’s Whistler is Harvey’s description of the bird “moving from tree to tree, branch to branch”, classic Golden Whistler behaviour. This is not Gilbert Whistler behaviour, they are generally a very shy species, moving away quickly from any disturbance and always a hard bird to get good sightings of. We have handled 90 Gilbert’s Whistlers (includes retraps) at The Charcoal Tank Nature Reserve near West Wyalong and a lot more Golden Whistlers. It was always hard to see Gilbert’s but, until they became extinct in the reserve during the last drought, we would regularly hear them. My last encounter with a Gilbert’s was last October in Round Hill NR and as those who were with me will attest, it was a hard bird to get a good look at. What caused the bird to disappear from CT was the death of much of the understorey shrubbery, leaving the reserve very open in places. The bird favours areas of dense, low vegetation. I once had a discussion with a NSW State Forests official as to why Gilbert’s were disappeared from some of their Callitris forests. When he told me that they cleared everything around a selected tree so that it would “grow better” and make a better product, I told him he had answered his own question. I just can’t see a Gilbert’s Whistler crossing so much open country to turn up in the ACT (but see my last comment below). I also looked at the measurements of both whistler species in my CT database. The Gilbert’s is slightly bigger than the Golden but I doubt it would be too obvious in the field. Theoretically Gilbert’s are sedentary species whereas at this time of year Golden are on the move. Our last couple of trips to CT we have seen, and banded, a few Golden which, like here it is generally the normal time we catch them. To me I would still consider it to be a probable aberrant Golden Whistler. One final comment that has always stayed with me – Steve Wilson always said that birds have wings and (generally) can fly! Cheers, Mark From: martin butterfield [
Sent: Monday, 8 April 2013 8:51 AM
To: Harvey Perkins
Cc: milburn; Canberra Birds
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Mulligan's Flat: Gilbert's Whistler & Pied Buthcherbirds Harvey/Milburn How far away is the nearest known site for the Gilbert's Whistler? On 8 April 2013 07:52, Harvey Perkins <> wrote: The location of the unusual whistler at Mulligans Flat was approximately -35.1599 149.1823. On 8 April 2013 07:50, Harvey Perkins <m("gmail.com","hdpphd");" target="_blank">> wrote: There's no doubt it was an intriguing bird and a very difficult and, to me, unresolved identification. My first impression was that it was an adult female Golden Whistler, but as we watched a range of features became apparent that were not typical of Golden Whistler. The notes I wrote up as soon as I got home and before delving into the literature are: "Probably at upper end of size range for a Golden Whistler. Generally “full-bodied” (less slender than a Rufous Whistler). Head and back grey (more slate grey rather than brown-grey), with little/no distinction between head/nape and mantle/back. Paler edging to secondaries, but no hint of rufous. In good light and angle a slight olive wash to outer secondaries. Small white patch/streak over alular area. Throat noticeably pale, but diffusely rather than sharply or strongly demarcated from breast, and with very light grey spotting effect (not noticeably streaks or scallops). Breast light buff but washed darker or with slight pale rufousness on sides, grading to pale buff abdomen and vent. Small well defined patch of grey feathers above thighs (upper tibia), continuing as small light rufous patch extending a little backwards and downwards towards vent. This was very obvious and is not a feature of any Australian whistler. No yellow seen around cloaca. Both upper and lower mandible dark grey, no obvious paler base. Behaviour – moving from tree to tree, branch to branch, looking about – typical whistler behaviour. No vocalisation heard. " The grey and rufous feathering over the tibia was both very obvious and persistent (in that it remained after several flights between branches and trees, so I don't think it was just exposed ruffled feather bases (it had a similar, though reversed, effect to the white patch on the thigh of a breeding plumaged Great Cormorant). And while the bill was stout, I didn't think anything of it at the time and the head and bill overall had a fairly typical Golden Whistler jizz to me. The bird seemed quite unconcerned as we watched it for several minutes from a distance of probably 10-20 metres. To me it was undoubtedly very unusual for a female Golden Whistler, but nor could I convince myself that it was anything else. I've not seen a female Gilbert's Whistler (I have seen a male Gilbert's in the hand), but I feel that the features of the bird we saw would have been just as aberrant for a Gilbert's female as they were for a female Golden; and when you add the distribution aspect... Unfortunately neither of us had a camera with us, but to be frank, I'm not sure how much it would have helped! Harvey On 7 April 2013 22:22, milburn <m("homemail.com.au","milburns");" target="_blank">> wrote: This morning on the northern side of Mulligan's Flat, I heard Pied Butcherbird calling. Following the sound I found 2 adult Pied Butcherbirds that immediately departed the scene in an eastward direction towards the Pipeline Rd. I met Harvey Perkins and while we were walking along the northern boundary track in search of the butcherbirds, we came upon a distinctive female Whistler of unfamiliar appearence.
My first impression was that it might be an Olive Whistler but the back and wings were clearly grey. I had seen maybe a dozen (brown plumage) Golden Whistlers during the morning and even more Rufous Whistlers so I had fresh images of these in mind. To my eye the bird was on the large side for Golden Whistler and small for Olive Whistler. The bill was black and appeared quite stout. I proposed that it was a female Gilbert's Whistler. We watched the bird for several minutes and I paid particular attention to the vent to see if it had the typical yellow spot on the cloaca of Golden Whistler. No yellow was seen.
Obviously, this was a challenging identification problem in its own right and Gilbert's Whistler has not been recorded in the ACT previously. The bird was along the northern boundary track between the pine windbreak and the Pipeline Road. I leave you to draw your own conclusions.
Milburn
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Martin Butterfield |
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