Con's points are relevant. In regard to the questions I'll just give my take on
it here:
1. "Should COG be prioritising Common Mynas or Noisy Miners for suppression?"
Well really CIMAG is a separate entity from COG, so the question is a little
unfair, although there is a clear connection of survey data flow from one to
the other. If we can get past the similar names and appearances, the two issues
are separate, with separate histories, situations and potential solutions and
problems in those solutions. It is not an alternate scenario (apart from maybe
that the available human effort to pursue the problems is limited).
2 "Is it time for ACT Parks to prioritise prime bird habitats to be protected
from Noisy Miners and to start doing some focussed culling?" Well probably yes.
But how in a place like that? There is some research going on this issue and
this should be allowed to be assessed first. The Miners being natives have
grown with the other species, so it is not a new problem. It appears likely to
be due to the fragmentation that we have created that allows the problem to
become important. I certainly remember populations of Noisy Miners dominating,
more than 40 years ago. In my young days I often went to Blackburn Lake in
Melbourne where Noisy Miners and Bell Miners were both common and tended to
dominate, such that on any visit whilst wandering through, both species would
be recorded. Over a period of years the two species would regularly swap over
sections of the reserve to dominate, even though they rarely occurred together.
I don't have written data on this and I don't know if it has been noticed
elsewhere.
Philip
-----Original Message-----
From: Con Boekel
Sent: Tuesday, 20 October 2015 9:13 AM
To: canberrabirds chatline
Subject: On major mynah and miner matters
My experience is that where you get Common Mynas you still get other
birds, but that as Noisy Miners move in other birds move out, and that
where Noisy Miners dominate you don't get other birds at all.
This personal experience reflects general realities which are
well-documented in the literature.
Reading Tim Low's 'The Origin of Song' there was an ominous snippet that
Noisy Miners are now moving into, and dominating, non-eucalypt habitats.
Tim's comment that they were like humans was not a comfort.
I recently spent a few days in Narawallee on the coast near Nowra were I
was able to spend considerable time in Garrad Reserve (highly
recommended for birdoes, by the way). On the way back we had breakfast,
al fresco, at Milton. Both are Noisy Miner free. It was so refreshing to
see so many native species and so many of each species. Even the
cheeping of House Sparrows, nesting in the Milton built environment,
felt sort of good!
I recently spent a few days in Campbell Park. The area around the
Horse Gate with its mature Yellow Box, numerous hollows, good mistletoe
loads and numerous wild cherries is one of the best spots for observing
Box Woodland avifauna in the ACT. It is used for the annual COG nest
outing for this reason. Campbell Park is also a hotspot for
ornithological research including, currently, research into cuckoo
parasitism of Yellow-rumped Thornbills, and the social behaviour of
White-winged Choughs, both in the context of the theory of evolution.
The mess of Miners based near the car park are expanding north and have
reached the edge of the Horse Gate area. Miners are now chasing birds
from, for example, the vicinity of the Owlet Nightjar Tree. In the Horse
Gate area I saw Miners harassing the White-throated Gerygones, Dusky
Woodswallows and White-winged Trillers. Within days the Dusky
Woodswallows had reduced from around a dozen arrivals to perhaps two
pairs, one each hanging on just north and just south of the Horse Gate.
I am not sure what the situation is now. I counted 9 male Trillers on
their arrival. They were staking out their song territories, mostly
south of the Horse Gate, and it will be interesting to see whether they
can hang on for another season. The area where White-browed Woodswallows
bred last year is now more or less the border marches of the Empire of
Noisy Miners.
Tree death, often associated with masssive loads of insects/lerps,
possibly associated with our avian lerps farmers, is depriving the Box
Woodland birds of habitat in Campbell Park at a rapid rate.
Based on current trends of Noisy Miner expansion within Campbell Park
the Horse Gate Box Woodland Avifauna will be gone within a couple of
years. There will be Noisy Miners and nothing else.
Noting that Noisy Miners have been listed as a national threatening
process, my open questions are these:
1. Should COG be prioritising Common Mynas or Noisy Miners for suppression?
2. Is it time for ACT Parks to prioritise prime bird habitats to be
protected from Noisy Miners and to start doing some focussed culling?
regards
Con
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