Philip
Interesting comments, particularly of historical experiences. One thing
we need to keep in mind is that Noisy Miners are, like all species,
still evolving. One issue would be whether their social adaptations are
evolving extremely quickly.
regards
Con
On 20/10/2015 10:13 AM, Philip Veerman wrote:
> 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: [canberrabirds] 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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