canberrabirds

Birds hawking for insects (including Siver Gulls) [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

To: Susan Robertson <>
Subject: Birds hawking for insects (including Siver Gulls) [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
From: "Baird, Ian" <>
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2016 23:13:08 +0000

Hi Susan,

Henry Nix drew attention to birds hawking for insects generally in his Canberra Bird Notes (CBN) note: ‘Vertical hawking by both native and introduced birds in Canberra’ in CBN 4:5 p 24 in the January issue of  1979. He suggests, based on his observations, that several  different birds species may have learned the technique in that article.

The note I referred to about Silver Gulls hawking was by myself and Henry in the following CBN issue 4:6 pp.9-12 published in April of the same year, see the direct link to that issue on COG website below:

http://canberrabirds.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/CBN/cbnvol4no6.pdf

I think I misdescribed the prey at least some gulls were catching in the 1979 article above. Upon reflection.  I now think the beetle prey was probably of the Porrostoma genus I mentioned in my recent email. In that beetle species the elytra (wing cases) themselves are coloured orange, not the body.

 

Ian Baird  | Senior Policy  Officer

Phone: +61 2 6207 2336

Nature Conservation Policy | Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate | ACT Government

Level 1 North, Dame Pattie Menzies House, 16 Challis Street DICKSON | GPO Box 158 CANBERRA ACT 2601 | www.environment.act.gov.au

 

 

 

 

From: Susan Robertson [
Sent: Thursday, 17 November 2016 7:15 AM
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds] More on gulls

 

Thinking about what the gulls were hawking for yesterday, I think that it could have been midges newly hatched from larvae at the bottom of Lake BG.  They were TINY as I couldn’t see them with or without binoculars.  The gulls were hawking from nearly ground level up to 100 metres.  As I saw several gulls flying with their beaks open, perhaps they were scooping the midges out of the air.  That’s my best guess.

Susan Robertson

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This email, and any attachments, may be confidential and also privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender and delete all copies of this transmission along with any attachments immediately. You should not copy or use it for any purpose, nor disclose its contents to any other person.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the Canberra Ornithologists Group mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the list contact David McDonald, list manager, phone (02) 6231 8904 or email . If you can not contact David McDonald e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU