Reporting captive birds at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve

[David Rees <>]

I think that the emus at the Cotter are functionally self-sustaining native wild birds, even if they are descended from captive TBB birds.  Probably occurred naturally in the area in the past, now reintroduced. 

Interesting one are the TBB Magpie geese - while free-flying they don't seem to go anywhere - I would not personally see them as wild birds and would not record them as such.

David

On Fri, Dec 16, 2016 at 6:10 PM, Martin Butterfield <> wrote:

Paul

I have in the past seen an emu near the high point on the Camelback trail.  Still in Tidbinbilla, but I would rate it as a wild - or at least feral -bird, although almost certainly descended from the BBQ-bandits around the visitor centre.  The same probably applies to those seen on Corin Rd and even the gang I saw at Cotter.

I'd suggest that it is probably better with species of mixed provenance to report any that are not actually fenced in and let the analysts sort out how to report them.  

Martin  

Martin Butterfield

http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/

On 16 December 2016 at 16:03, Paul Fennell <> wrote:

Hello to all active bird observers!

I have just had my first look at all the bird data for the COG area of interest for the annual bird report.  It was a big year for birdwatching in this region, with the number of records presented, the numbers of species reported, and the number of observers higher than ever before.  I think the eBird and the smart phone app has changed the face of bird record keeping for quite some time.

The first set of records I looked at was for the Emu, being first bird on my list.

This year there were far too many reports (generally reported on eBird) of captive emus at the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.  I am not exactly sure of what eBird policy is for the reporting of captive species, but I would assume eBird would not countenance the reporting of Flamingos, for example, at the Bronx Zoo. I am also assuming that someone who has a far more intimate knowledge of eBird policy will inform us all on exactly what’s what on this issue.

Basically, COG certainly wants to know about sightings of emus in the wild, even those not far from Tidbinbilla who have most likely escaped. COG is not interested in recording captive birds that are inside Tidbinbilla.

So out of the 29 reports of emu sightings, there were 10 that appeared to be wild birds. This is slightly up on the 7 records for last year.

So I would appeal to all bird observers to report only birds in the wild, not those in captivity.

Warm regards and happy (wild) birding.

Paul


Paul Fennell
Editor, COG Annual Bird Report
0407105460




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