Re: FW: [canberrabirds] White-cheeked x New Holland HE hybrid Narrabundah

[Christine <>]

See attached photos (sorry no clear images of side of head) taken at Jerra wetlands today.

There were plenty of Honeyeaters around today, including several NHH and this White-cheeked HE hybrid.

Is this the same bird seen by Ryu last week? Is this the same hybrid which has been around for a couple of years?

Christine.

On Tue, Jul 24, 2018 at 8:44 AM, Geoffrey Dabb <> wrote:

What an interesting record Ryu.  It could be the bird from JWNR. I have only seen that bird when there was flowering, either euc or shrub (usually grevillea, sometimes callistemon).  Locally the NHH is usually found near Grevillea. I was looking yesterday at JWNR and there is little flowering and only the odd NHH.  It is quite possible the bird has wandered, as it probably has before, in search of food. However over the last 2 seasons breeding activity has been at the same location at JWNR.

It is possible it is a different bird of related origin.  It is not known whether occasional reports of a WCH at ABNG are attributable to the Jerra bird.

I'll take a look at the weekend when the industrious students of Narrabundah College are pursuing their studies at home.  Of course it could turn up anywhere there is suitable flowering.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ryu Callaway <>
Sent: Monday, 23 July 2018 7:02 PM
To: COGChat <m("canberrabirds.org.au","Canberrabirds");">org.au>
Subject: White-cheeked x New Holland HE hybrid Narrabundah

I have just observed what is almost certainly the well-known hybrid from Jerrabomberra Wetlands feeding in a grevillea at Narrabundah College around 4:25pm. Perhaps it has finally decided to move on.
I'd gone to investigate an insistent unfamiliar single-note piping call when I located the bird in a grevillea, and it subsequently did some scolding calls for a while before quieting down. It was there for about 8 minutes (very vocal for the first 3 and possibly before I came outside), moving around and feeding quite a bit but very wary of my presence before I lost it and I was pretty sure it had gone at the end. After it disappeared I tried playing the white-cheeked call but it did not reply or return. The bird had the dark eye and the cheek patch smaller than a white-cheeked but larger and extending further forwards than a new Holland, with the distinctive white upwards flick below the eye like the wetland's bird. It's 2.5kms as the bird flies from its usual haunt - not sure if that would be within its usual daily movement range but as far as I know the first recorded excursion for this bird which has been recorded at Jerra fairly frequently for  almost the past 3 years. I've never seen a New Holland HE at Narrabundah College either.
I would certainly be very interested in further sightings either back at the wetlands or elsewhere. Hopefully this won't be the last we see of this bird, and it isn't on its way to a new home where it may never be found.

Ryu

 

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