Re: ANU Superbs

[Martin Butterfield <>]

In my blogpost I expressed my initial surprise at the birds feeding on the ground.  That was because in my observations of the birds in Canberra (mainly AIS or Mount Rogers) I had always seen seen them up in the trees (presumably feeding on lerp).  I commented that Forshaw describes them as often feeding on the ground.  

On further thought I recalled that when the species first appeared in Canberra the wider debate included the problems experienced in their core range around Boorowa, of the birds being killed while feeding on grain spilt on the roads by agricultural trucks.  So ground feeding is not at all unusual.  (I would note that, like red-rumps, for such brightly coloured birds they can be well camouflaged if the grass is at all long.)

Martin Butterfield

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

On Fri, 25 Jan 2019 at 13:14, Martin Butterfield <> wrote:

Kevin Windle was king enough to show me the Superb Parrots around the Coombs Building at ANU this morning.  We estimated that we saw 40 birds in our lap of the building, although they were very mobile and not easy to count.  I have put a few photos in a blog post.

Martin Butterfield

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