Maybe my old record was unusual or things have changed for this species, but sorry for repeating. This is a repost of what I put out in April in case people
think this is normally a rare species.
They used to be among the most common winter visitors to my GBS Site in Kambah in the late 1980s & 1990s. Which part inspired the text in The GBS Report (below);
There was about three homes in a row that had flowering eucalypts along the street (Everard & Hiles Place) within my area. These were all removed years ago. I don’t get Fuscous Honeyeaters in my big euc tree (different species). In recent years there has really
only been small numbers and quite possibly not even present most years (though they are easy to miss unless congregating).
Fuscous Honeyeater
Lichenostomus fuscus
This is one of the less visually conspicuous honeyeaters. At times a group may occupy an area for several
weeks during winter and become the most obvious bird around. Small groups of this species sometimes join
the other honeyeaters in their April migration. This species shows a typical altitudinal migrant’s pattern, it is
almost absent from October to March, rises through April and May to a peak in June then declines through
July to September. It is probably because of these variable congregations that the abundance and number of
sites at which it is recorded (i.e. records) fluctuates dramatically from year to year. The abundance in 1982
was approximately triple the average of all other years, including up to 100 birds at Site 18.
The absence of nesting records is notable. The only GBS breeding record is one observation of two
dependent young in May in Year 21 at Site 203. This could have been from a nesting far away.
Graphs on page: 99, Rank: 42, Breeding Rank: 86, A = 0.15895, F = 37.07%, W = 26.8, R = 5.124%,
G = 3.10.
Philip
From: John Brannan [
Sent: Thursday, 16 July, 2020 9:23 AM
To: Con Boekel
Cc: canberrabirds chatline
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Unusual aggregation of Red Wattlebird and unusual Fuscous Honeyeater record both from Black Mountain Nature Reserve
I’ve observed a group of 4 or 5 Fuscous Honeyeaters at the Pinnacle on several occasions over the last month or so, which is also unusual in my experience. They’re often in company with a couple of Yellow-faced HEs, several Red Wattlebirds
and occasionally Rainbow Lorikeets and are being attracted by flowering eucalypts (Red Stringybark, among others).
John
On 15 Jul 2020, at 3:31 pm, wrote:
This morning there was a flock of 36 Red Wattlebird in Black Mountain Nature Reserve. They were most likely feeding
on a leaf-caterpillar infestation in the canopy. The location was the saddle between Black Mountain and Little Black Mountain.
Later, near Caswell Drive, there was a mixed flock of honeyeaters. These included a very unusual record for Black Mountain Nature Reserve - 6 Fuscous Honeyeater.
regards
Con Boekel
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