May I, very gently, and without expecting a great deal of interest make a couple of points about the name? This is continuing to be troublesome (more in attachment). It seems that the 1994 proposal for ‘Stone-curlew’
as the group name has not been a success. It is too long and rather awkward and general usage seems to favour ‘Curlew’. Use of the hyphen is also being questioned. These are the possibilities for a new approach: a) adopt ‘Thick-knee’ which is gaining
ground internationally; b) follow the South Australians and lock ‘Stone’ to ‘curlew’ by removing the hyphen; c) accept that people in Australia want to use ‘Curlew’, with or without an adjective, so just ‘Curlew’ or, if two words, ‘Stone Curlew’. It doesn’t
really matter that there is also a ‘Far Eastern Curlew’ - not much of a name either, and one rarely heard spoken in the field. One global list has abandoned any attempt to give English names that indicate relationships. That approach gives rise to too
many inconsistencies.
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Chris Davey via Canberrabirds
Sent: Sunday, March 17, 2024 6:50 PM
To: 'David McDonald (Personal)' <>;
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Bush Stone-Curlew at Wamboin
Hi Lindsay, thank you for that most interesting observation re the Bush Stone –curlew at the CSIRO farm. I am wondering if you could provide further details.
Do you know whether it ever had a mate on the property and if so whether they bred. When to your knowledge did the bird appear or, as so often is the case was it a lone bird living out its life in isolation.
Regards, Chris
From: Canberrabirds
On Behalf Of David McDonald (Personal)
Sent: Sunday, 17 March 2024 6:00 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Bush Stone-Curlew at Wamboin
Thank you Lindsay, that’s fascinating and valuable. It is unfortunate that the 1975 observations do not seem to have been recorded in any of the databases currently available.
Steve Wilson does not mention it in his 1999
Birds of the ACT: two centuries of change, writing, of the Bush/Southern Stone-curlew: ‘… two at O'Connor on 7 August 1970 (Wilson 1970). This was the last published note.’
The Wilson 1970 ref is Wilson SJ 1970, ‘Systematic notes 1 July 1968 to 30 June 1969’,
Canberra Bird Notes, no.7, p. 9, and it reads ‘SOUTHERN STONE-CURLEW Burhinus magnirostris Two near O’Connor on Aug. 7’.
Best wishes - David
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Lindsay & Diana
Sent: Sunday, March 17, 2024 11:38 AM
To:
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Bush Stone-Curlew at Wamboin
I grew up on a farm with curlews aplenty so I am most familiar with them. My reason for writing is to advise that there were curlews on the CSIRO farm at Spence in 1975 well after Mark's sightings.
Cheers
Lindsay Nothrop
On 16/03/2024 4:59 pm, David McDonald (Personal) wrote:
Greetings. Late last week I received a second-hand report of a curlew on what I believe is the largest working farm in Wamboin. I contacted the landowner, who had seen it. He said that he was not previously familiar with the species. However,
when he described it to an experienced birder they said it sounded just like a Bush Stone-Curlew.
He advised that he consulted his Frith and Watts Birds of the high country, and its description of the curlews generally not flying off when approached, but rather walking haughtily (my word, not his!) away, that was just what he
saw.
With his permission I have advised the Mulligans Flat team.
As most would know, they were re-introduced to Mulligans Flat in 2014-2016, a decade ago. While there have been lots of records of the birds from the northern Canberra suburbs, all have been close to Mulligans Flat. There are no Canberra
area records this far away, so far as I can ascertain from the publicly-accessible databases. So the bird could be either a Mulligans Flat bird or one that had arrived from elsewhere in NSW.
A media report states that the most recent record of this species from the greater Canberra region, other than birds from the Mulligans Flat re-introduction population, was Mark Clayton’s in 1970 at O'Connor Ridge. Mark may have further
info to share about that.
For info - David
--
David McDonald
1004 Norton Road, Wamboin NSW 2620, Australia
Mobile: 0416 231 890 | Tel: (02) 6238 3706
E-mail:
