Good morning COG/Canberra Birds members and chat line subscribers, a reminder that the monthly COG/Canberra Birds meeting will be held tomorrow evening Wednesday 13 August from
7:30 pm at the Canberra Girls Grammar School.
However, please note that for the third time we will be meeting in the Chapel while the Multi-media Theatre (MMT) is being renovated. The amended map showing the
new arrangements can be accessed through the following link
Canberra Birds monthly meeting location - Canberra Birds.
Everyone is welcome so please come along to hear about some very interesting studies on the Regent Honeyeater and the Superb Fairy-wren.
There will be the usual raffle, and you will also be able to enjoy a cup of tea or coffee after the meeting.
Jack Holland
The August 2025 meeting will be a normal face-to-face one held as usual at the Canberra Girls Grammar School but will again be held in the Chapel where we will be meeting
for the rest of 2025 while the Multi-media Theatre (MMT) is being renovated (see details below).
Billy Bray -
Conserving song culture in the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater
Samuele Ramellini -
Sociality across seasons: drivers and consequences in the Superb Fairy-wren
The Chapel is much easier to find than the MMT. As for previous 2025 meetings entry and exit for the Chapel are from the main gates on Melbourne Ave, which automatically
open and close. The Entry gate will be open, so please drive through and park in the main parking area to your left. Once parked proceed to the Chapel using main path as previously before turning left at the Admin Hub, or use the more direct (but darker)
route keeping the Boarding House to your left – see the amended map to that provided by the Canberra Girls Grammar School which can be can be accessed through the following link
Canberra Birds monthly meeting location - Canberra Birds.
Limited parking will also be available using the Chapel Drive entrance on Gawler Cres and car park, this gate should also be open.
Though it is well lit, as it will be dark before and after the meeting, a torch for finding your way to the Chapel and back to your car is recommended. The Exit gate is on
a sensor pad, so please drive up to the gate and it will open for you.
As COVID is still widespread in the community attendees should heed social distancing and good hygiene practice etc, and use their common sense and stay home if they have
COVID symptoms. Mask wearing is recommended.
The first presentation will be by
Billy Bray, a Ph D student at the Research School of Biology at the ANU, on “Conserving song culture in the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater.”
Like other songbirds, the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater learns its song at a young age through interactions with conspecifics. However, due to severe declines in density
resulting from a population crash over the last half century, young birds often lack crucial interactions with song tutors, causing them to learn abnormal songs which could impede their ability to attract a mate. In an attempt to improve their breeding success
in the wild, the Taronga Conservation Society now tutors their breed-for-release juvenile Regent Honeyeaters with a typical wild song. The release of tutored zoo-bred birds may have the added effect of stabilising the song culture in the wild, a crucial step
towards arresting the catastrophic population declines which have the Regent Honeyeater on course for imminent extinction.
The main presentation will be by
Samuele Ramellini, also a Ph D student at the Research School of Biology at the ANU and a Canberra Birds Conservation Fund grantee, and is entitled “Sociality across seasons: drivers and consequences in the Superb Fairy-wren.”
Seasonal breeders concentrate their breeding efforts in a short life-history stage, during which they can show high territoriality. Conversely, many species become more tolerant
of conspecifics during the non-breeding season and form social groups. Such seasonal differences in behaviours are thought to be a strategy to reduce the costs arising from year-round territoriality. However, it is also possible that sociality can reduce
future reproductive conflict. In this talk, Samuele will present the research he is conducting for his Ph D on the iconic Superb Fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus). This represents an ideal study species as it is a seasonal territorial breeder and during
the non-breeding season it forms a complex multilevel society. Samuele will present the results of some of his Ph D chapters looking at the drivers and consequences of these changes in sociality across seasons.
