Good afternoon. I began this little project out of curiosity to see whether the huge numbers of species records we have generated recently could be used to make a comparison of the bird life of Australia’s capital cities. My conclusion
is ‘not really’. This is because the records are gathered in an unstructured way, with no easy way of allowing for variations in recording intensity. However the raw numbers might have some interest. Canberra ranks first or second (rank shown in brackets)
for recording 6 of the species chosen for consideration.
1 Lewin’s Rail (4),
2 Superb Lyrebird (2),
3 Australian Painted-snipe (2),
4 Grey Fantail (1),
5 Red-rumped Parrot (1),
6 Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (1),
7 Crested Pigeon 1980s (4), 2020s (2).
I might mention something I noticed. The big cities are flexing their binoculars. There is a great bias towards large population centres in eBird-style record-gathering. For two species I compared Canberra and Melbourne, each in its way
sending many recorders into the field. I limited the records to those from eBird. For comparison I was going to use the period from 1 Jan 2010, totalling the records for 2010s and 2020s, but I found an interesting difference. Melbourne, with a vastly greater
pool for recruiting recorders, has doubled its records between the two periods while the increase in Canberra’s recording intensity is much more modest. The doubling does not apply to Victoria generally for WWC, haven’t checked further. There is no possibility
that the increases are attributable to more birds having appeared in either place. WWC 2020s map with the square for Melbourne is shown in attachment.
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds
Sent: Tuesday, 30 September 2025 12:22 PM
To: Canberrabirds <>
Subject: [Canberrabirds] On the subject of species records and observers - seventh and last
I must move this along. Here is 7th and final one. Getting easier, perhaps?
Beginning in the late 1970s, this species has achieved a marked increase in its urban populations. This seems to have begun in Adelaide, where the influx was attributed to inland drought. It has adapted to breeding
in suburban gardens, quite noticeably in Canberra. Now, it might be Australia’s most urban native bird species (as measured by numbers in town versus non-town areas).
Seventh species (and last)
1980s map
Adelaide 1462
Brisbane 217
Sydney 96
Canberra 80
Melbourne 22
Darwin 5
Hobart, Perth 0
2020s so far (29/09/25)
Melbourne 34,350
Canberra 33,172
Brisbane 19,840
Sydney 18,048
Adelaide 6,682
Perth 2,149
Darwin 1
Hobart 0
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds
Sent: Tuesday, 30 September 2025 8:44 AM
To: 'Canberrabirds' <>
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] FW: On the subject of species records and observers
Here are two more species. Some would see these as particularly associated with Canberra, where they are able to take advantage of different feeding opportunities.
Fifth species. This is a common one, being noticed recently even by non-bird-people as present in quite large numbers in the suburbs. It is suited also to Melbourne suburbs, less so to those of Sydney except in the west
(Penrith, Camden, just in the 50km).
Canberra 50,580
Melbourne 37,314
Sydney 10,128
Adelaide 4,913
Brisbane 220
Hobart 1
Not in Perth or Darwin
Sixth species. A favourite of some people, often heard in transit. Go to particular places to find it. Doesn’t breed around Canberra, so far as I know. Comparable numbers in Canberra and Melbourne, which have similar
large numbers of active recorders, I would think, area for area.
Canberra 17,174
Melbourne 14,824
Brisbane 7,189
Sydney 4,986
Adelaide 4,034
Hobart 2,595
Not in Perth or Darwin
One more species to come, then answers and conclusions
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds
Sent: Sunday, 28 September 2025 12:46 PM
To: Canberrabirds <>
Subject: [Canberrabirds] FW: On the subject of species records and observers
And now a common widespread species. A comparison of records for different areas indicates, in my view, where you will find the most active recorders as well as giving some information about distribution, and of course
where records can be best captured by a square. A variable polygon of fixed area would be better, but too much work. I believe ALA maps exclude records where there is poor information about location. As Canberra is emerging as the recording capital of Australia,
an attached image shows the process used here.
Fourth species
Canberra 73,886
Melbourne 55,340
Brisbane 49,799
Sydney 28,702
Perth 16,967
Hobart 16,049
Adelaide 10,166
Darwin 56
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds
Sent: Saturday, 27 September 2025 11:53 AM
To: 'Canberrabirds' <>
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] On the subject of species records and observers
As some of you might have feared, I have a couple more Canberra bird species. Same procedure as before. I should mention that Atlas of Living Australia brings together eBird and BirdLife Australia records and those
in first RAOU Atlas and in many older sources. As a guide to distribution, the earlier records are now tending to be overwhelmed by the huge numbers of eBird records, although you can select sources as well as particular decades. I’ve used all sources, all
years.
Second species
Not an urban species. The 50x50km square had to be placed carefully to capture enough records to put Melbourne at top of list. (Compensation for the D’s poor AFL season)
Melbourne 5236
Canberra 4876
Sydney 3698
Hobart 157
Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Darwin all zero.
Third species
Brisbane 407
Canberra 332
Sydney 249
Adelaide 118
Melbourne 79
Perth 16
Darwin 4
Hobart 3
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds
Sent: Friday, 26 September 2025 5:20 PM
To: Canberrabirds <>
Subject: [Canberrabirds] On the subject of species records and observers
Using the Atlas of Living Australia, I made a 50km square for each of the eight State/Territory capitals. Each was positioned to catch most of the available records of this native bird species, while also taking in the
relevant CBD. This was the result –
Brisbane 2203
Melbourne 1226
Sydney 966
Canberra 430
Hobart 154
Adelaide 49
Darwin 4
Perth 1 (museum specimen only)
Hints - As ALA records go, these are low numbers for a species, White-faced Heron for example having over 700,000 records. Most records of this species are near the capitals, presumably indicating acceptable habitat and
following the rule that records generally come from the most convenient places for observers. However, South Australia is an exception because most records (253 in one 50km square) were more than 50 km from Adelaide.
Which species? Please don’t reply to list in case people want to think about it.
