Hello to the birding-aus crew,
Hugo Phillipps wrote:
> The Birds Australia Atlas Project is keen to receive reports of all wild
> birds seen in Australia (even if you think it is likely that they have
> escaped from captivity). It is far better for the Atlas database to be
> inclusive rather than exclusive on this matter; interpretation of the data
> and arguments about exactly what category the birds fall into can come
> later.
>
> Moreover, the Atlas Project wants to do more than this. In order to be
> better able to interpret these records later on, it will be very useful to
> have historic records (that is, earlier than the new Atlas commencement
> date of August 1998) of wild bird populations out of what is considered
> their natural range.
>
> In this way we hope to put together a good picture of when such populations
> of birds became established and their subsequent expansions and/or declines.
Wonderful!! This approach is precisely the sort of thing that Mick Atzeni, Bill
Jolly and I would love to see. While this whole issue may not be the stuff most
subscribers to this list are wildly passionate about, it is an important issue
just the same, particularly if it results in the compilation of accurate
distributional maps for all wild birds in the new Atlas and, subsequently, in
the various field guides. Apologies to the Atlas staff and others at Birds
Australia if all our whinging and wailing has ended up making your lives
miserable down there by creating extra work.
Many thanks to Hugo and Geoff Barrett for taking the time and interest to listen
to our ideas and take them on board.
Cheers,
Ian
--
+----------------------------------------+
Dr Ian Gynther
Senior Conservation Officer
Research Coordination Unit
Planning and Research Division
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
PO Box 155
Brisbane Albert St. QLD 4002
Tel: (07) 3227 7055 Fax: (07) 3227 6386
E-mail:
Visit us online at http://www.env.qld.gov.au
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