My experiences are similar to John?s and Richard?s with Crested Shrike-tits
being fairly unpredictable in their occurrence. I also agree with Richard
regarding their association with eucalypts with strips of decorticating
bark. Added to that I would offer the suggestion that perhaps large/old
trees are particularly important for this species. Do others agree?
Here in the mountains they are probably most likely to be seen in tall wet
sclerophyll forest, especially the Blue Gum (E. deanei) forests, but I also
see them in much drier habitats on the ridges. One well known location for
them is at Blue Gum Swamp near Winmalee. I used to band there for a while
and I know their bill can do more damage to fingers than just about any
other bird we were likely to catch.
I was very surprised last autumn to see a large flock (numbering in the
dozens, I think) moving through the trees at Glen Alice in the Capertee
Valley. I?ve never seen that many before or since. From now on I will
especially take note of the species of trees I see them in ? it is an
interesting question.
Cheers,
Carol
Carol Probets
Katoomba NSW
Richard Johnson wrote:
An interesting question from John. Like him, I've seen them in a range of
wet
to dry open forest types. If I had to pick a common thread , it would be an
apparent association with eucalypts that have strips of decorticating bark.
For
example, Sydney blue gum E. saligna and blackbutt E. pilularis in wet
sclerophyll/rainforest ecotones in SEQ (was this where you saw your palm
rainforest birds, John?); Qld blue gum E. tereticornis and gum-topped box
E.
moluccana in dry open forest in SEQ; yellow box E. melliodora/white box E.
albens woodland near Stanthorpe, Qld; and powderbark wandoo E. accedens (
think
that's the name) woodland at Dryandra, SW WA.
These enigmatic birds (I never seem to see them twice in the same place!)
can
be located by the noise they make tearing bark off trees, and gums with
peeling
strips seem to be preferred. What are other people's experiences? I am
certainly no expert on shrike-tits and look forward to hearing more.
Richard
John Leonard wrote:
> We've recently had a thread about the status and location of hot-spots
for
> Great-crested Grebe. I wonder if we could turn our minds to Crested
> Shrike-tits?
>
> Reason being that it just occurred to me the other day that CST (or at
> least the se race, I haven't seen it anywhere outside the se) is one of
the
> few birds which I can't really think of the habitat requirements for. I
> seem to have see the sp in every type of wooded habitat from rain-forest
> with palms (se Queensland) to exotic plantings in the ACT. Nor do the
birds
> seem to be very sedentary or predictable in their occurrence. I must see
> them three or four times a year, but hardly ever in the same places, and
> it's always unexpected to find them.
>
> Have other people found this to be the case? What are its habitat
> requirements?
>
> John Leonard
>
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