At 06:09 26/10/1999 PDT, you wrote:
>
>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
I'd agree with others that Crested Shrike-tits are unpredictable in appearance
in SEQ. In 9 years of regular 12 km transects in Brisbane Forest park, (W of
Bris)
I've only encountered them a couple of times, associated with eucalypts w.
flaking barks.
On one occasion I had a really close look and noticed the little "tooth" in
their upper mandible, similar to that found in falcons, shrikes and barbets.
Check your field guides - its shown in the better illustrations.
Their generic name Falcunculus can be loosely translated as a little falcon.
[falcula = a small sickle, diminutive of falx = sickle, origin of Falco]
Cheers
Peter
Dr Peter Woodall email =
Division of Vet Pathology & Anatomy
School of Veterinary Science & An. Prod. Phone = +61 7 3365 2300
The University of Queensland Fax = +61 7 3365 1355
Brisbane, Qld, Australia 4072 WWW = http://www.uq.edu.au/~anpwooda
"hamba phezulu" (= "go higher" in isiZulu)
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