>
> Further to Russell Woodfords remarks about Bassian Thrush decline in
> the Geelong area west of Melbourne.
more on the disappearance of Bassian Thrush. Back in the 50s as a
schoolgirl with a new copy of Cayley's 'What bird is that?', I
identified Bassian Thrush (then Ground Thrush) at Sorrento.
It was then quite a common bird in the teatree and moonah scrub.
Blackbirds were also present but my own feeling about the BT's decline
since then was that the increasing suburbanization of the area was
responsible. So many permanent residents, so many gardens with watered
lawns and exotic plants, so many roaming cats, and the steady
disappearance of bush and paddocks.
Bassian Thrushes seem very vulnerable to cats. Grey ShrikeThrush seems
to cope a bit better, but it's a long time since I saw a Golden Whistler
there either. Householders who give mince to Kookaburras and Grey
butcherbirds don't help smaller native birds either. And yes, the Common
Mynahs have proliferated too, with the Starlings.
However, in recent winters, odd single Bassian Thrushes have appeared
along the Yarra Valley here in Ivanhoe and Heidelberg, where Banyule
Council's Bushland Crew and local volunteer groups are working hard to
restore habitat and rescue the bush from a pall of exotic weeds.
Anthea Fleming in Melbourne
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