Paul,
Fair comment. I have not been to WTP for many
years. Although I see banded birds occasionally, the only banded birds that I
remember off the top of my head, that I have ever found in which I could
actually get to see the colours for long enough and clear enough to note them
down have been a W-w Chough in Barton (Canberra) & a Sooty Oystercatcher at
Wollongong. I reported both to ABBS and got a reply from them.
I suggest to you that most bird observers going
to WTP wish to cover as much as possible of the area as easily as possible, as
it is not the world's prettiest environment. They want to see lots of birds
(mainly waterbirds), with always the possibility of something quite unusual.
Brown Falcons are easily found all over the country and are easy to identify at
a distance. So they are not likely to be high priority species for a close look,
for most observers. Therefore people are not so likely to spend time looking
closely at that species in that place, to enable finding colour bands. That does
not deny the validity of your request though. As far as publicising the request,
sadly that is a never-ending task to keep reminding people of what you do. Don't
be discouraged. Look at how much advertising McDonald's do and their food is
still trash.
Philip
-----Original Message----- From:
Paul McDonald <> To:
Simon Mustoe <> Cc:
<> Date:
Friday, 19 April 2002 10:38 Subject: Re: [BIRDING-AUS] Marked
birds - where to send observations?
Hi Simon and other
Birders,
I am a PhD student that is studying the population of Brown
Falcons at the Western Treatment Plant (WTP), Werribee and adjacent
Avalon Airport. As part of this project I have been colour banding
breeding birds and also young for the last 3 seasons. To date, 290 birds
have been banded; from mid-1999 at least 80% of the territory holding
population (35-39 pairs) on the WTP has been colour-banded. Re-sightings
of colour-banded brown falcons can be sent to me at:
Mbl: 0410
679 022
Now, for a bit of a gripe, not personally aimed at Simon but
in frustration at the lack of response I routinely get from these
postings. e.g. Simon's comments:
"It seems that if effort is
going to be put into marking these birds in the first place, then the
proponents should, presumably, be making a concerted effort to advertise
for re-sightings information."
One of the reasons that people
may feel disinclined to continually advertise their projects is a lack
of return for their efforts. I feel that my study highlights this point.
One of the reasons I chose the WTP was for the number of birders moving
through the area routinely, which I expected to equate to lots of
independent colour- band sightings. Despite the large numbers of birds
banded, I have had 4 re-sightings reported from birders over the last 3
years. Considering the number of birders that visit the WTP in a week
and the number of banded birds present, this is an poor
birder:colour- band sighting report ratio.
I don't expect people
to do my job for me, but I expected more interest in the project than
that. Given how pushed for time everyone is nowadays, I can easily see
how people give up. For the people that have reported sightings, I am
very grateful and please keep looking!
I consider that I have
publicised the project widely, putting summaries in birding magazines,
speaking at several birding clubs each year, handing out flyers at all
talks and placing reminders on birding-aus a couple of times a year,
e.g. when young become independent and wander widely. It is particularly
disappointing to hear reports of birders who have been looking at
colour-banded birds, commented on it to WTP staff (who usually pass my
details on), and then never hearing of the details.
In short, to
end my gripe, banding projects are run to answer specific questions.
Many of these questions, e.g. where do the young go, what migration
routes are used etc etc can only be answered through reports of
re-sightings. The more re-sightings, the quicker the question is
answered and the fewer birds need to be banded to answer the question.
Something to keep in mind the next time you see a banded bird,
particularly if you don't agree with the practise of bird banding
(although that's another well covered issue lets not re-visit!). Please,
if you are out birding and see bands on any bird, take the time to
report the sighting. Most banders are only too happy to fill you in on
the info about the bird, project and any other questions people have
(e.g. see my email to Birding-Aus late last year in response to Ian
Montgomery photographing one of my banded birds).
Happy
birding, Paul McDonald
Please report all sightings of colour
banded Brown Falcons: Email: Ph: 03 9742
2902 Mbl: 0410 679
022
*********************************************** Paul
McDonald Division of Botany and Zoology School of Life
Sciences Australian National University Canberra, A.C.T. Australia
0200 Ph: +61 02 6125 2536 Fax: +61 02 6125 5573 Mbl: 0410 679
022
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