Alan
Thank you for enlightening and intriguing me. My previous Drongo sightings
have always been Spring or Autumn, my assumption being that they were a
summer migrant. I am now bemused. My primary source of information,
Morcombe, would have us believe the status of the Drongo to be "in SE, a
summer migrant from Cape York; in NE Aust., a summer migrant from NG".
Clear enough. The southernmost wintering population fly furthest south, the
northernmost population stay further north. Very sensible. Although certain
other birds do it differently ie furthest north population travel furthest
south.
However further investigation in Pizzey, Knight reveals a different story:
"In NSW s. to c. Macksville, it is a summer breeding migrant, arriving
Sept-Oct. to breed, many migrating n.through coastal Q in March-April, some
crossing to PNG. S. of Macksville, it is a winter migrant, arriving
c.March - April, departing c. Sept.-Oct."
Unfortunately Pizzey, Knight do not comment on where the winter migrants
move to in summer. Presumably not points further south as this is
essentially a tropical bird. If the two different populations both move
south at different times of year, presumably it is for different reasons.
Did an ancestral population all go together at one time. What happened
next? Has Morcambe got it horribly wrong? Who knows where the wintering
birds go in summer?
Matthew Taylor
+61 (0) 411 244544
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