John Leonard wrote:
>In the last couple of years we seem to be getting more and
>more reports of
>Painted Honeyeaters. Is this because:
>
>1. There are more PHs around (numbers increasing)
>2. People are getting better at finding them
>3. Droughts years pushing them further east and south (there
>have been two
>separate reports of them in the ACT in the past 24 hours)
>
>Or is it a combination of the above?
Hi John
I think point (1) is unlikely to be the case. This bird is
intrinsically rare and probably declining (see national bird action plan
for a summary).
Point (2) probably has some merit, though in Spring one would have to be
blind/deaf to overlook displaying Painted Honeyeaters!!!
Point (3) is the winner I guess. The pattern of occurrence of this bird
is confusing to say the least. They occur at various traditional
spring/summer sites inside and outside the Great Divide in southeastern
Australia with great regularity, but then turn up at various peripheral
sites in odd years - often more than once but widely separated by years
or decades. Drought may be the answer, but then a sophisticated
analysis of where the drought is acting on a fine-grained scale would be
necessary to identify its effects. Ultimately they need access to a
decent crop of mistletoe berries (genus Amyema), though they can do the
normal honeyeater things too (blossom, insects).
L.
=================================
Lawrie Conole
Senior Ecologist
Ecology Australia Pty. Ltd.
Flora and Fauna Consultants
88B Station Street
FAIRFIELD VIC 3078 Australia
E-mail:
Internet: http://www.ecologyaustralia.com.au/
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