Over Cup weekend I walked a small part of the Great South West Walk, along
Discovery Bay and round Cape Bridgewater. I was with a group of 11 people.
Walking along the rocky cliff top I heard an unfamiliar bird call ahead and
saw this unusual bird standing right on the edge of the cliff, in an
upright stance, making its call. We all watched fascinated this distinctly
marked and attractive bird. Coming from the UK I recognized the bird as a
type of partridge - the Red-legged Partridge came to mind. Since coming
home and checking various Field Guides and photos on the web, I believe the
bird was a Chukar. Once it became aware of us, it ran off and disappeared
into the sparse vegetation. We continued our walk to camp and several
minutes later came across another bird on the track. This too ran for
cover, but not very far. I got a good look at this bird and the markings
were slightly different, just enough to be reasonably sure that this was a
second bird.
Is it likely that these birds have been released here? Or could they have
flown here? Either way I suppose they are ferals that should be caught and
disposed of. One American website described them as "delectable dining".
Whatever, they were a very interesting sighting for the weekend.
Gina Hopkins
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
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