White-winged Choughs near Melbourne

[Dr Richard Nowotny <>]

On a morning walk on Sunday 6 July with members of Birds Australia
VicGroup in the western section of the You Yangs Regional Park (approx 40
mins drive south-east of Melbourne) it was a little disappointing not to
come across the usual small party of White-winged Choughs - particularly
as we had a couple of visitors from California with us, for whom WWC
would be a life bird.
However, after finishing the walk and driving south to the end of the
park and the beginning of the extensive surrounding farmlands a small
party of Choughs in a large field adjoining the park caught our eye and
gave the Americans their life White-winged Chough.  But this group
of about 12 birds was only an outlier of a massive flock of perhaps 150
birds working its way over the field further from us, easily the largest
party of Choughs I have seen (and a very good reason for the apparent
absence of Choughs from their more usual habitat in the park
proper).
I foraged through some of my books to explore the issue of winter flock
size and came up with the following very similar statements:
1.

      

Pizzey &
Knight:  "...in autumn-winter, where food plentiful, up to
100+."
2.

      

The first Atlas
(Blakers et al, 1984):  "Flocks numbering 100 or more,
sometimes reported, are temporary congregations of several
groups."
3.

      

Reader's
Digest:  "In winter, up to 100 or more may gather temporarily
at flushes of food, but they soon disperse and revert to their component
groups."

Interesting.  It suggests that this congregation of approx 150 birds
was a genuinely large one - and this in the midst of open farmland with
only the You Yangs and immediately adjacent woodland as their usual
habitat (assuming that birds had not joined the group from the Brisbane
Ranges or other more far-flung woodlands).  There were many more
birds in this large congregation than I had ever imagined were resident
in the You Yangs.  However, it's not all that surprising that it is
relatively easy to find typical parties of 10-15 choughs in the You Yangs
in spring-summer.
Is this the closest reliable location for WWCs for Melbourne-based
birders?
Richard Nowotny

                
RICHARD NOWOTNY
8 Pier St   Port Melbourne
VIC  AUSTRALIA  3207
(H)  61-3-9645.6870
(M)  0438 224456