Re: Longevity in birds

Trevor asked about longevity in Magpies.  The Australian Bird Study Association website provides longevity and greatest distance moved by banded birds (http://www.absa.asn.au/recovery.html).  For those interested it's certainly worth a browse.

It gives the longevity record for an Australian Magpie as 23 years 9 months.

Trevor then adds "on average".  This is a very different proposition and a much more difficult question to answer.  Are long-lived birds simply "lucky" and with age comes experience?  Mortality in young birds is high.  I don't have figures in front of me but there would be plenty of published material out there for those wanting to look.  In general, I've heard it said on a number of occasions that the "average" bush bird has another 12 months to live.  This makes no allowance for the age of the bird at that point of time.

Cheers

David Geering
Regent Honeyeater Recovery Coordinator
Department of Environment & Conservation
P.O. Box 2111
Dubbo  NSW  2830
Ph: 02 6883 5335 or Freecall 1800 621 056
Fax: 02 6884 9382



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