Swift Parrots & other woodland birds at Chiltern

A productive birding weekend (5-8 August 2005) at Chiltern in north east Victoria.

We had heard various threatened woodland birds were about in the north east of the state, so made a trip up to Chiltern for the Friends of Chiltern Box-Ironbark National Park AGM and a bit of birding as well.

No friarbirds, Diamond Firetails or Regent Honeyeaters to be found and just patchy flowering making for limited honeyeater diversity, however still much to see with a little effort.

Highlights were:

1. Swift Parrot - around a dozen or so birds, mostly as pairs, observed feeding in flowers of Ironbark and gleaning lerps from leaves of Red Box.  Sites were Lancashire Gap Rd., Crusher Rd. entrance.  Had some wonderful extended views of birds feeding upside down in ironbark foliage just above the road.

2. Speckled Warbler - at least 3 birds singing loudly off Rileys Rd in the north of the park

3. Grey-crowned Babbler - several groups found on roadsides of the Indigo Valley and Browns Plains areas north of Chiltern.  Their lovely calls helping us to determine where they were.

4. robins - Eastern Yellow, Scarlet, Flame, Red-capped and Hooded Robins.  Most common were the flocks of Flame Robins moving across closely-grazed paddocks south of Skeleton Track.

5. Southern Boobook - a solitary bird sitting in a hollow entrance off Donchi Hill Rd. being hassled by Fuscous and Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters


All data will be forwarded to the Atlas of Victorian Wildlife and Swift Parrot sightings to the Birds Australia study.

Martin O'Brien
Threatened Species & Communities Section
Department of Sustainability and Environment
2/8 Nicholson St., East Melbourne  3002


Tel: 9637 9869
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