Phil Hansbro wrote:
Does anyone know what the population estimates of Song
Thrushes in Australia are?
Hi Phil
I for one would be interested to hear what exactly you are swabbing
Blackbirds and Song Thrush for!
To the question ...
The Song Thrush is pretty much restricted in mainland Australia to the
greater Melbourne and Geelong area in south-central Victoria. At very
much lower density they dribble out into the Otway Ranges to the west
and on to the Gippsland Plain in the east. Records from these
peripheral areas are few (and probably contain some errors for Bassian
Thrush??), and extend very little if at all to the north. Within the
core territory in the suburbs of Melbourne and Geelong, the Song Thrush
is abundant - at some locations more so than the Blackbird.
I don't know of any population estimates for the Song Thrush in
Australia, but my "back of the envelope" calculation suggests it must
be somewhere in the vicinity of 250,000 - 500,000 birds; based on about
2-5 birds per hectare and there being about 130,000ha of suitable
habitat in the Melbourne-Geelong area.
How soon are Song Thrushes going to expand into the countryside like
they've done elsewhere (NZ, etc.)? They've been here a while without
much noticeable expansion on a grand scale; but they are colonising
lots of the newer suburban areas as well as holding on in the
established suburbs.
L.
--
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Lawrie Conole
GradCertOrnith MEIANZ
Principal Zoologist
Ecology Australia Pty. Ltd.
Flora and Fauna Consultants
88B Station Street
FAIRFIELD VIC 3078 Australia
E-mail: lconole [at] ecologyaustralia.com.au
Internet: http://www.ecologyaustralia.com.au/
Ph: (03) 9489 4191; Mob: (0419) 588 993
Fax: (03) 9481 7679
ABN 83 006 757 142
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