Hullo Graham,
As far as I know, Blackbirds got out as far as Broken Hill and Cobar
under their own steam during wet years, back when we still had them. Not
sure of the dates, but I have an idea the expansion came about the time
Lake Eyre filled up in the 1970s.
According to HANZAB, its original distribution includes the shores of
the Mediterranean and as far east as Turkey and Iraq, with isolated
subspecies in India, Central Asia and China. Perhaps we should not be
surprised that it can cope with fairly dry conditions to reach 'oases'
in western N.S.W.
Anthea Fleming
Graham Turner wrote:
G'day birders, as mentioned earlier I went to Parkes in central western NSW
last week. I was a little surprised to see so many blackbirds hopping around
the gardens in town, the first one caused me to stop for a second look because
it just didn't seem right. The reason I found it odd was that growing up in
nearby Forbes (a much nicer town, or so the Forbes - Parkes rivalry requires me
to say) I never saw any blackbirds. In the 70s I had to go somewhere wetter,
like Orange or somewhere where people used their sprinklers too often, like
Wagga Wagga to see these introduced songsters.
But oh how things have changed, and I shouldn't have been too surprosed. Last year I saw some in Ivanhoe, central NSW. This is the last place I would have expected to see them, very dry. Does anyone have record for this species further west? Or does anyone know if the birds dispersed during a wet season or is it just a slow expansion.
Thanks
Graham Turner
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