Thank you Alan for your somewhat light hearted dissertation re the
contentious issue of birds being ship assisted and or coming over on
F&J, and whether they can be counted on our Oz list or not.
You are quite correct in asserting that birds are ( or can be) very
resourceful in getting across vast stretches of water and do so, I
think, far more frequently than some folk perhaps like to admit. My
stance is that if the bird is in Oz, no matter how it got here, then
it's tickable, and no amount of contention as to it's mode of travel is
relevant.
In support of my view I offer one example. In 2006 whilst on an Ashmore
Reef trip out of Broome, a couple of hundred kms out to sea, we suddenly
noticed this little bird trailing along behind the boat. It was a Tree
Martin ( !!!!) which departed after a few minutes. Now if a little
fellow like that can be happily flying around in the Indian Ocean then
I'm quite prepared to believe that other birds can perform similar feats
and have always been doing so.
I'm sorely tempted to go for the House Crow, it being a race different
to the one on Philip Island some years ago, but then it's only a sub
tick and I can't seem to reconcile a sub tick with the cost of travel
from Adelaide and back. But I'm still thinking of going, provided no-one
shoots it in the meantime.
Tony.
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Alan McBride
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 7:32 PM
To: Birding Aus
Subject: House Crow and its arrival
I tried to send this last Weds but failed miserably somehow so here
it is again. Ignore of course any referneces to last week though I do
know the bird was seen in the car park at 4.30 today Weds. 26 March.
In days of old, before ships were invented, you would have the
peoples of various countries felling trees, clearing lands and
generally doing anything to make their lives easier.
You would also have had wild storms (as Sydney does now) that knocked
down trees and carried other flotsam and jetsam (F & J) items to the
rivers and out to the oceans.
Many years ago a House Crow jumped on a piece of F & J and thus
established the first movement of House Crow from wherever it was
they first lived on this planet (appeared, were made, constructed,
created, etc., no religious intent here). Enterprising little devils
they are.
When it reached it's new land, say Burma from India for the sake of
it, the Burmese records committee of 3,000BC went ooohh goody an
addition to the avifauna of our splendid country I wonder how this
was created? They didn't go, "Oh pooh that's no good its F & J
assisted"!
To a bird (with wings for flying) and particularly an enterprising
bird such as a HC, a ship is merely F & J. Even if it's fed on the
ship, it would be no different than the people who were throwing out
bread to attract it yesterday, after all it is enterprising and a
girls (guys) gotta eat.
If it was a pet, taken onto the ship and it escaped, well, what an
enterprising little HC, good luck to it, you will never know nor
should you care:-)
Man has a long association with the desire to feed the birds and long
may it continue (though not with cockatoos)!
BTW I saw it at 5.15 yesterday at the western edge of the playground
for a NSW tick only:-) I also saw a blue budgie in a cage of one of
the flats there which may give you something else to chase while
waiting for the HC. Tony Palliser was photographing it at 10.30 today
Weds, again at the playground although it took a while to come back
this morning. Obviously becoming wary of people who may be arriving
with traps!
I may add it's a neat looking House Crow too, looks very fresh and
smart, good call too, albeit a bit forlorn in the circumstances.
Alan
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Alan McBride
Be green and read from the screen
e-mail:
Skype me: mcbird101
Tel: + 61 2 9973 3141
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Fax: + 61 2 9973 2306
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