Strangely enough there were Crested Pigeons in some numbers down in bayside
Melbourne well before there were appreciable numbers in the north and west
(where you'd expect a 'natural' invasion). I remember seeing and hearing
them in Chelsea (SE Melbourne, bayside) and around quite a while back (late
90s), and then a bit later at Sunbury and Tullamarine (NW Melbourne). I saw
a flock of 20+ near Sunbury on 17/12/1999 and thought it noteworthy enough
to enter a record in my database - likewise in Whittlesea and Tullamarine in
2000 - Altona in 2002, Northcote in 2003. Most football grounds and parks
in the City of Darebin have heaps of the things now, and I often hear them
go whistling overhead at my place in Northcote, just north of All Nations
Park. Back when I was a lad (and up to the middle 1990s at least) they
were definitely a "north of the Great Divide" bird in Victoria - the change
has been pretty rapid really - but I don't see any reduction in Spotted Dove
numbers to go with the increasing Crested Pigeons - just lots of both.
I've always presumed that the bayside birds got a little helping hand, as
they appeared such a long way from any intuitively acceptable entry point
into the metro area - but maybe they just cruised down over the Great
Dividing Range, over most of Melbourne, and set up home&hearth in Chelsea!
... probably not.
--
++++++++++++
Lawrie Conole
28 Reid Street
Northcote, VIC 3070
AUSTRALIA
lconole[at]gmail.com
0419 588 993
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