Brown Thornbills in Melbourne

["Philip Veerman" <>]

When I was young [1970s] and of sufficient competence in Melbourne (Hawthorn, 
Camberwell, Surrey Hills, Box Hill) I recall it as infrequent and notable when 
observed there though probably not rare. I'll say again wouldn't it be great if 
every city ran a Garden Bird Survey like we have been doing in Canberra since 
1981. And for what it is worth the Brown Thornbill has shown a significant 
increase in abundance in Canberra over that period since 1981 (as shown in my 
book). The book Birds of Box Hill (Tess Kloot 2000) calls it "common" (whatever 
that means).

Philip