Hi all,
As far as we're aware there has only been one previous record of (the
now Australian) Painted Snipe at Edithvale - two birds seen in March
1993 by Rowe and Cowell. This was reported in the Unusual Sightings
section of the Bird Observer in May of that year.
Interestingly around the same time that year there were 3 birds seen
at what is now the Eastern Treatment Plant, and another one seen at
the Western Treatment Plant. In light of that we are hoping some of
the people lucky enough to see the Edithvale bird may be able to
assist us by checking out some other wetlands around Melbourne for
other individuals - places like Seaford, the treatment plants, even
some of the wetlands around new housing estates could have the birds
present. This species has been the subject of a long-running project
through the Threatened Bird Network and we're keen to learn as much
as we can while we know birds are present. So if anyone is
interested in helping out please feel free to get in touch with
me...we are hoping to run a simultaneous survey around town sometime
in the next few weeks and are currently working out the highest
priority wetlands to survey. Thanks to those who have already
assisted with our first survey of the 'season' last weekend - this is
the only bird we're aware of at the moment though there have been
sightings near Carnarvon, WA (including suspected breeding) and
Bowra, Qld earlier in the year.
Just to let everybody know too that while this bird is around
Edithvale we are really keen to get as much information as possible,
and are hoping to collect feathers moulted by the bird (commonly
found after they've preened). As my first line suggests the species
is now recognised as an endemic Australian bird, no longer a
subspecies of the Greater Painted Snipe of Asia. However, as the
genetics supporting this only came from one group of birds near
Broome it has met with some scepticism internationally and a bigger
sample size is sought. This is really hard when the birds are so few
in number, and sightings are so scattered. We have already tried
unsuccessfully to collect feathers from this bird, but will try again
over the next few weeks if we see the bird shed any.
For those wanting to know more about the Edithvale bird, we have
identified it as an immature male based on plumage features. The
most distinguishable feature is the pale grey edging to the white
'harness', especially on the chest. On older males, this is
considerably darker (black). A few observers have also pointed out
the small size of the bird.
Finally, in answer to Russell Woodfords question the other day about
how long the bird will hang around for - we don't know! However, the
Rutherglen (Vic) birds in 2006 were present for just over a month,
while a pair of birds at Lake Yerang in Hattah NP (Vic) this time
last year were present for over a month too. The Cove Rd birds (Qld)
lasted a little longer I think. In all cases they only left after
the water had evaporated.
If anyone would like more info on the species or our project
newsletters please feel free to get in touch with me. Incidentally
we have recently sought funding to expand the project with the aim of
doing some further analysis of the database and highlighting the
species as a flagship for freshwater wetland conservation in the
Murray-Darling Basin. Fingers crossed!!
Regards, and happy sniping
Dean
Dean Ingwersen
Threatened Bird Network Coordinator
Birds Australia
Suite 2-05, 60 Leicester St
CARLTON, VIC, 3053
Ph: (03) 9347 0757
Fax: (03) 9347 9323
Freecall: 1300 730 075
Email:
Website address: http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au
Atlas website: http://www.birdata.com.au
ABN: 87 004 076 475
Australian Partner of BirdLife International. Are you a member of Birds
Australia? If not, why not join us?
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