birding-aus

songthrush in "Australia"

To: "Dave Torr" <>
Subject: songthrush in "Australia"
From: "Lawrie Conole" <>
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:55:00 +1100
A very unobtrusive bird when not singing - this feeds my general scepticism
about reports of a precipitous decline in Song Thrush numbers in Melbourne
during the past dry decade.  Where have they been?  Around ....


2008/12/17 Dave Torr <>

> They have certainly been a lot more noticeable around home (Hoppers
> Crossing, west of Melb) in the last month or so and there are plenty of
> snails around for them - but where they have been during the long dry spell
> is a bit of a mystery?
>
> 2008/12/17 Lawrie Conole <>
>
>> Neville Pamment wrote:
>>
>> >While on this subject ... a couple of days ago there was a singing male
>> Song
>> >Thrush in a garden near us in Clifton Hill (5 km from Melbourne GPO).
>> This
>> >was the first I've seen or heard in the district for about 4 years,
>> though
>> >there may be a relict population. They were common until the late 1990s
>> but
>> >the drought and hot weather seems to have driven them out. The recent
>> heavy
>> >rain and cooler conditions in Melbourne (lots of snails) would be to
>> their
>> >liking.
>>
>>
>> Whilst the wet weather might be to their liking, it is probably too late
>> in
>> the season to initiate a nesting event.  Plenty of slugs around here, but
>> very few snails yet.
>>
>> As Song Thrushes (and indeed nearly all other birds) are not Phoenixes and
>> therefore not able to regenerate from the soil/ashes, I presume this bird
>> had been lurking somewhere nearby most of the time - the rain might have
>> been encouraging enough to start him singing again!!
>>
>> They haven't been very vocal in Northcote (a couple of km north) lately
>> either, but definitely still here ...
>>
>>
>> --
>> ++++++++++++
>> Lawrie Conole
>> 28 Reid Street
>> Northcote 3070 AUSTRALIA
>> 0419588993
>> lconole at gmail dot com
>> ++++++++++++++++++++++++
>> ===============================
>> www.birding-aus.org
>> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>>
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>
>


-- 
++++++++++++
Lawrie Conole
28 Reid Street
Northcote 3070 AUSTRALIA
0419588993
lconole at gmail dot com
++++++++++++++++++++++++
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