Ah, Whipbirds may not inhabit Tassie, but the average mainlander won't
know that. EWB calls are evocative and attention-grabbing and may
persuade punters to part with their hard-earned ...
On 28/10/2010, at 2:50 PM, John Tongue wrote:
Hi all,
We've only ever heard the southern Tas birds mimicking local birds,
and other sounds - vehicles, axe chops, etc.
However, years ago the LAST Spirit of Tasmania Ferry (the big white
one), had a walk-through 'Display' on Tassie, part of which was a
rainforest walk-through. Some of the recorded calls played there
(which admittedly, could have been recorded anywhere) was of
lyrebirds calling and mimicking. One of the calls they were
mimicking was Eastern Whipbird. I must admit, the whole thing
seemed a bit strange to me - using a bird introduced into Tas.,
mimicking a bird that doesn't exist in Tas, to promote walks through
Tasmanian forests!!
Cheers,
John Tongue
Ulverstone, Tas.
On 28/10/2010, at 11:04 AM, Syd Curtis wrote:
Yes, Stephen. I thought it was well known that the Tasmanian Superbs
continued to use mimicry of Whipbirds and Pilot-birds, neither of
which
species occurs in Tassie. And these sounds were passed down
through the
generations. But I've heard that in the absence of models the
sounds have
now deteriorated beyond recognition. Not surprising after 60 plus
years.
Cheers
Syd
From: "Stephen Ambrose" <>
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 11:17:07 +1100
To: "'Tony Russell'" <>, "'Chris'"
<>, "'Ralph Reid'" <
>
Cc: 'Birding-Aus' <>, 'Stephen Ambrose'
<>
Subject: [Birding-Aus] Superb Lyrebirds in Tasmania (was
"Introduced bird
species")
It would be interesting to know if the lyrebirds that were
introduced into
Tasmania from the mainland in the 1930s & '40s continued to mimic
calls of
some mainland bird species that aren't present in Tasmania (if
they did so
beforehand), or if they readily began to mimic local bird calls
instead.
It would be even more interesting to know if any of the
descendants of the
translocated lyrebirds mimic the calls of any mainland bird
species that
their ancestors mimicked.
Such information would help us understand better the nurture vs
nature
debate.
Stephen Ambrose
Ryde, NSW
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