Hi Steve, birders,
Quite a lot of flame robins appear to overwinter in Tasmania though.
Banding, or tracking may require a large sample to get one that does
cross. Also I find the "they looked exhausted so we figured they must have
flown 400km across open ocean" argument not compelling. They surely could
have flown a long distance from somewhere else, or indeed not have actually
been exhausted, but feeding at the bottom of the cliffs, escaping windy
conditions, or many other just as speculative explanations. It seems
especially speculative to suggest that the birds could fly 400km, but not
the tops of the cliffs. If this story is true, it sounds like the easiest
test would be scour Victorian beaches for washed up dead ones, especially
after the full moon.
Jeremy O'Wheel
On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 1:59 PM, Steve Clark <> wrote:
> G'day Anthea
>
> Many thanks for following this up. This certainly lends support to
> the Bass Straight migration of Flame Robins. There is no need for a
> major banding effort to prove this once and for all though. Northern
> Wheatears (similar in size to Flame Robins) have been tracked from
> Alaska to sub-Saharan Africa with 1.4g gadgets. Stick a few of these
> on Robins in northern Tassy in late March and we should know the
> answer.
>
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17027565
>
> Cheers
> Steve
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