May be and we can hope and good not to give up. I don't know either way. Of
course the issue would be, is he seeing Night Parrots or is he seeing night
parrots. As in is it that species or some other species flushed from the
ground at night that may be a parrot and thus given that name. Presumably
lots of birds roost on the ground and is he identifying them as separate?
Surely most birds roosting on the ground would flush in front of a nocturnal
grader. It is worth ascertaining what other birds he sees in that situation.
If he is calling all (or even a large proportion of) birds seen that way as
being Night Parrots, then they probably aren't.
Not that different, I once heard a NP Ranger in a Victorian coastal park
asked whether there were Ground Parrots around. His answer delivered with
some amazement at how dumb the question was: yes ground parrots are all over
the place, like these and pointed to Crimson Rosellas feeding on the ground
in the picnic area. Without the capital letters his answer was correct.
Philip
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Chris Watson
Sent: Tuesday, 9 April 2013 4:06 PM
To:
Subject: Information for inclusion in Night Parrot flyer
G'day all,
I was chatting to an Alice Springs grader driver who is well-known
(locally) for preferring to conduct his work during the night. He does a lot
of nocturnal grading in the areas to the near north and east of Alice
Springs and mentioned that he has seen Night Parrots flushing in the
spotlights, from the spinifex before his blade. I'm sure we've all heard
similar claims over the years, but I try to keep an open mind, and figure
that those who aren't birders or ornithologists have nothing to gain by
fabricating sightings of rare birds. There's arguable bragging rights that
might come from being associated with the legend of the Night Parrot, but I
think folks who make a living driving heavy machinery in the outback have
other things they'd rather brag about in the company of their mates, than
seeing a few parrots. This area is between a 1 and 3 hour drive of Alice
Springs, so is potentially able to be surveyed from here within a short time
of receiving notification, if people are equipped with the correct
information.
Anyway, I'm sure this has been done before, but I'm putting together an
information flyer that I intend to distribute through the CLMA (Centralian
Land Management Association) which has contacts throughout the Centralian
pastoral industry who employ grader drivers and similar remote workers
throughout the region. It seems like they might be a handy group to target.
The National Night Parrot Network, who I'm sure it's been noted before, seem
to be as elusive and shrouded in mystery as the bird itself, don't seem to
have any online presence. If someone on this list could forward me the best
contact details to include in the flyer that would be a great help. Better
still, if the Men In Black who constitute the NNPN would like to step
briefly from the shadows and consult with me on the composition of the
flyer, I'm sure it would be a better production all-round.
As photos aren't an option, if anyone has some decent artwork that they are
able to grant permission for me to use, it'd be much appreciated as my
efforts with the crayolas so far have been less than stunning in their
reproduction of a realistic portrait of the Spinifex Chook. This'll be
funded from my own hip-pocket so there's no funds available I'm afraid, but
needless to say all artwork will be fully acknowledged.
I'm not giving up on the fat parrot.
Cheers,
Keyser Soze (aka Chris Watson)
--
*BIRDS CENTRAL AUSTRALIA*
*Central Australian birding resource*
*Guiding, writing, and the latest site information*
*from Alice Springs*
www.comebirdwatching.blogspot.com ===============================
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