Hi Dom,
I would hazard to guess that the increased numbers of Rainbow Bee-eaters around
Cairns would be due to probably 2 things...
Firstly there are many birds from more southern parts of the country that
regularly winter up here that would be arriving the past month or so, & this
combined with very many young first year birds that we see up here en-masse
after summer, could probably be just 2 reasons why you are seeing more birds
than normal.
The dune scrubs along the Northern Beaches suburbs of Cairns (Yorkey's Knob is
one of these for those reading not from the area) are a major breeding area for
the species, with a great deal of the birds burrowing into very flat sandy
ground behind the beaches - indeed many nest on nature strips in the streets
one or 2 blocks back from the beaches!!
We are very fortunate to have such a beautiful species up here in such numbers
in out streets!!
Cheers for now,
Martin Cachard
Cairns
> From:
> To: ;
> Date: Wed, 8 May 2013 19:32:26 +1000
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Rainbow Bee-eaters
>
> Dominic,
> The largest flock I've ever seen was only 30 birds, and that
> was over 20 years ago in SA.
> But a couple of folk attending last Saturday's outing of
> BirdLife Sunshine Coast reported seeing a flock of around 200 Rainbow
> Bee-eaters at Dulong, a few kms west of Nambour,
> in the previous week.
>
> Russ Lamb, Maleny,SEQ
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