Just a follow up comment on the distribution of Brown Gerygone's in
Victoria.
George Appleby and myself have documented the westward (Victoria)
extension in range of the species. If you check your old bird guides
you'll see that Sale was often identified as the western edge of the Brown
Gerygone's range. In our Australian Field Ornithology paper George and I
have shown that the species is now found throughout the Strzeleckis, a few
locations on Wilson's Promontory and across to the eastern edges of
Melbourne, most commonly reported from the Dandenong's. Interestingly
recent field guide editions have picked up this change and provide a
better description of the species Victorian range now.
The birds distinctive 'which-is-it', which-is-it' rapid call is very
helpful in detecting its presence. It's well worth reporting these
observations as it helps us better understand that Brown Gerygone's appear
to now occupy a slightly broader range of habitats than was initially
thought. Indeed I detected a single bird in banksia woodland south of
Tarra Bulga National Park a few years ago. This site was within a few
kilometres of (Strzeleckis) Warm Temperate Rainforest where it has been
more often recorded.
For anyone who would like a copy of our paper let me know and I'll
forward.
cheers, Martin O'Brien
Melbourne
REF: Appleby, G. & O’Brien, M. (2015) An expansion of the range of the
Brown Gerygone in Victoria, 1977–2009. Australian Field Ornithology 32:
26–37
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A week ago a very good young visiting birder from the US fairly
confidently identified a Brown Gerygone in the Dandenong's from both good
views and song (unfortunately his ID photo is not good enough to assist in
confirming his sighting).
My understanding from range maps, atlases and personal experience is that
the western limit of this species' range in Victoria is well east of
Melbourne.
Can anyone comment on the likelihood of this sighting, please.
Richard Nowotny
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