birding-aus

Help with a Blue Mountains Bird

To: "Carol Probets" <>, "Mike Carter" <>
Subject: Help with a Blue Mountains Bird
From: "Greg and Val Clancy" <>
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2018 18:48:31 +1100
I am also confident that it is indeed a female Golden Whistler but when they have whitish throats and brown underparts they can look a bit like Olive Whistlers. I suspect that some of the coastal records of the Olive Whistler on the NSW North Coast may be misidentified Golden Whistlers. Olive Whistlers are very rare in northern NSW and usually restricted to high elevations. As female Golden Whistlers start to assume male characteristics as they age some have quite white throats similar to Olive Whistlers. The bird in the Blue Mountains also seemed to have the yellow under-tail coverts typical of Golden Whistlers. One thing that I have found by banding many Golden Whistlers is that females can vary greatly in their plumage colouration. This is due to ageing and also due to the origin of the bird. It would appear that birds from Tasmania and Victoria reach northern NSW during the winter.

Regards
Greg
Dr Greg. P. Clancy
Ecologist and Birding-wildlife Guide
| PO Box 63 Coutts Crossing NSW 2460
| 02 6649 3153 | 0429 601 960
http://www.gregclancyecologistguide.com
http://gregswildliferamblings.blogspot.com.au/

-----Original Message----- From: Carol Probets
Sent: Monday, March 12, 2018 5:59 PM
To: Mike Carter
Cc: 
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Help with a Blue Mountains Bird

Hi Mike and all,

Olive Whistler would be extrememly unusual in the Blue Mountains. For some reason there's a gap in its distribution here, despite seemingly suitable habitat. I raised this question years ago on Birding-Aus. Apparently there WAS a small population of them at Mt Wilson around the turn of the (20th) century, but an old-timer told me they were shot out. Blue Mountains Bird Observers have no records of them in the past 25 years. Apart from a reputed occurrence at Mt Werong there seems to be a gap in their distribution between the Watagan Mountains and the Illawarra coast.

Anyway, David's bird looks good for Golden Whistler to me, as I’ve already replied privately.

Cheers,

Carol

Carol Probets
Blue Mountains, NSW



On 12 Mar 2018, at 11:08 am, Mike Carter <> wrote:

I wondered about Olive Whistler.

Mike Carter, 03 5977 1262
181/160 Mornington-Tyabb Road
Mornington, VIC 3931, Australia



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