HI Charlie,
I have a slightly different take on it. I make my living from taking people on birding trips around the world, often chasing big lists and target birds. Some of the clients are extremely good, some are newbies and some just love seeing birds even if they can't remember what they are. I am also a reformed lister. I never w do not keep track of the number because when I was in the high 5000s I found that I had lost interest in the bird and was more worried about the number. Now I am somewhere in the high 7000s, but try and keep track of where I saw what species. The excitement of finding the same birds in unexpected environments is easily as high another species for the list.
When dealing with the Australia list remember that someone with no experience can drop the cash and score 440 in 18 days on the east coast and then an extra 70 with 10 days in the NT. So judging a simple number of 470 falls flat when comparing with a tourist with deep pockets. The experience is so much more important than the number, so don't compare yourself with big listers.
On Sun, Jun 5, 2022, 7:31 PM Charles Hunter via Birding-Aus <> wrote:
Hi Greg, Phil, Philip, Jude, Steve and others,
Thanks for you responses.
Very helpful and interesting to see the varied responses. I acknowledge I may not have been as precise as I could have been.
Reason I partly ask (apart from general interest) is I’m sitting on 470 or so. I’m going to count the birds I haven’t seen in various Australian guide books.
We all know some birders have seen over 700 in a year!
Reminds me of when I was in Iron Range 6 years ago. I met Peter Kaestner (see “Large Listers here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birdwatchers).
He was racing around, not interested in the nesting eclectus I was looking at but sweating over seeing “The Robin”. He asked have you seen “the robin” and I said “yes I’ve seen heaps at Gordon Creek”. He raced off and I then realised he was talking about the northern scrub robin (not the white-faced). It could have been his 9681 bird.
Best,
Warm regards, Charlie Hunter
Sure, to: Count anything which breeds on mainland Australia (plus
presumably Tasmania) or offshore islands” leaves out so many international
migrants that do clearly fit into Charlie’s question about: “How many bird
species are there in Australia” but do not fit into Charlie’s question about “How
many bird species are resident in Australia?” Which are very different
questions. Which is also a different question from Charlie’s question: “How
many bird species have been sighted in mainland Australia and Tasmania.”
Philip
From: Birding-Aus
[ On Behalf Of Steve Clark
Sent: Saturday, 4 June, 2022 10:59 AM
To: birding-aus
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Australian birds - numbers
I’ve done a quick scan through the IOC list from Scythebill
for Australia. Deleted extinct and introduced species. Counted
anything which breeds on mainland Australia or offshore islands (not including
Lord Howe, Norfolk, Macquarie etc.).
On 4 Jun 2022, at 7:33 am, John Tongue <> wrote:
A partial answer to your questions:
Lists the totals seen by those Australian Birders who choose
to register their totals. Richard Baxter has seen 908 species on Mainland
and islands, and 810 excluding the islands. Mike Carter has seen 902 in
total, and 858 excluding the islands.
John Tongue
On 3 Jun 2022, at 9:59 am, Charles Hunter via Birding-Aus
<>
wrote:
Hi all,
I had a few questions regarding the number of bird species in Australia.
How many bird species have been sighted in mainland Australia and Tasmania (but
excluding islands / territories like Christmas Island, Norfolk Island and Heard
Island, etc.).
How many bird species are resident in Australia?
Is a bird considered a resident even if they visit for a few months (e.g.
Papuan pitta).
How many bird species are there in Australia excluding vagrants (that have only
been seen once or a few times such as Eurasian hoopoe last sighted in Broome in
2015).
Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts.
Warm regards,
Charlie Hunter
Bronte, NSW
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