Corymbia Maculata) • Swamp Mahogany (E

Woodland Bird Identification and Survey Methods Workshop Welcome! Woo dlan d Bird Iden tifica tion and Survey MthdMethods WkhWorkshop BirdLife Australia’s Woodland Birds for Biodiversity project The aim of WBfB is to: Enhance the conservation of threatened and declining woodland birds in the temperate region of south-eastern Australia This project funded by: Also doing bird surveys at the tree- planting sites, including some that were planted in 1994 2 Workshop Summary 1. Getting to know woodland birds and their habitat - what are temperate woodlands and ‘woodland birds’? 2. Survey techniques for birds in temperate woodlands - getting started - woodland bird monitoring – the why’s and how’s - Regent Honeyeater habitat and search methods 3. Identification tips for birds in south-eastern Australia’s temperate woodlands - sight recognition - call recognition - useful “clues” - some tricky species - some important species Feel free to ask questions / initiate discussion as we go 3 1. What are temperate woodlands and ‘woodland birds’? What are temperate woodlands? • Woodlands are ecosystems with widely spaced trees (that seldom exceed 30m in height) whose crowns do not overlap • Open forests are often considered woodlands in Australia – and we do for the purposes of categorising “woodland birds” • Characterised by open understorey and sparse ground layer • Mainly on inland slopes of Great Divide / adjacent plains (e.g. Liverpool Plains) and drier, flatter areas in coastal catchments (e.g . Capertee / Hunter Valleys) • Almost all of temperate woodlands in south-east Australia are dominated by eucalypts, occasionally interspersed with native cypress pine, sheoak or buloke 5 Woodlands ain’t woodlands! • Numerous different types of woodlands exist • Most have a dominant species (e.g. ironbark) but also comprise a range of co- existent species (e.g. stringybark, box etc) • Even within a box-ironbark woodland, there are various sub-communities each identified by their overstorey and main understorey components 6 Temperate woodlands = dry open forests 7 A precious and diverse but exploited ecosystem • Once possible to walk from Melbourne to Sydney through almost continuous woodland of amazing diversity • Today, most of these woodlands have gone, especially those on fertile lowlands, and much of what remains is highly modified • Temperate woodlands are now among the most threatened ecosystems in Australia (over 85% has been cleared) 8 Birds of temperate woodlands •~ 250-300 species of birds use the temperate woodlands and over a third of Australia’s land birds are woodland dependant • Woodlands are one of the most diverse habitats for fauna in southern Australia (they are often floristically diverse as well) • Woodlands have undergone significant change and modification over past couple of centuries (esp. in SE Aust where losses have been most significant) • Considerable regional species loss/decline • At least one in five woodland bird species listed as threatened or shown to be declining (more likely one in four) Key message: Temperate Woodlands are both biodiverse and highly threatened 9 Birds of temperate woodlands Seasonal changes to bird communities are a characteristic part of temperate woodlands • Dynamic fluctuations in the bird fauna are driven by climatic changes which in turn influence food availability • Different types of movement are exemplified by different species – some are migratory, others are nomadic while others again display irregular and localised movements 10 Birds of temperate woodlands Autumn-winter migrants • Arrive March-April and depart around October. • Typically from cooler climates (altitudinal migrants, e.g. Flame Robin) • Migratory nectar-feeders are a distinctive componentcomponent of this group, attracted by flowering eucalypts (e.g. Swift Parrot) 11 Birds of temperate woodlands Spring-summer migrants • Arrive around September-October, depart around March-April • Typically from warmer northern regions • Most are breeding migrants (e.g. Pallid Cuckoo, White-browed Woodswallow, Rufous Whistler, Sacred Kingfisher) 12 Birds of temperate woodlands Promine nt gu ilds of bir ds in w oodl ands Nectar-feeders (~20% of the woodland bird fauna) • Over 30 species of ‘honeyeaters’, including wattlebirds and friarbirds • Five species of nectar-feeding parrots (lorikeets and the Swift Parrot) 13 Birds of temperate woodlands Ground-foragers and ground-nesters • Form around half of the woodland bird fauna • Dependant on features of the ground-layer such as sparse grass cover, patchy understorey, woody / leafy debris • Many of the most iconic woodland birds are ground-foragers 14 Birds of temperate woodlands Hollow-dependant species • Form around 15% of the woodland bird fauna • Hollow-bearing trees play an important role in providing habitat in woodlands • Tiny holes and crevices used by small species such as Striated Pardalote and Owlet Nightjar, and large hollows are important for birds such as owls. 15 Birds of temperate woodlands Insectivorous foliage-gleaners • Represent a significant proportion of the woodland bird fauna • Species include whistlers, cuckoo-shrikes, cuckoos, gerygones, pardalotes, thornbills • These birds are specially adapted to forage on eucalypt and acacia foliage in search of small invertebrates • Often assemble in mixed-species foraging flocks 16 Woodland habitat for birds Different vegetation communities attract different birds • Birds associate with particular communities, driven either by floristic or structural attributes • Floristics refers to plant species composition (birds attracted to resources provided by different species of plants) 17 Woodland habitat for birds Structure refers to the physical form of the habitat • Woodlands provide a number of critical structural resources for birds, more so than other habitat types, for example: – Diverse foragi ing subst rat es (canopy, limb s, trunk s, logs) – Large spreading tree crowns – Numerous tree-hollows of a range of sizes and shapes – Greater frequency and amount of tree floweri ng – Ground litter accumulation 18 Examples of habitat use by birds Dry open forests (e.g. Grey Box, Buloke) • Low sparse understorey with scattered debris: - Buff-rumped Thornbill - Scarlet Robin - Grey Fantail • Low trunks/branches with rough bark: - Varied Sittella 19 Examples of habitat use by birds Grassy woodlands (e. g. White Box, Yellow Box, Blakely’ s Red Gum) • Open grassy ground layer, fallen limbs: - Restless Flycatcher - Brown Treecreeper • Widely spaced mature trees, peeling bark, spreading crowns - Crested Shrike-tit 20 Examples of habitat use by birds Dry coastal belt forests (e. g. Spotted Gum, Ironbark spp., Grey Gum) • Ground debris, shrub cover: - Painted Button-quail • Widely spaced trees, patches of open ground: - Dusky Woodswallow • Upper and lower branches - YllYellow-tftdtufted Honeyeat er 21 2. Survey techniques for birds in temperate woodlands Woodland Bird Monitoring Birds are excellent indicators of the condition and change to the natural environment: • Broad-scale (e.g. impacts of climate change) • Medium-scale (e.g. landscape processes such as s vegetation connectivity and dd configuration) Bir Patch Size • Fine-scale (e.g. habitat management at site scale) 23 Woodland Bird Monitoring Monitoring methods Most appropriate method depends on objectives of the monitoring Different types of monitori ng incl ud e: • Habitat-based (e.g. woodland types or surveys of an area) • Threat-based (e. g. fire, grazing) • Species-based (e.g. Regent Honeyeater, Swift Parrot) 24 Woodland Bird Monitoring Monitoring methods • 20 minute / 2 hectare surveys are the most important and promoted survey type: - standardised across the country - best suited for targeted surveys at specific sites - provide the most “robust” data (e.g. can stand up to scrutiny) • 500m area searches, with added flexibility, maymay be required to detect threatened or cryptic species • Regardless of survey area size, it is important to maintain consistency 25 Woodland Bird Monitoring Site selection • Choose sites which are representative of a particular habitat • Use a degree of randomness in site selection and include sites with different attributes, such as: - regeneration - mature trees -grazed sites - ungrazed sites 26 Woodland Bird Monitoring What to record? • Survey and geographic data (date, time, coordinates etc.) • Habitat data – very important for tracking changes (even basic descriptions are of use) • Presence/absence data for birds will tell us something • Count data will tell us more (count minimum number of individuals seen on all surveys) 27 Woodland Bird Monitoring Frequency and duration of monitoring • Conduct seasonally at the very least to detect bird movements: - autumn-winter movements - spring-summer movements • Best monitoring results come from sites that have been intensively surveyed in a consistent manner • Long-term monitoring delivers best results 28 Woodland Bird Monitoring Who should monitor? • Anyone and everyone!! • Those with expertise combined with others keen to learn (!!) • Good idea to initiate a network of group monitoring sites where repeat visits are made by various observers (experienced and less experienced) •Grouppg monitoring allows standardised monitoringgy by multi ple observers • Establishing group monitoring sites requires: -GPS location -Map o f s ite - Access arrangements 29 Woodland Bird Monitoring How to get involved • BirdLife Australia monitoring programs • Atlas of Australian Birds • Local/regional monitoring programs

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