Border Rivers Birds on Farms
INTRODUCTION Grain & Graze Forty-seven mixed farms within nine regions around Australia took part in BR All collecting ecological data for the biodiversityBorder section of the nationalRivers Grain Region and Graze project. Table 1 Bird Survey Statistics Farms Farms Native bird species 105 183 This factsheet outlines the results from bird surveys, conducted in Spring 2006 and Autumn 2006-2007, on five farms within the Border Rivers Region in Introduced bird species 1 6 Queensland and New South Wales. Listed Threatened Species** 7 33 NSW Listed Species 1 11 Four paddock types were surveyed, Crop, Rotation, Pasture and Remnant (see overleaf for link to methods). Although, more bird species were recorded Priority Species 3 15 in remnant vegetation, birds were also frequently observed in other land use ** State and/or Federally types (Table 2).
Table 2 List of bird species recorded in each paddock in all of the 5 Border Rivers Region farms.
Food Food Common Name Preference Crop Rotation Pasture RemnantCommon Name Preference Crop Rotation Pasture Remnant Grey-crowned Babbler (N) I 1 3 1 2 3 4 Brown Goshawk IC 4 Varied Sittella I 3 White-faced Heron IC 3 White-winged Triller IGF 3 3 4 5 White-necked Heron IC 3 Striped Honeyeater IN 1 3 1 3 2 3 4 Olive-backed Oriole IF 3 Blue-faced Honeyeater IN 1 1 2 3 5 Pacific Black Duck IG 3 5 Brown Honeyeater IN 5 Little Button-quail IG 3 Red-winged Parrot G 1 1 2 5 Noisy Miner IN 4 1 2 3 4 5 3 1 2 3 4 5 Wedge-tailed Eagle C 4 2 3 5 Little Friarbird IN 1 3 Brown Thornbill I 2 White-plumed Honeyeater IN 3 5 Jacky Winter I 2 3 4 5 Yellow-faced Honeyeater IN 2 Black-shouldered Kite C 4 5 4 Yellow-plumed Honeyeater IN 3 Little Eagle C 5 Brown-headed Honeyeater IN 2 3 Yellow-rumped Thornbill I 1 3 1 2 3 4 5 Singing Honeyeater INF 1 3 1 3 4 Corvid I 4 2 3 1 4 4 Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater NF 1 1 3 2 3 4 5 Willie Wagtail I 1 1 2 3 4 5 Rainbow Lorikeet N 5 Striated Pardalote I 1 5 2 3 5 Scaly-breasted Lorikeet N 5 Weebill I 1 1 2 3 5 Mistletoebird F 3 3 4 5 Yellow Thornbill I 1 2 3 4 5 Channel-billed Cuckoo F 1 5 Rufous Songlark I 1 2 3 3 Spotted Bowerbird F 3 5 Superb Fairy-wren I 1 1 3 4 Painted Honeyeater F 3 White-breasted Woodswallow I 2 3 23 Galah G 12 4 123451 4512345 Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike I 345Cockatiel G 234 123451 3 12345 Eastern Yellow Robin I 3 4 5 Crested Pigeon G 1 3 1 2 3 4 1 3 1 2 3 4 5 Grey Fantail I 2 3 4 Red-rumped Parrot G 4 1 2 5 3 2 3 4 5 Leaden Flycatcher I 2 3 4 Sulphur-crested Cockatoo G 1 5 1 5 1 2 3 4 5 Richard's Pipit I 1 1 3 Double-barred Finch G 1 1 3 2 3 5 Variegated Fairy-wren I 1 3 4 Pale-headed Rosella G 1 1 2 3 4 5 Brown Songlark I 1 2 Peaceful Dove G 3 2 3 5 Buff-rumped Thornbill I 1 4 Zebra Finch G 1 2 1 Masked Woodswallow I 3 3 Australian Ringneck G 3 4 Restless Flycatcher I 2 3 Diamond Dove G 3 3 4 White-winged Fairy-wren I 1 1 Bar-shouldered Dove G 3 Chestnut-rumped Thornbill I 3 4 Blue Bonnet G 1 5 Red-capped Robin I 4 Common Bronzewing G 2 3 Inland Thornbill I 1 2 3 4 5 Brown Quail G 3 Rufous Whistler I 1 2 3 4 5 Budgerigar G 3 Australian Owlet-nightjar I 4 Eastern Rosella G 5 Black-faced Woodswallow I 4 Plum-headed Finch G 3 Ground Cuckoo-Shrike I 5 Stubble Quail G 3 Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo I 4 Australian Magpie O 12 4 1 451234512345 Pacific Baza I 2 Magpie-lark O 1234 123 51 3 12345 Rainbow Bee-eater I 3 Torresian Crow O 1 2 1 3 1 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Tree Martin I 4 Australian Raven O 1 4 1 3451 12345 Welcome Swallow I 2 Yellow-throated Miner O 4 1 3 4 5 1 3 4 5 White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike I 5 Apostlebird O 1 3 1 2 3 4 5 White-browed Woodswallow I 3 Grey Shrike-thrush O 2 3 4 Pied Butcherbird IC 2 3 1 3 5 1 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Noisy Friarbird O 2 2 5 Grey Butcherbird IC 2 123 12345Australian Wood Duck O 3 5 Nankeen or Australian Kestrel IC 4 1 1 5 2 4 Pied Currawong O 2 5 Laughing Kookaburra IC 1 1 2 3 4 White-winged Chough O 1 5 Sacred Kingfisher IC 2 3 4 5 Australian Shelduck O 5 Australian Hobby IC 4 4 Little Raven O 5 Tawny Frogmouth IC 1 5 Common Starling O 2 5 5 Total Bird Species 106 12 10 5 12 0 35 9 14 6 10 24 3 24 8 8 19 45 65 49 53 Farms 1 Bendidee 2 Crowders Creek 3Kioma 4LimeBon 5McMaster Conservation Status Listed Threatened Species * Priority Species Food Preference C Carnivorous I Insectivorous N Nectarivorous (nectar) F Frugivorous (fruit) G Granivorous (seed eater) O Omnivorous (wide-range) * N = NSW listed species Importance of Remnant Vegetation for Birds
The total number of bird species recorded in remnant vegetation patches on the five farms surveyed varied from 19 to 65. This indicated that although remnants may vary in size, condition and vegetation type they are all important for bird diversity on farms. Generally, larger and better condition bush has the highest diversity of birds species. These birds are important for maintaining ecosystem health. Links to bird and invertebrate species recorded on each of the farms will be investigated regarding pest management in agricultural paddocks.
Every patch of bush counts
Bird Information Links
Bird Lists, Identification and Information General Information Birding WA Birds Australia http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au/birds/birds_12.htm http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/ Bird Atlas (BA) Information Birdwatching Australia http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/atlas/index.html http://www.ausbird.com Birds Australia Birdata http://www.birdata.com.au/homecontent.do The Action Plan of Australia Birds 2000 Useful for generating bird lists of your area http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/action/birds2000/index. html A national overview of the conservation status of all Australian birds Australian Museum which also outlines threats and recommends actions to minimise http://www.amonline.net.au/birds/stuff/bird_list.htm threats BirdPedia http://www.birdpedia.com/au/bi.dll/bipu01?m=002 Greening Australia http://www.greeningaustralia.org.au/ Australia Bird List http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_birds Birds in Backyards http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/
The following websites were found on a ‘google’ search Threatened Species Information WA http://birdswa.com.au Environment Australia, Threatened Species Western Australia Bird List http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/index.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Western_Australian_birds http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au/references.htm NSW http://www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/index Birds SA .aspx http://www.birdssa.asn.au/ http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/remnants/index.html Western Australia Naturebase: Department of Environment and Conservation. Vic http://www.naturebase.net/component/option,com_docman/Itemid,71 http://www.latrobe.edu.au/agriculture/otherlinks/birdsof.html 1/ General information on the role of common birds on farms QLD http://www.users.bigpond.com/basqld/ NSW http://www.murrumbidgee.cma.nsw.gov.au/index.php?id=684 Fact sheets from Grain & Graze project
Data collected by Birds Australia Atlasers BiGG Data and information sheets compiled by Janet Smith (UTAS) and BiGG regional atlasers
BiGG = ‘Biodiversity in Grain & Graze’, http://www.grainandgraze.com.au For information on BiGG, contact Kerry Bridle, [email protected]