Field Guides Birding Tours New Guinea & Australia 2011
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Papua New Guinea Huon Peninsula Extension 26Th June to 1St July 2018 (6 Days) Trip Report
Papua New Guinea Huon Peninsula Extension 26th June to 1st July 2018 (6 days) Trip Report Pesquet’s Parrots by Sue Wright Tour Leader: Adam Walleyn Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to Papua New Guinea Trip Report – RBL Papua New Guinea - Huon Peninsula Extension I 2018 2 Tour Summary This was our inaugural Huon Peninsula Extension. Most of the group started out with a quick flight from Moresby into Nadzab Airport. Upon arrival, we drove to our comfortable hotel on the outskirts of Lae City. After getting settled in, we set off on a short but very productive bird walk around the hotel’s expansive grounds. The best thing about the walk was how confiding the birds were –they are clearly not hunted much around here! Red-cheeked Parrot, Coconut Lorikeet, Orange-bellied Fruit Dove, Torresian Imperial Pigeon, White-bellied Cuckooshrike, Yellow-faced Myna, and Singing Starling all vied for our attention right in the parking lot. As we took a short wander, we added Hooded Butcherbird, New Guinea Friarbird and look-alike Brown Oriole, and Black and Olive-backed Sunbirds to our growing tally. A Buff-faced Pygmy Parrot zipped overhead providing just a quick view, but the highlight of the walk was clearly the Palm Cockatoo that sat out feeding contentedly on fruits – admittedly a bit of a surprise to find this species so close to a major urban centre! We were relieved when Sue had arrived and Pinon’s Imperial Pigeon by Markus Lilje joined us for dinner to complete the group! The real adventure began early the next morning, with a drive back to the airport where we were to board our flight into the Huon. -
Whistler3 Frontcover
The Whistler is the occasionally issued journal of the Hunter Bird Observers Club Inc. ISSN 1835-7385 The aims of the Hunter Bird Observers Club (HBOC), which is affiliated with Bird Observation and Conservation Australia, are: To encourage and further the study and conservation of Australian birds and their habitat To encourage bird observing as a leisure-time activity HBOC is administered by a Committee: Executive: Committee Members: President: Paul Baird Craig Anderson Vice-President: Grant Brosie Liz Crawford Secretary: Tom Clarke Ann Lindsey Treasurer: Rowley Smith Robert McDonald Ian Martin Mick Roderick Publication of The Whistler is supported by a Sub-committee: Mike Newman (Joint Editor) Harold Tarrant (Joint Editor) Liz Crawford (Production Manager) Chris Herbert (Cover design) Liz Huxtable Ann Lindsey Jenny Powers Mick Roderick Alan Stuart Authors wishing to submit manuscripts for consideration for publication should consult Instructions for Authors on page 61 and submit to the Editors: Mike Newman [email protected] and/or Harold Tarrant [email protected] Authors wishing to contribute articles of general bird and birdwatching news to the club newsletter, which has 6 issues per year, should submit to the Newsletter Editor: Liz Crawford [email protected] © Hunter Bird Observers Club Inc. PO Box 24 New Lambton NSW 2305 Website: www.hboc.org.au Front cover: Australian Painted Snipe Rostratula australis – Photo: Ann Lindsey Back cover: Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva - Photo: Chris Herbert The Whistler is proudly supported by the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority Editorial The Whistler 3 (2009): i-ii The Whistler – Editorial The Editors are pleased to provide our members hopefully make good reading now, but will and other ornithological enthusiasts with the third certainly provide a useful point of reference for issue of the club’s emerging journal. -
Phenological Shifts Conserve Thermal Niches in North American Birds and Reshape Expectations for Climate-Driven Range Shifts
Phenological shifts conserve thermal niches in North American birds and reshape expectations for climate-driven range shifts Jacob B. Socolara,1, Peter N. Epanchinb, Steven R. Beissingerc,d, and Morgan W. Tingleya aDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269; bOffice of Global Climate Change, US Agency for International Development, Washington, DC 20523; cDepartment of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720; and dMuseum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 Edited by Hugh P. Possingham, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia, and approved October 10, 2017 (received for review April 14, 2017) Species respond to climate change in two dominant ways: range another opportunity to track temperature by shifting thermally shifts in latitude or elevation and phenological shifts of life-history constrained life-history events (e.g., nesting in birds) to colder times events. Range shifts are widely viewed as the principal mechanism of year (Fig. 1). This might be the case even if the main adaptive for thermal niche tracking, and phenological shifts in birds and significance of phenological shifts involves resource tracking. other consumers are widely understood as the principal mecha- However, species do not have unrestricted flexibility to adjust nism for tracking temporal peaks in biotic resources. However, their phenology to track temperature. Phenological timing of life- phenological and range shifts each present simultaneous oppor- history events is not always behaviorally plastic or evolutionarily tunities for temperature and resource tracking, although the labile (21). Moreover, consumers face demographic consequences possible role for phenological shifts in thermal niche tracking has if reproduction is not adequately timed with peaks in biotic re- been widely overlooked. -
Disaggregation of Bird Families Listed on Cms Appendix Ii
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals 2nd Meeting of the Sessional Committee of the CMS Scientific Council (ScC-SC2) Bonn, Germany, 10 – 14 July 2017 UNEP/CMS/ScC-SC2/Inf.3 DISAGGREGATION OF BIRD FAMILIES LISTED ON CMS APPENDIX II (Prepared by the Appointed Councillors for Birds) Summary: The first meeting of the Sessional Committee of the Scientific Council identified the adoption of a new standard reference for avian taxonomy as an opportunity to disaggregate the higher-level taxa listed on Appendix II and to identify those that are considered to be migratory species and that have an unfavourable conservation status. The current paper presents an initial analysis of the higher-level disaggregation using the Handbook of the Birds of the World/BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World Volumes 1 and 2 taxonomy, and identifies the challenges in completing the analysis to identify all of the migratory species and the corresponding Range States. The document has been prepared by the COP Appointed Scientific Councilors for Birds. This is a supplementary paper to COP document UNEP/CMS/COP12/Doc.25.3 on Taxonomy and Nomenclature UNEP/CMS/ScC-Sc2/Inf.3 DISAGGREGATION OF BIRD FAMILIES LISTED ON CMS APPENDIX II 1. Through Resolution 11.19, the Conference of Parties adopted as the standard reference for bird taxonomy and nomenclature for Non-Passerine species the Handbook of the Birds of the World/BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World, Volume 1: Non-Passerines, by Josep del Hoyo and Nigel J. Collar (2014); 2. -
The Avifauna of Mt. Karimui, Chimbu Province, Papua New Guinea, Including Evidence for Long-Term Population Dynamics in Undisturbed Tropical Forest
Ben Freeman & Alexandra M. Class Freeman 30 Bull. B.O.C. 2014 134(1) The avifauna of Mt. Karimui, Chimbu Province, Papua New Guinea, including evidence for long-term population dynamics in undisturbed tropical forest Ben Freeman & Alexandra M. Class Freeman Received 27 July 2013 Summary.—We conducted ornithological feld work on Mt. Karimui and in the surrounding lowlands in 2011–12, a site frst surveyed for birds by J. Diamond in 1965. We report range extensions, elevational records and notes on poorly known species observed during our work. We also present a list with elevational distributions for the 271 species recorded in the Karimui region. Finally, we detail possible changes in species abundance and distribution that have occurred between Diamond’s feld work and our own. Most prominently, we suggest that Bicolored Mouse-warbler Crateroscelis nigrorufa might recently have colonised Mt. Karimui’s north-western ridge, a rare example of distributional change in an avian population inhabiting intact tropical forests. The island of New Guinea harbours a diverse, largely endemic avifauna (Beehler et al. 1986). However, ornithological studies are hampered by difculties of access, safety and cost. Consequently, many of its endemic birds remain poorly known, and feld workers continue to describe new taxa (Prat 2000, Beehler et al. 2007), report large range extensions (Freeman et al. 2013) and elucidate natural history (Dumbacher et al. 1992). Of necessity, avifaunal studies are usually based on short-term feld work. As a result, population dynamics are poorly known and limited to comparisons of diferent surveys or diferences noticeable over short timescales (Diamond 1971, Mack & Wright 1996). -
Papua New Guinea Huon Peninsula Extension I 25Th to 30Th June 2019 (6 Days) Trip Report
Papua New Guinea Huon Peninsula Extension I 25th to 30th June 2019 (6 days) Trip Report Huon Astrapia by Holger Teichmann Trip report compiled by Tour Leader: Adam Walleyn Rockjumper Birding Tours www.rockjumperbirding.com Trip Report – RBL Papua New Guinea Huon Extension I 2019 2 Tour in Detail Our group met up in Port Moresby for the late morning flight to Lae’s Nadzab airport. Upon arrival, we transferred to our comfortable hotel on the outskirts of Lae city. A walk around the expansive grounds turned up some 23 species to get our lists well underway, including Orange-bellied and Pink-spotted Fruit Dove (the latter of the distinct and range-restricted plumbeicollis race), Torresian Imperial Pigeon, Eclectus Parrot, and Yellow-faced Myna, not to mention perhaps 1,000 Spectacled Flying Foxes creating quite the sight and sound! Early the next morning we were back at Nadzab airport, where a quick scan of the airfield produced some Horsfield’s Bush Larks and also excellent looks at a male Papuan Harrier that did a close flyby being bombarded by numerous Masked Lapwings! We were soon boarding our charter flight Pink-spotted Fruit Doves by Holger Teichmann over the rugged Huon mountains, although we quickly entered dense clouds and could see nothing of these impressive mountains. After some half an hour of flying through thick cloud on the plane’s GPS track, we suddenly descended and made an uphill landing at Kabwum airstrip! Our land cruiser was there, waiting for us, and after loading bags and ourselves onboard we made the bumpy drive up many switchbacks to reach the high ridge above Kabwum. -
Pacific National Greta Provisioning Facility Biodiversity Offset Package
Pacific National Greta Provisioning Facility Biodiversity Offset Package January 2013 Contents 1. Executive Summary ................................................................ 1 2. Introduction ............................................................................. 3 2.1 Overview ........................................................................................ 3 2.2 Objectives ...................................................................................... 4 2.3 Relationship with Existing Reports .................................................. 6 2.4 Site Context .................................................................................... 6 2.5 BioBanking ................................................................................... 10 2.6 Glossary of Terms ........................................................................ 11 3. Methodology ......................................................................... 14 3.1 Desktop Assessment .................................................................... 14 3.2 BioBanking Assessment and Credit Calculation ............................ 14 3.3 Potential Offset Property Comparison ........................................... 15 3.4 Site Survey ................................................................................... 16 3.5 Staff Qualifications ........................................................................ 17 4. Existing Environment ............................................................ 21 4.1 Development Area ....................................................................... -
Australian Field Ornithology, Volume 32: Index
Australian Field Ornithology 2015, 32, 211–224 Australian Field Ornithology, Volume 32: Index INDEX OF ARTICLES Bird community in the Pilliga Forests, New South Wales, between 1918 and 2004, Changes in the ........................................................................................... 118 Bird community, The, of an Acacia-dominated secondary rainforest: A brief case study ............................................................................................................. 59 Crow, Torresian, Corvus orru, Exploring possible functions of vocalisations in the .............................................................................................. 201 Cuckoo, Long-tailed, A recent specimen of a, from Lord Howe Island ................. 53 D. L. Serventy Medal 2015: Citation - Stephen J. S. Debus ................................... 167 Eagles, Wedge-tailed, Aquila audax, Observations of the killing of large macropods by ....................................................................................................... 160 Editorial: A new look, new platform and new era for Australian Field Ornithology from 2016 ........................................................................................ 57 Fantail, Dimorphic, Rhipidura brachyrhyncha, Nest and egg of the, and a review of clutch-sizes in New Guinean passerines .............................................. 69 Frigatebird, Christmas, Fregata andrewsi in the Northern Territory, Australia, Additional records of .......................................................................................... -
Printable PDF Format
Field Guides Tour Report Australia Part 2 2019 Oct 22, 2019 to Nov 11, 2019 John Coons & Doug Gochfeld For our tour description, itinerary, past triplists, dates, fees, and more, please VISIT OUR TOUR PAGE. Water is a precious resource in the Australian deserts, so watering holes like this one near Georgetown are incredible places for concentrating wildlife. Two of our most bird diverse excursions were on our mornings in this region. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld. Australia. A voyage to the land of Oz is guaranteed to be filled with novelty and wonder, regardless of whether we’ve been to the country previously. This was true for our group this year, with everyone coming away awed and excited by any number of a litany of great experiences, whether they had already been in the country for three weeks or were beginning their Aussie journey in Darwin. Given the far-flung locales we visit, this itinerary often provides the full spectrum of weather, and this year that was true to the extreme. The drought which had gripped much of Australia for months on end was still in full effect upon our arrival at Darwin in the steamy Top End, and Georgetown was equally hot, though about as dry as Darwin was humid. The warmth persisted along the Queensland coast in Cairns, while weather on the Atherton Tablelands and at Lamington National Park was mild and quite pleasant, a prelude to the pendulum swinging the other way. During our final hours below O’Reilly’s, a system came through bringing with it strong winds (and a brush fire warning that unfortunately turned out all too prescient). -
Bird Abundances in Primary and Secondary Growths in Papua New Guinea: a Preliminary Assessment
Mongabay.com Open Access Journal - Tropical Conservation Science Vol.3 (4):373-388, 2010 Research Article Bird abundances in primary and secondary growths in Papua New Guinea: a preliminary assessment Kateřina Tvardíková1 1 Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biological Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, CZ- 370 05 České Budějovice. Email: <[email protected] Abstract Papua New Guinea is the third largest remaining area of tropical forest after the Amazon and Congo basins. However, the growing intensity of large-scale slash-and-burn agriculture and logging call for conservation research to assess how local people´s traditional land-use practices result in conservation of local biodiversity, of which a species-rich and diverse component is the avian community. With this in mind, I conducted a preliminary survey of birds in small-scale secondary plots and in adjacent primary forest in Wanang Conservation Area in Papua New Guinea. I used mist-netting, point counts, and transect walks to compare the bird communities of 7-year-old secondary growth, and neighboring primary forest. The preliminary survey lasted 10 days and was conducted during the dry season (July) of 2008. I found no significant differences in summed bird abundances between forest types. However, species richness was higher in primary forest (98 species) than in secondary (78 species). The response of individual feeding guilds was also variable. Two habitats differed mainly in presence of canopy frugivores, which were more abundant (more than 80%) in primary than in secondary forests. A large difference (70%) was found also in understory and mid-story insectivores. Species occurring mainly in secondary forest were Hooded Butcherbird (Cracticus cassicus), Brown Oriole (Oriolus szalayi), and Helmeted Friarbird (Philemon buceroides). -
Impacts of Deforestation on the Conservation Status of Endemic Birds in the North Maluku Endemic Bird Area from 1990-2003
Impacts of Deforestation on the Conservation Status of Endemic Birds in the North Maluku Endemic Bird Area from 1990-2003 John Vetter Dr. Jennifer Swenson, Advisor May 2009 Master's Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Environmental Management degree in the Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University May 2009 Abstract Satellite imagery has become a powerful tool to analyze land-use trends across large portions of the globe, including remote areas where access is logistically or political impossible. Due to the rapid pace of deforestation, the high biodiversity contained within, and the difficulty of access and standardized field surveys, the tropics are a key front for using remote sensing to identify target areas for conservation action and, more recently, to inform species-level trends. This study focuses on deforestation in eastern Indonesia, which has some of the highest rates of forest clearing in the world from mining, plantation expansion, timber extraction, and shifting agriculture. Forest loss on the highly biodiverse islands of the North Maluku district in eastern Indonesia was examined from 1990 to 2003 and the conservation status of 39 restricted-range avian species found in the area was re-assessed from these trends. Of the land area available for analysis, forests declined from 86% to just under 70% in these thirteen years, with much of this occurring in the lowlands (below 400m). Consequently, those species with large amounts of their range at low elevations were disproportionately affected, with 10 out of 25 endemic species being under more threat than currently listed by the IUCN Red List and only 3 being considered safer than currently listed. -
Nest, Egg, Incubation Behaviour and Parental Care in the Huon Bowerbird Amblyornis Germana
Australian Field Ornithology 2019, 36, 18–23 http://dx.doi.org/10.20938/afo36018023 Nest, egg, incubation behaviour and parental care in the Huon Bowerbird Amblyornis germana Richard H. Donaghey1, 2*, Donna J. Belder3, Tony Baylis4 and Sue Gould5 1Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Nathan 4111 QLD, Australia 280 Sawards Road, Myalla TAS 7325, Australia 3Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia 4628 Utopia Road, Brooweena QLD 4621, Australia 5269 Burraneer Road, Coomba Park NSW 2428, Australia *Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] Abstract. The Huon Bowerbird Amblyornis germana, recently elevated to species status, is endemic to montane forests on the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. The polygynous males in the Yopno Urawa Som Conservation Area build distinctive maypole bowers. We document for the first time the nest, egg, incubation behaviour, and parental care of this species. Three of the five nests found were built in tree-fern crowns. Nest structure and the single-egg clutch were similar to those of MacGregor’s Bowerbird A. macgregoriae. Only the female Huon Bowerbird incubated. Mean length of incubation sessions was 30.9 minutes and the number of sessions daily was 18. Diurnal incubation constancy over a 12-hour day was 74%, compared with a mean of ~70% in six other members of the bowerbird family. The downy nestling resembled that of MacGregor’s Bowerbird. Vocalisations of a female Huon Bowerbird at a nest with a nestling