DOCSLIB.ORG

Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for Australian Birds

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for Australian Birds Climate change adaptation strategies for Australian birds Final Report Stephen Garnett, Donald Franklin, Glenn Ehmke, Jeremy VanDerWal, Lauren Hodgson, Chris Pavey, April Reside, Justin Welbergen, Stuart Butchart, Genevieve Perkins and Stephen Williams CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION STRATEGIES FOR AUSTRALIAN BIRDS Adaptation strategies for Australian birds Charles Darwin University AUTHORS Stephen Garnett - Charles Darwin University Donald Franklin - Charles Darwin University Glenn Ehmke - BirdLife Australia Jeremy VanDerWal - James Cook University Lauren Hodgson - James Cook University Chris Pavey - CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences April Reside - James Cook University Justin Welbergen - James Cook University Stuart Butchart - BirdLife International, Genevieve Perkins - CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences Stephen Williams - James Cook University Published by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility ISBN: 978-1-925039-14-6 NCCARF Publication 43/13 © Charles Darwin University and the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the copyright holder. Please cite this report as: Garnett, S, Franklin, D, Ehmke, G, VanDerWal, J, Hodgson, L, Pavey, C, Reside, A, Welbergen, J, Butchart, S, Perkins, G, Williams, S 2013 Climate change adaptation strategies for Australian birds, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Gold Coast, pp. 109. Acknowledgement This work was carried out with financial support from the Australian Government (Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) and the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF). The role of NCCARF is to lead the research community in a national interdisciplinary effort to generate the information needed by decision-makers in government, business and in vulnerable sectors and communities to manage the risk of climate change impacts. Disclaimer The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Commonwealth or NCCARF, and neither the Commonwealth nor NCCARF accept responsibility for information or advice contained herein. Cover image/s © 2010 0ystercatcher, Flickr Creative Commons TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................. 3 1. OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH ..................................................................... 5 2. RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AND METHODS ........................................................... 7 2.1 Selection of taxa needing adaptation strategies .............................................. 7 2.1.1 Scope ...................................................................................................... 7 2.1.2 Geographic range .................................................................................... 7 2.1.3 Taxonomy ................................................................................................ 7 2.1.4 Habitat groups ......................................................................................... 7 2.2 Exposure and Sensitivity .............................................................................. 10 2.2.1 Exposure ............................................................................................... 10 2.2.2 Sensitivity .............................................................................................. 17 2.3 Adaptation strategies .................................................................................... 20 2.3.1 In-situ management ............................................................................... 23 2.3.2 Assisted colonisation ............................................................................. 26 2.3.3 Ex-situ management .............................................................................. 27 2.3.4 Monitoring and research ........................................................................ 28 2.4 Costs ............................................................................................................ 29 2.4.1 Defined actions ...................................................................................... 29 2.4.2 On-going actions ................................................................................... 30 2.5 Timing .......................................................................................................... 31 2.5.1 Immediate actions ................................................................................. 31 2.5.2 Future actions ........................................................................................ 32 3. RESULTS AND OUTPUTS ................................................................................. 34 3.1 Data sets ...................................................................................................... 34 3.2 Exposure ...................................................................................................... 35 3.2.1 Taxa of terrestrial environments and inland waters ................................ 35 3.2.2 Mangrove taxa ....................................................................................... 41 3.2.3 Marine taxa ............................................................................................ 41 3.2.4 Coastal taxa .......................................................................................... 44 3.2.5 Small island taxa ................................................................................... 45 3.3 Sensitivity ..................................................................................................... 46 Climate change adaptation strategies for Australian birds i 3.3.1 Sensitivity metrics .................................................................................. 46 3.3.2 Most sensitive taxa ................................................................................ 47 3.3.3 What drives the sensitivity of very highly sensitive taxa? ....................... 53 3.4 Exposure and Sensitivity ............................................................................... 55 3.5 Threatened taxa ............................................................................................ 57 3.6 Adaptation strategies and associated costs .................................................. 58 3.6.1 Immediate actions .................................................................................. 58 3.6.2 Future actions ........................................................................................ 64 3.6.3 Total costs ............................................................................................. 72 4. DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................... 74 4.1 In situ adaptation .......................................................................................... 74 4.2 Assisted colonisation and genetic augmentation ........................................... 75 4.2.1 Genetic augmentation ............................................................................ 75 4.2.2 Assisted colonisation ............................................................................. 75 4.3 Ex situ conservation ...................................................................................... 76 4.4 Uncertainty ................................................................................................... 76 4.4.1 Sensitivity .............................................................................................. 77 4.4.2 Exposure ............................................................................................... 77 4.4.3 Vulnerability ........................................................................................... 78 4.4.4 Actions ................................................................................................... 79 4.4.5 Cost uncertainties .................................................................................. 80 4.5 Costs of climate change adaptation .............................................................. 81 5. GAPS AND FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS ............................................... 82 5.1 Knowledge gaps and research directions ...................................................... 82 5.2 Skills gaps .................................................................................................... 83 5.3 Funding gaps ................................................................................................ 83 6. REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 85 APPENDIX 1. CLIMATE SCENARIOS AND BIOCLIMATIC VARIABLES ............... 102 Appendix 1.1: Representative Concentration Pathways used in analysis. ............. 102 Appendix 1.2: Eighteen Global Climate Models used in analysis. .......................... 103 Appendix 1.3: Thirty-year climate coverage ........................................................... 106 Appendix 1.4: Bioclimatic variables ....................................................................... 107 APPENDIX 2. TAXA MODELLED AT A 1 KM SCALE BECAUSE THE TOPOGRAPHIC ROUGHNESS OF TERRAIN THEY OCCUPY IS LIKELY TO CAUSE STEEP CLIMATIC GRADIENTS .............................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Brooklyn, Cloudland, Melsonby (Gaarraay)
    BUSH BLITZ SPECIES DISCOVERY PROGRAM Brooklyn, Cloudland, Melsonby (Gaarraay) Nature Refuges Eubenangee Swamp, Hann Tableland, Melsonby (Gaarraay) National Parks Upper Bridge Creek Queensland 29 April–27 May · 26–27 July 2010 Australian Biological Resources Study What is Contents Bush Blitz? Bush Blitz is a four-year, What is Bush Blitz? 2 multi-million dollar Abbreviations 2 partnership between the Summary 3 Australian Government, Introduction 4 BHP Billiton and Earthwatch Reserves Overview 6 Australia to document plants Methods 11 and animals in selected properties across Australia’s Results 14 National Reserve System. Discussion 17 Appendix A: Species Lists 31 Fauna 32 This innovative partnership Vertebrates 32 harnesses the expertise of many Invertebrates 50 of Australia’s top scientists from Flora 62 museums, herbaria, universities, Appendix B: Threatened Species 107 and other institutions and Fauna 108 organisations across the country. Flora 111 Appendix C: Exotic and Pest Species 113 Fauna 114 Flora 115 Glossary 119 Abbreviations ANHAT Australian Natural Heritage Assessment Tool EPBC Act Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Commonwealth) NCA Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Queensland) NRS National Reserve System 2 Bush Blitz survey report Summary A Bush Blitz survey was conducted in the Cape Exotic vertebrate pests were not a focus York Peninsula, Einasleigh Uplands and Wet of this Bush Blitz, however the Cane Toad Tropics bioregions of Queensland during April, (Rhinella marina) was recorded in both Cloudland May and July 2010. Results include 1,186 species Nature Refuge and Hann Tableland National added to those known across the reserves. Of Park. Only one exotic invertebrate species was these, 36 are putative species new to science, recorded, the Spiked Awlsnail (Allopeas clavulinus) including 24 species of true bug, 9 species of in Cloudland Nature Refuge.
    [Show full text]
  • Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna Survey for Anketell Point Rail Alignment and Port Projects
    Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna Survey for Anketell Point Rail Alignment and Port Projects Prepared for Australian Premium Iron Management Pty Ltd FINAL REPORT 26 July 2010 Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna Survey for Anketell Point Rail Alignment and Port Projects Australian Premium Iron Management Pty Ltd Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna Survey for Anketell Point Rail Alignment and Port Projects Final Report Prepared for Australian Premium Iron Management Pty Ltd by Phoenix Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd Authors: Greg Harewood, Karen Crews Reviewer: Melanie White, Stewart Ford Date: 26 July 2010 Submitted to: Michelle Carey © Phoenix Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd 2010. The use of this report is solely for the Client for the purpose in which it was prepared. Phoenix Environmental Sciences accepts no responsibility for use beyond this purpose. All rights are reserved and no part of this publication may be reproduced or copied in any form without the written permission of Phoenix Environmental Sciences or Australian Premium Iron Management. Phoenix Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd 1/511 Wanneroo Road BALCATTA WA 6914 P: 08 9345 1608 F: 08 6313 0680 E: [email protected] Project code: 925-AP-API-FAU Phoenix Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd ii Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna Survey for Anketell Point Rail Alignment and Port Projects Australian Premium Iron Management Pty Ltd TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..........................................................................................................................v 1.0 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • DIET of the EASTERN BRISTLEBIRD Dasyornis Brachypterus in NEW SOUTH WALES
    Corella, 2004, 28(3): 79-81 DIET OF THE EASTERN BRISTLEBIRD Dasyornis brachypterus IN NEW SOUTH WALES LINDA GIBSON1 and JACK BAKER2 'Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, New South Wales 2010 'Institute of Conservation Biology. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong, New South Wales 2522 Received: I October 2003 7 The diet of the Eastern Bristlebird Oasyomis brachypterus in New South Wales was determined from observations and an analysis of faeces, stomach and gut contents of 18 birds caught in or obtained from Booderee National Park, Jervis Bay and Barren Grounds Nature Reserve, New South Wales. The study showed these birds largely take mobile terrestrial invertebrate species, the majority of which are ants and beetles. There is some indication that plant material, especially seeds, are also part of the diet. Observations suggest that the diet is opportunistic and based on foraging behaviour of 'peck it and see'. INTRODUCTION STUDY AREA AND METHODS Dasyornis brachypterus The specimens used in this study were obtained from two sites. The rare Eastern Bristlebird ° ° (Passeriformes: Pardalotidae), is a small, semi-flightless, Booderee National Park, (35 08'S, l 50 45'E) a Commonwealth of Australia owned area that occupies most of the Bherwerre brownish bird inhabiting low, dense vegetation in coastal Peninsula, on the southern side of Jervis Bay, on the south coast and near coastal south-eastern Australia. It once occurred of New South Wales and Barren Grounds Nature Reserve (34°40'S, in an almost continuous distribution from southern l 50 °42'E) on the lllawarra plateau, west of Kiama, New South Queensland to western Victoria (Baker 1997).
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • Sericornis, Acanthizidae)
    GENETIC AND MORPHOLOGICAL DIFFERENTIATION AND PHYLOGENY IN THE AUSTRALO-PAPUAN SCRUBWRENS (SERICORNIS, ACANTHIZIDAE) LESLIE CHRISTIDIS,1'2 RICHARD $CHODDE,l AND PETER R. BAVERSTOCK 3 •Divisionof Wildlifeand Ecology, CSIRO, P.O. Box84, Lyneham,Australian Capital Territory 2605, Australia, 2Departmentof EvolutionaryBiology, Research School of BiologicalSciences, AustralianNational University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia, and 3EvolutionaryBiology Unit, SouthAustralian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia ASS•CRACr.--Theinterrelationships of 13 of the 14 speciescurrently recognized in the Australo-Papuan oscinine scrubwrens, Sericornis,were assessedby protein electrophoresis, screening44 presumptivelo.ci. Consensus among analysesindicated that Sericorniscomprises two primary lineagesof hithertounassociated species: S. beccarii with S.magnirostris, S.nouhuysi and the S. perspicillatusgroup; and S. papuensisand S. keriwith S. spiloderaand the S. frontalis group. Both lineages are shared by Australia and New Guinea. Patternsof latitudinal and altitudinal allopatry and sequencesof introgressiveintergradation are concordantwith these groupings,but many featuresof external morphologyare not. Apparent homologiesin face, wing and tail markings, used formerly as the principal criteria for grouping species,are particularly at variance and are interpreted either as coinherited ancestraltraits or homo- plasies. Distribution patternssuggest that both primary lineageswere first split vicariantly between
    [Show full text]
  • Recommended Band Size List Page 1
    Jun 00 Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme - Recommended Band Size List Page 1 Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme Recommended Band Size List - Birds of Australia and its Territories Number 24 - May 2000 This list contains all extant bird species which have been recorded for Australia and its Territories, including Antarctica, Norfolk Island, Christmas Island and Cocos and Keeling Islands, with their respective RAOU numbers and band sizes as recommended by the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme. The list is in two parts: Part 1 is in taxonomic order, based on information in "The Taxonomy and Species of Birds of Australia and its Territories" (1994) by Leslie Christidis and Walter E. Boles, RAOU Monograph 2, RAOU, Melbourne, for non-passerines; and “The Directory of Australian Birds: Passerines” (1999) by R. Schodde and I.J. Mason, CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, for passerines. Part 2 is in alphabetic order of common names. The lists include sub-species where these are listed on the Census of Australian Vertebrate Species (CAVS version 8.1, 1994). CHOOSING THE CORRECT BAND Selecting the appropriate band to use combines several factors, including the species to be banded, variability within the species, growth characteristics of the species, and band design. The following list recommends band sizes and metals based on reports from banders, compiled over the life of the ABBBS. For most species, the recommended sizes have been used on substantial numbers of birds. For some species, relatively few individuals have been banded and the size is listed with a question mark. In still other species, too few birds have been banded to justify a size recommendation and none is made.
    [Show full text]
  • 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).
    [Show full text]
  • Australia ‐ Part Two 2016 (With Tasmania Extension to Nov 7)
    Field Guides Tour Report Australia ‐ Part Two 2016 (with Tasmania extension to Nov 7) Oct 18, 2016 to Nov 2, 2016 Chris Benesh & Cory Gregory For our tour description, itinerary, past triplists, dates, fees, and more, please VISIT OUR TOUR PAGE. The sunset over Cumberland Dam near Georgetown was especially vibrant. Photo by guide Cory Gregory. The country of Australia is a vast one, with a wide range of geography, flora, and fauna. This tour, ranging from the Top End over to Queensland (with some participants continuing on to Tasmania), sampled a diverse set of regions and an impressively wide range of birds. Whether it was the colorful selection of honeyeaters, the variety of parrots, the many rainforest specialties, or even the diverse set of world-class mammals, we covered a lot of ground and saw a wealth of birds. We began in the tropical north, in hot and humid Darwin, where Torresian Imperial-Pigeons flew through town, Black Kites soared overhead, and we had our first run-ins with Magpie-Larks. We ventured away from Darwin to bird Fogg Dam, where we enjoyed Large-tailed Nightjar in the predawn hours, majestic Black-necked Storks in the fields nearby, and even a Rainbow Pitta and Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove in the nearby forest! We also visited areas like Darwin River Dam, where some rare Black-tailed Treecreepers put on a show and Northern Rosellas flew around us. We can’t forget additional spots near Darwin, like East Point, Buffalo Creek, and Lee Point, where we gazed out on the mudflats and saw a variety of coast specialists, including Beach Thick-knee and Gull-billed Tern.
    [Show full text]
  • Birdquest Australia (Western and Christmas
    Chestnut-backed Button-quail in the north was a bonus, showing brilliantly for a long time – unheard of for this family (Andy Jensen) WESTERN AUSTRALIA 5/10 – 27 SEPTEMBER 2017 LEADER: ANDY JENSEN ASSISTANT: STUART PICKERING ! ! 1 BirdQuest Tour Report: Western Australia (including Christmas Island) 2017 www.birdquest-tours.com Western Shrike-tit was one of the many highlights in the southwest (Andy Jensen) Western Australia, if it were a country, would be the 10th largest in the world! The BirdQuest Western Australia (including Christmas Island) 2017 tour offered an unrivalled opportunity to cover a large portion of this area, as well as the offshore territory of Christmas Island (located closer to Indonesia than mainland Australia). Western Australia is a highly diverse region with a range of habitats. It has been shaped by the isolation caused by the surrounding deserts. This isolation has resulted in a richly diverse fauna, with a high degree of endemism. A must visit for any birder. This tour covered a wide range of the habitats Western Australia has to offer as is possible in three weeks, including the temperate Karri and Wandoo woodlands and mallee of the southwest, the coastal heathlands of the southcoast, dry scrub and extensive uncleared woodlands of the goldfields, coastal plains and mangroves around Broome, and the red-earth savannah habitats and tropical woodland of the Kimberley. The climate varied dramatically Conditions ranged from minus 1c in the Sterling Ranges where we were scraping ice off the windscreen, to nearly 40c in the Kimberley, where it was dust needing to be removed from the windscreen! We were fortunate with the weather – aside from a few minutes of drizzle as we staked out one of the skulkers in the Sterling Ranges, it remained dry the whole time.
    [Show full text]
  • Black Currawong Strepera Fuliginosa Species No.: 696 Band Size: 09 SS
    Australian Bird Study Association Inc. – Bird in the Hand (Second Edition), published on www.absa.asn.au - Revised September 2019 Black Currawong Strepera fuliginosa Species No.: 696 Band size: 09 SS Morphometrics: Three subspecies: nominate S.f. fuliginosa (Tasmania mainland); ssp. S.f. colei (King Island) and ssp. S.f. parvior (Flinders Island). Measurements for the nominate are given below: Adult Male Adult Female Wing: 254 – 282 mm 250 – 265 mm Tail: 179 – 204 mm 177 – 195 mm Bill: 67.0 – 73.9 mm 61.1 – 69.7 mm THL: 96.6 – 110.3 mm Tarsus: 54.7 – 64.5 mm 54.6 – 61.6 mm Weight: 365 – 457 g 327 – 353 g Ageing: Adult (2+) Immature (2-) or (1) Juvenile Bill: black; black; bluish-grey with greyish- black distal half; Gape: black; yellow; pale yellow; Iris: yellow, red-orange, orange-yellow, lemon- dull straw yellow; orange-yellow or yellow or mid-yellow; orange; Overall plumage appearance of juveniles is greyish-black to brownish-black; A post juvenile moult is completed within a few months of fledging. This results in an immature plumage that includes many adult-like blackish feathers, but also retain juvenile greater secondary coverts with off-white rosethorn-shaped tips, rectrices, alula and primaries, all of which have more pointed tips than those of adults; Complete moult to adult plumage commences early in the second year coinciding with adult post- breeding moult. Thus adults are aged (2+). Sexing: No difference in plumage, but males are larger than females and weight in particular may be a useful sexing criterion; No information on incubation.
    [Show full text]
  • REVIEWS Edited by J
    REVIEWS Edited by J. M. Penhallurick BOOKS A Field Guide to the Seabirds of Britain and the World by is consistent in the text (pp 264 - 5) but uses Fleshy-footed Gerald Tuck and Hermann Heinzel, 1978. London: Collins. (a bette~name) in the map (p. 270). Pp xxviii + 292, b. & w. ills.?. 56-, col. pll2 +48, maps 314. 130 x 200 mm. B.25. Parslow does not use scientific names and his English A Field Guide to the Seabirds of Australia and the World by names follow the British custom of dropping the locally Gerald Tuck and Hermann Heinzel, 1980. London: Collins. superfluous adjectives, Thus his names are Leach's Storm- Pp xxviii + 276, b. & w. ills c. 56, col. pll2 + 48, maps 300. Petrel, with a hyphen, and Storm Petrel, without a hyphen; 130 x 200 mm. $A 19.95. and then the Fulmar, the Gannet, the Cormorant, the Shag, A Guide to Seabirds on the Ocean Routes by Gerald Tuck, the Kittiwake and the Puffin. On page 44 we find also 1980. London: Collins. Pp 144, b. & w. ills 58, maps 2. Storm Petrel but elsewhere Hydrobates pelagicus is called 130 x 200 mm. Approx. fi.50. the British Storm-Petrel. A fourth variation in names occurs on page xxv for Comparison of the first two of these books reveals a ridi- seabirds on the danger list of the Red Data Book, where culous discrepancy in price, which is about the only impor- Macgillivray's Petrel is a Pterodroma but on page 44 it is tant difference between them.
    [Show full text]
  • Eastern Australia: October-November 2016
    Tropical Birding Trip Report Eastern Australia: October-November 2016 A Tropical Birding SET DEPARTURE tour EASTERN AUSTRALIA: From Top to Bottom 23rd October – 11th November 2016 The bird of the trip, the very impressive POWERFUL OWL Tour Leader: Laurie Ross All photos in this report were taken by Laurie Ross/Tropical Birding. 1 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Page Tropical Birding Trip Report Eastern Australia: October-November 2016 INTRODUCTION The Eastern Australia Set Departure Tour introduces a huge amount of new birds and families to the majority of the group. We started the tour in Cairns in Far North Queensland, where we found ourselves surrounded by multiple habitats from the tidal mudflats of the Cairns Esplanade, the Great Barrier Reef and its sandy cays, lush lowland and highland rainforests of the Atherton Tablelands, and we even made it to the edge of the Outback near Mount Carbine; the next leg of the tour took us south to Southeast Queensland where we spent time in temperate rainforests and wet sclerophyll forests within Lamington National Park. The third, and my favorite leg, of the tour took us down to New South Wales, where we birded a huge variety of new habitats from coastal heathland to rocky shorelines and temperate rainforests in Royal National Park, to the mallee and brigalow of Inland New South Wales. The fourth and final leg of the tour saw us on the beautiful island state of Tasmania, where we found all 13 “Tassie” endemics. We had a huge list of highlights, from finding a roosting Lesser Sooty Owl in Malanda; to finding two roosting Powerful Owls near Brisbane; to having an Albert’s Lyrebird walk out in front of us at O Reilly’s; to seeing the rare and endangered Regent Honeyeaters in the Capertee Valley, and finding the endangered Swift Parrot on Bruny Island, in Tasmania.
    [Show full text]