Feather Fascination!

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Feather Fascination! with local Birdwatcher, Jim Butler CALLING FROM THE CANOPY oday it is almost impossible to and Northern Australia; and Tbe in the bush for more than the third, the Yellow Oriole, is ten minutes without hearing the found in Northern Australia. The repetitious calling of the Olive- Olive-backed Oriole (Oriolus backed Oriole. And this calling will sagittatus) was first described in go on and on until well into 2017! 1802 by the English ornithologist There is usually only one bird in John Latham: Oriolus is latin the vicinity and it is exceptionally for “golden bird”; and sagitta is hard to see because of its olive latin for “arrow”, and refers to the colouring and its preference for arrow-like marks on the breast foraging in the forest canopy. The and stomach. calling of the Olive-backed Oriole The Olive-backed Oriole has is complex, because along with its plenty of red: beak, eye and own call it is a wonderful mimic of gape. It is well-known they feed the calls of other forest birds. principally on fruit in canopy trees Globally, there are 33 species of that produce abundant berries, as the beautiful Orioles, all boldly in the photo. However, motion- coloured with splashes of yellow sensitive cameras have recently and red, and remarkably similar revealed new information. Nest in shape and size (28cm). There predation is the most common are three members of the family source of nest failure, yet the in Australia. Two live with us, identity of the predators is not the Olive-backed Oriole and well known. In 2014 an Olive- the Australasian Figbird, and backed Oriole was photographed are found throughout Eastern taking young from the nest of a Grey Fantail and destroying the nest in the process. And in 2014 the first ever detailed study of the breeding biology of the Olive-backed Oriole was published which is essential knowledge for its preservation. Go bush and meet an Oriole – Jim.

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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).
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This may be the author’s version of a work that was submitted/accepted for publication in the following source: Wells, Dezmond (2010) Birds : indicators of environmental repair in oil affected coastlines. (Unpublished) This file was downloaded from: https://eprints.qut.edu.au/59524/ c Copyright 2010 Dezmond Wells This work is covered by copyright. Unless the document is being made available under a Creative Commons Licence, you must assume that re-use is limited to personal use and that permission from the copyright owner must be obtained for all other uses. If the docu- ment is available under a Creative Commons License (or other specified license) then refer to the Licence for details of permitted re-use. It is a condition of access that users recog- nise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. If you believe that this work infringes copyright please provide details by email to [email protected] Notice: Please note that this document may not be the Version of Record (i.e. published version) of the work. Author manuscript versions (as Sub- mitted for peer review or as Accepted for publication after peer review) can be identified by an absence of publisher branding and/or typeset appear- ance. If there is any doubt, please refer to the published source. Birds - Indicators of Environmental Repair in Oil Affected Coastlines 1 Birds - Indicators of Environmental Repair in Oil Affected Coastlines Dezmond. R. Wells (GradDipEd , BSc, , AssDipAppSc)A ABirds Australia Southern Queensland, 32 Panoramic Dr, Narangba, QLD 4504, Australia. Email: [email protected] Abstract Bird coastal communities were studied along Bribie Island and Moreton Island, two islands within Moreton Bay, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, using the point counts method.
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Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo Black Kite (male and female) length 58 cm length 53 cm Dollarbird length 27 cm Torresian Imperial- Pigeon length 40 cm Black Butcherbird length 41 cm Red-collared Lorikeet length 30 cm Eastern Koel Australasian Figbird length 42 cm length 28 cm Rainbow bee-eater length 24 cm Tawny Frogmouth length 44 cm Red-winged Parrot length 32cm Crimson Finch length 13 cm White-breasted Mistletoebird Magpie-lark Double-barred finch Woodswallow length 17 cm length 10cm length 28 cm length 10 cm OF DARWIN Lemon-bellied Grey-crowned Brown Honeyeater Blue-faced honeyeater Striated Pardalote Flycatcher Babbler length 27 cm length 14 cm length 28 cm length 9 cm length 18 cm Orange-footed Scrubfowl length 45 cm Bush-stone Curlew Bar-shoulder Dove length 56 cm length 28 cm Masked Lapwing length 36 cm For inquiries about birds and domestic gardens, contact: BIRDS IN BACKYARDS www.birdsinbackyards.net t (02) 9647 1875 AUSSIE BACKYARD BIRD COUNT www.aussiebirdcount.org.au t (03) 9347 0757 BIRDLIFE AUSTRALIA www.birdlife.org.au t 1300 730 075 Printed on recycled paper Birds in Your Garden How to bring back the little ones… Providing water: Australia-wide, populations of many of our small bird Birds need fresh water but they are vulnerable when species are declining. Once common birds such as they are drinking or bathing and need to feel safe. ﬁnches, fairy-wrens, silvereyes and small honeyeaters, We should: are becoming rare or, in some places are no longer đƫ place birdbaths beyond the reach of cats, and in being seen at all.
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