Emu - Austral Ornithology Volume 115, Issue 2, 2015 Summaries Distinctiveness of Pacific Robin subspecies in Vanuatu revealed from disparate patterns of sexual dichromatism, plumage colouration, morphometrics and ancient DNA Anna M. Kearns, Lauren C. White, Jeremy J. Austin and Kevin E. Omland Emu – Austral Ornithology 115(2), 89–98 http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MU14076.htm The Pacific Ocean is dotted with hundreds of islands, many isolated so that island populations begin to differ from each other, and eventually new species are formed. Pacific Robins are a textbook example of such island speciation, being one of the world's most variable birds in terms of sexual differences in plumage. On many islands the males are bold black and red while the females are dull brown, however on other islands the males and females are identical – either both being bold or both being dull. Researchers have long theorised about what causes these different sexual plumage-types. Do they represent three different species scattered across the islands? Or has a complex tug-of-war between natural and sexual selection led to the birds evolving the same patterns multiple times in different places? This study explores these questions in Vanuatu, the only archipelago where all three sexual plumage-types occur. We show for the first time that genetic relatedness does not explain how the different plumage patterns evolve, suggesting that other evolutionary processes are leading to the repeated evolution of the same plumage patterns on different islands. We also identify a new subspecies that has distinct plumage and DNA from all other subspecies. The species and functional diversity of birds in almond orchards, apple orchards, vineyards and eucalypt woodlots Gary W. Luck, Kelly Hunt and Andrew Carter Emu – Austral Ornithology 115(2), 99–109 http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MU14022.htm Although agriculture is the most common land use in Australia, little is known about which bird species use particular agricultural crops. This is important because some bird species may damage crops while others may provide vital services to growers, such as control of insect pests. We found that the richness and diversity of bird species was highest in almond orchards compared to eucalypt woodlots, apple orchards and vineyards. The composition of bird communities also differed among land uses, suggesting that different crops constitute different habitats for birds. Increasing land-use intensification did not reduce the number of functional types of birds in a consistent way, and there is scope for birds to contribute to important ecological functions (like pollination and waste disposal) in different crop types. The future management of Australian agriculture requires balancing bird conservation with the negative and positive impacts that bird activity can have on production. A coraciiform-like bird quadrate from the Early Eocene Tingamarra local fauna of Queensland, Australia Andrzej Elzanowski and Walter E. Boles Emu – Austral Ornithology 115(2), 110–116 http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MU14084.htm The fossil record of birds in Australia is poor between the Early Cretaceous and Late Oligocene, with only a single site producing specimens of non-marine birds. The locality Murgon, in southeast Queensland, has yielded fossils dated as Early Eocene (55 million years old). The importance of Murgon is that it provides the only view into Australian avifauna at this time. To date, the birds identified from this locality are an early waterfowl representative, a superficially stone-curlew-like bird, a putative songbird (the oldest described from anywhere in the world) and, now, an early member of the lineage including kingfishers, bee-eaters, hoopoes and other ‘coraciiform’ birds. The last identification is based on a partial quadrate, a distinctive but rarely studied bone on which the jaw articulates with the skull. While coraciiform-like birds are well known from the Northern Hemisphere of this age, this is the oldest example from the Southern Hemisphere. It is thus important in understanding the early development of an arboreal bird fauna in Australia. Can Australian bush birds be used as canaries? Detection of pervasive environmental impacts at an arid Australian mine site John L. Read, Benjamin Parkhurst and Steven Delean Emu – Austral Ornithology 115(2), 117–125 http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MU14069.htm The responses of birds to an Australian arid-zone mine were investigated in this 13-year study. Crested Bellbirds, Grey Butcherbirds, Red-capped Robins and Chestnut-rumped Thornbills were consistently recorded in lower abundances near the mine compared with more remote sites, possibly due to acoustic masking of their calls. By contrast, species such as several raptors, pigeons, swallows and Zebra Finches that benefit from human-made elements of their habitat, including water or nesting sites, were recorded in higher abundances near the mine. Despite considerable temporal variation in individual species abundances, we also show that differences associated with proximity to the mine are relatively stable for some bird species and especially a group of selected bioindicator birds. Our ability to detect pervasive environmental impacts of mining disturbances beyond direct mining impacts was improved, not surprisingly, by excluding disturbance-favouring birds from species-richness calculations. One method does not suit all: variable settlement responses of three procellariid species to vocalisation playbacks Rachel T. Buxton, Christopher J. Jones, Henrik Moller and Philip O’B. Lyver Emu – Austral Ornithology 115(2), 126–136 http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MU14051.htm Playback of animal calls is used in restoration programmes to attract social animals to areas where they have been extirpated. This technique is an affordable alternative to relocating animals, and is now commonly used to restore seabird colonies. The success rates of attracting seabirds using vocalizations are variable between and within species, and the reasons for this variation are poorly understood. We tested the attraction of three different nocturnal seabird species to playback of their own calls at three different sites. Sites with different densities of nearby breeding birds were used, to test the effect of source population size on the level of attraction to call-playback. We found that attraction to call-playback varied between sites and species, where one species was not attracted to playback at all, and the other two species were more attracted at sites with dense nearby source populations. Although call-playback has the potential to be an effective restoration technique for seabirds, we caution that its effectiveness for individual species at different sites should be assessed at the outset of restoration initiatives. Optimising translocation efforts of Mottled Petrels (Pterodroma inexpectata): growth, provisioning, meal size and the efficacy of an artificial diet for chicks Rachael L. Sagar, Antje Leseberg, Ken Hunt, Kahori Nakagawa, Brendon Dunphy and Matt J. Rayner Emu – Austral Ornithology 115(2), 137–145 http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MU14056.htm Mottled Petrels, Pterodroma inexpectata, are mid-sized burrowing seabirds endemic to New Zealand that play a key role in driving terrestrial biodiversity by providing marine-terrestrial nutrient linkages. Mottled Petrels once bred in high numbers throughout New Zealand, though are now considered ‘near threatened’ due to recent human-driven habitat loss and predation. Their former distribution means that Mottled Petrels are a popular candidate for restoration projects aimed at enhancing species populations and restoring ecological links between land and sea. However, before these translocations can proceed, critical knowledge of Mottled Petrel breeding biology, and assessment of the appropriateness of current translocation techniques, are required to guide species-specific restoration management protocols. This study aimed to characterise previously unknown aspects of breeding biology critical for the successful translocation of Mottled Petrels. Mottled Petrel chicks that underwent an experimental translocation in 2012 fledged in good condition, with mean fledging weight equal to mean adult weight (325 g), which bodes well for future efforts aimed at restoring this species within its former range. The study indicated that the optimal age to translocate Mottled Petrel chicks is 20 to 15 days before fledging, with morphological indicators of this age equating to a wing-chord length greater than 224 mm and weight of greater than 490 g. Translocated chicks should be provisioned with approximately one 35 g meal of the standard sardine diet every three days until fledging, with a target fledging weight of approximately 350 g. It is expected that these findings will benefit the conservation management of Mottled Petrels, including the refinement of translocation practices specific to Mottled Petrels, and other species of Pterodroma. Effects of predation by introduced mammals and mortality due to severe floods on population viability of the endangered Blue Duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos) Craig Simpkins, George L. W. Perry, Andrew Glaser, Tim Allerby and Todd E. Dennis Emu – Austral Ornithology 115(2), 146–157 http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MU14057.htm Predation by introduced species and anthropogenic climate change now are two major threats to birds worldwide. We developed a computer simulation model to perform a population viability analysis