{"title":"Prey-caching in the Nankeen Kestrel Falco cenchroides, and a review of caching in other Australian falcons","authors":"J. Fitzsimons, Janelle L. Thomas, S. Debus","doi":"10.20938/AFO36001004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20938/AFO36001004","url":null,"abstract":"We describe two instances of a Nankeen Kestrel Falco cenchroides caching a House Mouse Mus musculus in winter: (1) beneath ground vegetation, and (2) beneath a clod of earth in a ploughed field. As caching is seldom reported in this or other Australian falcons, we review reports of caching by Australian falcons, and by Northern Hemisphere kestrels in which the habit is well studied.","PeriodicalId":300476,"journal":{"name":"Australian Field Ornithology","volume":"541 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128744917","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Observations of the food brought to young at a nest of the Striated Pardalote Pardalotus striatus","authors":"David S. Thurley","doi":"10.20938/AFO33116118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20938/AFO33116118","url":null,"abstract":"The habit of the Striated Pardalote Pardalotus striatus of often foraging high above the ground and its being small in size and difficult to detect mean that few detailed observations have been made of the diet of this species. Here I report observations of food items taken to a nest on the patio of a house. The observations show that the adults feed their chicks a diet rich in lerps soon after hatching but with increasing quantities of insects as the chicks develop.","PeriodicalId":300476,"journal":{"name":"Australian Field Ornithology","volume":"74 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123976997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Grassfinch decline and local extinction of the Crimson Finch 'Neochmia phaeton' in the Fitzroy River Basin, Queensland","authors":"W. Houston, R. Black","doi":"10.20938/AFO33133142","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20938/AFO33133142","url":null,"abstract":"Many granivorous birds of northern Australia, including several species of grassfinches (Estrildidae), have suffered substantial range contractions in the last 50–100 years, apparently as a result of changes in cattle grazing and fire-management regimes. The Crimson Finch Neochmia phaeton was once widespread in woodlands and savannas of north-eastern Australia, including the extensive Fitzroy River Basin, where it was recorded in all the major subcatchments until the middle of last century. However, surveys in 2006–2008 show that it is now confined to a relatively small area in the north-east of the Basin. A tall river grass, Chionachne Chionachne cyathopoda , is an important component—for food and cover—of its habitat. Complex braiding of river channels, as at the confluence of rivers, is typical of the area where the Finches have persisted, possibly because it increases the availability of water and food, and reduces pressure from cattle grazing during the wet season. A recent local loss of the species was noted in one area where landholders used riparian fencing to maintain greater grazing intensity throughout the year, leading to suppression of Chionachne seeding. Thus, although generally favourable for conservation management, riparian fencing can also be used detrimentally. The loss of one local subpopulation of Finches following changed management practices demonstrates that cattle grazing alone, in the absence of changed fire management, has the capacity to alter habitat suitability for granivorous species.","PeriodicalId":300476,"journal":{"name":"Australian Field Ornithology","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121088644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Diet of one wild Western Ground Parrot Pezoporus flaviventris","authors":"Brenda Newbey","doi":"10.20938/afo33102110","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20938/afo33102110","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this study was to examine the diet of a wild Western Ground Parrot Pezoporus flaviventris , a cryptic and critically endangered species. There has been no previous systematic study of the diet for this species. A wild male Western Ground Parrot was filmed over several days in spring 2006, in the Fitzgerald River National Park, Western Australia. The bird was recorded feeding, sunbathing, preening and dozing in his natural habitat. Fifty 30-second samples of the video were used to obtain 555 feeding records. The bird’s diet at that time was most dependent on flowers (38%), followed by sedge seeds (35%), and a further 20% was comprised of green fruit of dicotyledonous plants. At least 27 plant species were consumed by the individual in this study. The plant species eaten varied considerably within and among 30-second video samples, as well as varying between days. The daily diet is likely to vary to a similar degree to the overall pattern. Other observations, combined with the findings of this study, emphasise the diversity of plant species in the diet of the Western Ground Parrot.","PeriodicalId":300476,"journal":{"name":"Australian Field Ornithology","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114247100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"New bird records from the Fortescue Marsh and nearby claypans, Pilbara bioregion, Western Australia","authors":"Colin R. Trainor, Chris Knuckey, R. Firth","doi":"10.20938/AFO33061081","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20938/AFO33061081","url":null,"abstract":"The Fortescue Marsh in the Pilbara bioregion, Western Australia, is an extensive ephemeral wetland that fills episodically. It is considered as a potential Ramsar site and is recognised as a nationally important wetland and an Important Bird Area. We surveyed birds at 21 sites on the Fortescue Marsh and a further 23 sites (44 sites in total), including nearby claypans Coondiner Pool and Mungthannannie Pool, in the Fortescue Valley over 12 days in March–April and July 2012. A total of 100 bird species (34 waterbird and 66 landbird species) was recorded during the survey. A further 86 bird species (including 28 waterbird species and 58 landbird species) were recorded for this area from searches of databases and the literature (total of 187 species; 62 waterbirds). New and significant observations during the survey included the first breeding record of Australian Shelduck Tadorna tadornoides for the Pilbara, the first breeding records on the Marsh of Black-tailed Native-hen Tribonyx ventralis and Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia, and the first record of Australian Painted Snipe Rostratula australis for the Fortescue Valley. Despite this area’s importance to breeding and visiting waterbirds, the birds of the Fortescue Marsh remain surprisingly under-studied. We highlight some significant but overlooked literature records of waterbirds on the Marsh. Further ground and aerial surveys, and ongoing monitoring of this region would be valuable.","PeriodicalId":300476,"journal":{"name":"Australian Field Ornithology","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134536419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Presence and breeding of the Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater in central New South Wales","authors":"John Rawsthorne","doi":"10.20938/AFO33097101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20938/AFO33097101","url":null,"abstract":"The seasonal presence and breeding of the Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Acanthagenys rufogularis , a nomadic frugivorous bird distributed across inland Australia, are documented and contrasted for three nearby but floristically distinct sites in central New South Wales during the period January 1986–January 2015. Eucalypt blossom at two of the sites (Charcoal Tank and Holy Camp) provided an autumn resource to which the Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater responded with influxes, but these sites supported limited breeding of this species, and only in higher-rainfall periods. In contrast, the high density of Grey Mistletoe Amyema quandang parasitising Weeping Myall Acacia pendula at the third study site (Battery Hill) provided a stable resource supporting breeding resident Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters in a lower-rainfall year.","PeriodicalId":300476,"journal":{"name":"Australian Field Ornithology","volume":"42 5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126094485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A necrophilic copulation by a Bridled Tern Onychoprion anaethetus","authors":"G. Fulton","doi":"10.20938/AFO33235236","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20938/AFO33235236","url":null,"abstract":"A Bridled Tern Onychoprion anaethetus was observed copulating with a deceased conspecific on an offshore island, Penguin Island, in south-western Australia. The copulation lasted for c. 30 seconds, in contrast with the usually 3-10 seconds observed in this species. This unusual copulation may simply be the result of a strong breeding drive present in colonially nesting Bridled Terns.","PeriodicalId":300476,"journal":{"name":"Australian Field Ornithology","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128146583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The only known egg of the Night Parrot? A molecular and morphometric assessment of an alleged egg from the Tanami Desert","authors":"P. Olsen, J. Austin, S. Murphy, Gavin M. Dally","doi":"10.20938/AFO33211214","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20938/AFO33211214","url":null,"abstract":"The Night Parrot Pezoporus occidentalis is a much sought-after, recently ‘rediscovered’, endangered nocturnal parrot, endemic to arid Central Australia. Very little is known of its ecology, and its eggs have never been formally described. The literature on the eggs of the Night Parrot is collated here, and the provenance of an alleged Night Parrot egg found in the Tanami Desert, Northern Territory, in 1983 was assessed using DNA analysis and physical characteristics. Anecdotal reports from the late 19th–early 20th Century indicate that the Night Parrot lays a clutch of two to six roundish, white eggs. We suggest that its eggs are probably similar to and slightly larger than those of its congener, the Ground Parrot P. wallicus. The alleged Night Parrot egg was definitively identified by mitochondrial DNA analysis to be from the Brown Quail Synoicus ypsilophorus. This represents the first evidence of breeding by this species in the Tanami Desert, and lays to rest a long-standing misconception regarding the parrot.","PeriodicalId":300476,"journal":{"name":"Australian Field Ornithology","volume":"94 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129077727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Partial loss of migratory behaviour by Torresian Imperial-Pigeons Ducula spilorrhoa in Darwin, Northern Territory","authors":"R. Noske, Amanda Lilleyman","doi":"10.20938/AFO33206210","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20938/AFO33206210","url":null,"abstract":"The Northern Territory population of the Torresian Imperial-Pigeon Ducula spilorrhoa was once considered to be completely migratory, departing for New Guinea in February and returning to breed in August. However, reporting rates from Darwin suggest that since at least the early 1990s a substantial proportion of birds ‘over-winter’ in the region. We monitored an evening roost-site each month from May 2011 to August 2014, counting birds in 5-minute intervals as they arrived. Mean numbers were highest during the late wet–early dry season transition months (March through May) and lowest during the late dry–early wet season transition period (September through November), although the maximum number (1325 birds) was counted in June 2011, following the wettest wet season on record. These observations confirm that many Torresian Imperial-Pigeons do not migrate to New Guinea after the breeding season, but it is not yet known if any individual birds are long-term residents. It is possible that residency in the early dry season has evolved because of year-round availability of food resources in the urban environment but we were unable to test this hypothesis.","PeriodicalId":300476,"journal":{"name":"Australian Field Ornithology","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114733760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The first specimen of a Malayan Night-Heron Gorsachius melanolophus from Australia","authors":"W. Boles, Michael J. Smith, L. Tsang, J. Sladek","doi":"10.20938/AFO33148150","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20938/AFO33148150","url":null,"abstract":"An immature male Malayan Night-Heron Gorsachius melanolophus found as road-kill on Christmas Island in 2011 represents the first specimen of this species from Australian territory to be retained (although other individuals have been seen and one was trapped, measured and released). The specimen is now preserved in the bird collection of the Australian Museum.","PeriodicalId":300476,"journal":{"name":"Australian Field Ornithology","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134079231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}