Yesterday morning I found a dead bird on the rocky beach on the inshore side of Yacaaba headland (the northern headland of Port Stephens NSW). The bird had been heavily predated, whether this was the cause of its demise is unclear. It had a green band on its left leg and a yellow on its right, bearing the letters ‘SUTH” and the number “1105”. There were some other numbers and letters which I was unable to decipher owing to not having my glasses with me. One might have been a phone number starting with ‘1300’.
I was unable to ascertain the species of the bird, which was predominately black in plumage with red legs. It was about the size of an Eastern Whipbird (many of which were calling nearby) or perhaps a bit larger. It had an upper mandible shaped like that of a Gallinule, but lacking any colour. Looking in my field guides later, I thought the best match was Black-tailed Native Hen, although how one would turn up there is beyond me. Any suggestions as to its ID would be welcome. I didn’t take a photo.
Paul Osborn
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Comments
3 responses to “Banded carcass”
When I got home I thought, “Oh, I should’ve checked the feet!”
It may well have been a racing pigeon. If so, it was an unusually dark one. The yellow leg band on the right leg looked a lot like one I found in a raptor pellet once, which did turn out to be from a racing pigeon. The carcass was a real mess, most of the head was missing. I didn’t have time for a thorough examination, as I was primarily on a walking trip, not a birdwatching one, and the rest of the group were already way ahead of me. I figured noting the band details would be sufficient for an ID. Paul Osborn
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Hi Paul. Are you sure it’s not a racing pigeon? Those band numbers sound like it. SUTH might refer to the Sutherland Racing Pigeon Club, which I think use that abbreviation. Their phone number is (02) 9521 5327 if you want to check. (I used to keep racing pigeons as a teenager). Cheers Steve Murray
On any walk on a beach, one should ALWAYS carry a good-sized plastic bag- or two (easy to fold up in pocket). This enables one to retrieve any banded or otherwise interesting corpse so it can be forwarded to nearest museum. Museum ornithologists will be very interested, whatever it smalls like.
Anthea Fleming
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