On 16/05/2012 9:48 AM, Steve Clark wrote: > G’day Sonja and Anthea > > Thanks for your replies. > Dear Steve, I contacted Xenia Dennett and she has very kindly given me the reference to the work on Flame Robins which she and Rosemary and Peter Balmford carried out at Cape Liptrap.
It was written up in “VORG Notes” June 1982, vol.18, pt.1.
As this may not be readily available to those who are interested, I will summarize it here.
The party went to Cape Liptrap for Easter 1982, believing that the full moon might have some relevance to the birds’ movements.
On 9th April 1982 no Flame Robins were seen. On the morning of 10 April, 1 male and 2 females (ie brown birds) were trapped and banded. On 11 April, 10 males and 29 females were banded. On the 12th, 4 males and 8 females were banded. On the 13th only a few birds were present.
I believe the birds were trapped individually (not mist-netted) and only a small proportion of the birds present were banded. The banders were absolutely convinced that the birds had flown in overnight, because in the morning they were perched on bushes on the precipitous cliffs, apparently exhausted, until they recovered enough to make their way to the cliff-top and start seeking food and moving on.
Unfortunately no bands were ever recovered. I understand a few birds were banded by one worker in Tasmania.
For banding studies to produce useful data, a large number of workers are required at both ends of the journey, over the whole migratory season, for many years. In Australia the high variability of the seasons adds to the difficulty.
Anthea Fleming
> I’m aware of the Gastrolobium poison bush in WA. Anthea has turned up > this reference > > http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=MU942057.pdf > > which is good evidence that the pigeons accumulate poison from the > seeds of Gastrolobium bilobum in Western Australia. > > Further questions: > > Has anyone ever extracted poison from a Bronzewing and analysed it? > What is the situation in other parts of the Bronzewings’ range? > Why are Pitohuis claimed to be the first known poisonous birds? This > article mentions others (including Bronzewings): > > http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2001/2/intoxnewguineabirds.cfm > > It seems that others were known or suspected earlier but the chemical > in Pitohui poison was the first to be identified. > > There appears to be no conclusive evidence that Flame Robins migrate > across Bass Strait unless Anthea can track down the unpublished > research of Balmford and Dennett. I wouldn’t be at all suprised if > they do cross the Strait but it would be nice to have evidence. > > Cheers > Steve > > ===============================
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Is there any evidence from any of the Bass Strait islands which might support or go towards disproving the idea?
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Hi Steve, birders,
Quite a lot of flame robins appear to overwinter in Tasmania though. Banding, or tracking may require a large sample to get one that does cross. Also I find the “they looked exhausted so we figured they must have flown 400km across open ocean” argument not compelling. They surely could have flown a long distance from somewhere else, or indeed not have actually been exhausted, but feeding at the bottom of the cliffs, escaping windy conditions, or many other just as speculative explanations. It seems especially speculative to suggest that the birds could fly 400km, but not the tops of the cliffs. If this story is true, it sounds like the easiest test would be scour Victorian beaches for washed up dead ones, especially after the full moon.
Jeremy O’Wheel
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G’day Anthea
Many thanks for following this up. This certainly lends support to the Bass Straight migration of Flame Robins. There is no need for a major banding effort to prove this once and for all though. Northern Wheatears (similar in size to Flame Robins) have been tracked from Alaska to sub-Saharan Africa with 1.4g gadgets. Stick a few of these on Robins in northern Tassy in late March and we should know the answer.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17027565
Cheers Steve ===============================
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