Top End floodplains are the most important Australian breeding areas for several water birds eg. Great Egrets – 30 000 Intermediate Egret – 90 000 Little Egret – 18 000 Cattle Egret – 30 000 Little Pied Cormorant – 18 500 Pied Heron – 22 600 Nankeen Night Heron – 19 000 Royal Spoonbill – 5 500 These figures come courtesy of Ray Chatto ( Waterbird Breeding Colonies Of the Northern Territory, Technical Report 69:2000). These floodplains are under threat from rising sea level – 14 cms in 20 years if I remember correctly. The Amateur Fishermen’s Association NT website has several photos demonstrating the damage done to the Mary River system – freshwater paperbark swamps are now hypersaline mudflats (sic). The change to anyone familiar with the area is simply astounding. Where only a few years ago there were paperbarks, waterlilies and sacred lotus, and typha and spikerush, there is only bare mud, for as far as one can see. While the Mary River is apparently the most affected , Kakadu and the Finniss and other river systems are also under threat as are areas further afield including islands and the Great Barrier Reef. Another threat, and I mentioned this and the above in my presentations throughout the US in 2009 and at the Colombia Bird Festival, are destructive and more frequent fires. Destructive fires are due to the spread of transformer weeds such as Gamba and Mission Grass, and also less burning off as Aboriginal burning practices and knowledge are lost and such people move away from their country. According to one paper 396 bird taxa “are very highly exposed” (Garnett, ST, Franklin, DC, Ehmke, G, Van Der Wal, JJ, Hodgson, L, Pavey, C, Reside, AE, Welbergen, JA, Butchart, SHM, Perkins, GC, Williams, SE, 2013). That’s more than half of Australia’s resident bird species. Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow PO Box 71, Darwin River, NT 0841 043 8650 835 PhD candidate, SCU Vice-chair, Wildlife Tourism Australia _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Greg, yes you’re probably right. Regards Denise On 9/2/14 9:18 AM, “Greg and Val Clancy” < gclancy@tpg.com.au> wrote: _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Hi Denise, I think that you could add the Black-necked (Satin) Stork (Djagana) to that list, although they don’t nest communally. Regards Greg Dr Greg. P. Clancy Ecologist and Birding-wildlife Guide | PO Box 63 Coutts Crossing NSW 2460 | 02 6649 3153 | 0429 601 960 http://www.gregclancyecologistguide.com http://gregswildliferamblings.blogspot.com.au/ —–Original Message—– Sent: Sunday, February 09, 2014 3:25 AM Top End floodplains are the most important Australian breeding areas for several water birds eg. Great Egrets – 30 000 Intermediate Egret – 90 000 Little Egret – 18 000 Cattle Egret – 30 000 Little Pied Cormorant – 18 500 Pied Heron – 22 600 Nankeen Night Heron – 19 000 Royal Spoonbill – 5 500 These figures come courtesy of Ray Chatto ( Waterbird Breeding Colonies Of the Northern Territory, Technical Report 69:2000). These floodplains are under threat from rising sea level – 14 cms in 20 years if I remember correctly. The Amateur Fishermen’s Association NT website has several photos demonstrating the damage done to the Mary River system – freshwater paperbark swamps are now hypersaline mudflats (sic). The change to anyone familiar with the area is simply astounding. Where only a few years ago there were paperbarks, waterlilies and sacred lotus, and typha and spikerush, there is only bare mud, for as far as one can see. While the Mary River is apparently the most affected , Kakadu and the Finniss and other river systems are also under threat as are areas further afield including islands and the Great Barrier Reef. Another threat, and I mentioned this and the above in my presentations throughout the US in 2009 and at the Colombia Bird Festival, are destructive and more frequent fires. Destructive fires are due to the spread of transformer weeds such as Gamba and Mission Grass, and also less burning off as Aboriginal burning practices and knowledge are lost and such people move away from their country. According to one paper 396 bird taxa “are very highly exposed” (Garnett, ST, Franklin, DC, Ehmke, G, Van Der Wal, JJ, Hodgson, L, Pavey, C, Reside, AE, Welbergen, JA, Butchart, SHM, Perkins, GC, Williams, SE, 2013). That’s more than half of Australia’s resident bird species. Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow PO Box 71, Darwin River, NT 0841 043 8650 835 PhD candidate, SCU Vice-chair, Wildlife Tourism Australia _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org