Emu

There was a Cockatiel calling from a pine in the Harrison Reserve opposite
Kew High School (in Melbourne) this morning. I assume it’s an escapee.

Bill

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Why so Bill? They are known to be nomadic and move towards the coast in dry
seasons inland.

G’day tones

I’m basing that purely on the fact that they’re so unusual here, and that
they’re reasonably commonly kept as caged birds.

Bill

Why so Bill? They are known to be nomadic and move towards the coast in dry
seasons inland.

Also, it hasn’t been a dry season inland!

Martin

G’day tones

I’m basing that purely on the fact that they’re so unusual here, and that
they’re reasonably commonly kept as caged birds.

Bill

Why so Bill? They are known to be nomadic and move towards the coast in
dry
seasons inland.

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Dear all, some conservation legislation news from Victoria.

The Eastern Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper and White-throated Needletail have
now been formally added to the ‘Threatened List’ under the Flora and Fauna
Guarantee Act (FFG Act).

If anyone would like to obtain a copy of the FFG Act Scientific Advisory
Committee recommendation reports for any of these items then let me know.

cheers

Martin

Martin O’Brien
Executive Officer Flora and Fauna Guarantee Scientific Advisory Committee
Biodiversity Division – Environment Programs
Energy and Climate Change
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning

8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002

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Maybe it?s a contrary bird and is being nomadic during a wet inland, or maybe it?s annoyed that the East/west expressway got cancelled. Perhaps it should have gone to Specsavers.

I am just reviewing the galley proofs for my forthcoming Field Guide to the Birds of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago for Lynx Edicions, and I was lucky enough to get a preview of some of the relevant passerine texts in the forthcoming Lynx Passerines Checklist. Now this promises to be a very stimulating treatment, with many poorly known taxa reviewed and elevated to species rank, though as expected they have ducked the really hard ones like the break up the (Not so) Little Shrike-thrush, Island Thrush and Trumpet Manucode, where the Tobias morphological criteria simply don?t work or it?s in the too hard basket.

Still, here in Australia we can look forward to seeing White-quilled Honeyeater, Golden-backed Honeyeater, Brown Whistler and quite a few regional splits. I am very pleased to see the splitting of Eastern Hooded and Biak Hooded Pitta, Morotai Pitta, The break up of Red-bellied Pitta into 7 in the New Guinea region (ours is Papuan by the way), Rennell Gerygone, the retention of Biak Gerygone (yay!), Biak Myzomela,, Biak Fantail, the resurrection of the venerable Djaul Monarch, Long-billed Myzomela and Obi Paradise Crow. The special offer is open until Dec 15 so I?d have a look at the Lynx website and go from there.

Personally, I’m not too worried about the current thematic content of the
Emu or other ornithological journals. Scientific journals often reflect
dominant or popular research fields at the times of publication. Journal
editors also influence the themes by encouraging the publication of papers
in their own field of interest or expertise. Examples of dominant themes
that have been published in the Emu in the past include taxonomy and
systematics, evolutionary ecology, community ecology, habitat requirements
of species, ethology, ecological responses to environmental changes, bird
conservation, just to name a few. Sociobiology is just one of the latest
themes to feature in the Emu (which I personally find interesting). There
will be other dominant themes in the future as directions in ornithological
research change over time and one journal editor passes the baton onto
another.

However, I do share the concern about widening the geographical scope of Emu
to research beyond Australasia. It dilutes ones opportunity to learn about
Australasian ornithology. Supporters of the current format may argue that
there are so many more journals available internationally in which to
publish the results of Australian ornithological research compared with 20
or 30 years ago, so it does not matter if it is not published in the Emu or
elsewhere, but not everybody has the time or resources to follow this
literature, or even know where to look.

Kind regards,
Stephen

Stephen Ambrose
Ryde, NSW

Hi BA

The enormous, polluting Adani Carmichael coal mine proposal is possibly the
biggest threat to our birds and wildlife that we have yet seen.

The emissions from this mine will cancel out all our emissions reductions.
Basically, everything you’ve ever done to reduce your carbon footprint will
be a waste if this mine goes ahead.

G?day everyone,

We?ve got a week?s holiday booked in Phuket next June and I wanted to sneak in a day?s birding with a local guide while we?re over there.

Does anyone have any recommendations for local guides to use?

Also, any recommendations on a good Field Guide for Thailand?

It will be our first time birding over there so we have no targets, would just like to see as much as we can fit in in a day.

Cheers,
Ross

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

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