Hi all,
Just wondering about the range for wild Little Corellas in NSW – some of the guides have them as occurring in an unbroken population including the Sydney area (even though those have been ‘introduced’ or are descended from free-flying escapees), so I was wondering if the birds I saw yesterday at Albion Park are wild or feral. I’m one of those awkward types that doesn’t put introduced or feral birds in my life list (much to the amusement of some of my friends…), so it would be nice to know if I can include them in my life list. Cheers,
Tony
Photos, paintings and drawings of Australian, NZ, Swiss and British Birds www.tonykeenebirds.co.uk
Damn, I’ll have to remove Red Jungle-fowl from my own list
I saw mine in my neighbours backyard. Now that I think about it they were rather small. Not quite Gallus gallus, more like Gallus gallus domesticus (bantamus). Nice eggs though.
Cheers,
Tim
Hi Tim,
The majority of replies I saw were of the opinion they didn’t get there entirely by themselves, being either escapees from captivity or descended from similar flocks nearby, so I would be rather hesitant to tick them. Personally (and I mean personally – I certainly don’t think anything wrong with people ticking how they like), I’m a lot happier ticking a bird when it’s in its natural, wild range, but is purely personal preference, not some campaign to force my ticking rules on anyone. However, I might have to make a small grimace if you’ve got Red Jungle-fowl on your list after visiting a farm… 😉 Cheers,
Tony
Hi Tony,
I’m not sure where you got your advice from, but to suggest that the birds you saw were “feral” is just wrong. Little Corelal are the most widely distributed of the three corella species found in Australia, and “wild” Little Corella are a common resident around Albion Park (located 10 km south-west of Wollongong). For example the last time I was in Nowra (just south of Albion Park) Little Corella were common around the township. However just because they’re in town doesn’t make them ‘feral’.
The main area of consideration here is not whether the birds you saw were wild, it’s about that fact that their distribution has expanded over the 30 year – a bit like Crested Pigeon – mainly after the long drought of the mid 1980s, and augmented by the drought/climatic conditions over the last 10 years.
So whether you tick the birds you saw is up to you, however not to include them on your life list because they’re feral is just plain wrong!
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Tim Dolby
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2011 1:28 PM
Many thanks to everyone for the replies about the corellas – the general opinion is that they’re feral, so I’ll stick with that. Cheers!
Tony
Many thanks to everyone for the replies about the corellas – the general opinion is that they’re feral, so I’ll stick with that. Cheers!
Tony