Author: Birding-Aus

RE: [Birding-Aus] Search for Night Parrot at Skull Springs RdOriginal Message from Tim Dolby on June 15 is below.

Unfortunately Tim, your data base appears to be inadequate. Reference to the paper, Davis, A.D. & Burbidge, H. (2008), ‘The Elegant Parrot (Neophema elegans) in Arid Regions of Western Australia, Amytornis 1(1): 1-5, shows that up to 2005 there were 46 records of Elegant Parrot north of Kalbarri (slightly south of Meekatharra) and 6 of these were in the Pilbara. And I think you’ll also find more recent records.

Mike Carter 30 Canadian Bay Road Mount Eliza VIC 3930 Tel (03) 9787 7136

As Mike Carter indicated, interesting observations re Elegant Parrot. Your report is actually significantly north of the recognized range for this species. In fact the closest records I can find to the Skull Springs Rd site is 700 south near Meekatharra. For example there were also a couple of recent observation (24/04/2010) on Meka and Murgoo Stations near Yalgoo ==============================www.birding-aus.org birding-aus.blogspot.com

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Bob

We saw both Gibberbirds and Orange Chats almost together on gibber plains on the way out to Lake Eyre from Williams Creek, SA. Even found an Orange Chat nest in a low shrub in gibber type country near the Lake. The enlarged image of your bird also shows the bird appears to have a yellow/cream corner of the gape suggesting it may be a young bird. Young Gibberbirds according to HANZAB have yellow eyes while your bird has red/brown eyes suggesting Orange Chat.

Greg Little

—–Original Message—– From: birding-aus-bounces@vicnet.net.au [mailto:birding-aus-bounces@vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of Bob Cook Sent: Tuesday, 15 June 2010 8:42 PM To: ‘birding-aus’ Subject: [Birding-Aus] ID assistance Gibberbird / Chat

Hi again and thanks to all who have offer ID and reasons.

I understand these reasons and agree, but, I did not mention before the behaviour / environment factors that added to our ID confusion.

This bird was seen alone, whereas we had seen MANY Orange Chats, males and females, in groups during this trip from Outback NSW, through S.A. and into the N.T.

This bird was on very open gibber, did not fly or hop up onto any of the low plants in the immediate area. It walked and ran across the ground. Orange Chats we had seen all flew and perched on low and medium understory plants. None of the groups of Orange Chats were seen on such bare Gibber. I have added another picture to the gallery at the link below that better shows the surrounding country. This environment spread for at least several hundred metres in every direction.

This bird was observed twice within a few minutes taking a short, sharp vertical “flight”, perhaps around one metre off the ground to catch flying prey. I understand this is typical of Gibberbird, whereas Orange Chats typically feed off the ground.

I am not sure that the photos are good enough to rule out that this bird had a pale eye.

The “common” comment in the three guides I have is of the upright stance of the Gibberbird. This is what we saw, and is shown in all photos of the stationary bird, in comparison to the Orange Chats..

I do not currently have easy access to Hanzab, so I am relying on you to assist.

Does anyone want to help/comment further given the above observations??

Thanks again

Bob Cook

_____

From: Bob Cook [mailto:spanda8@bigpond.com] Sent: Tuesday, 15 June 2010 9:59 AM To: ‘birding-aus’ Cc: ‘Marlene Lyell’; ‘Russ Lamb’ Subject: ID assistance please

Hi all

Looking for assistance to help resolve identification of this bird. Seen along roadside and adjacent gibber North of Marree in South Australia. Unfortunately these were the best pictures we got.

Obvious contenders are Gibberbird and female/juvenile Orange Chat. All contributions gratefully received!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/BobBirdPics/MarreeMystery?feat=directlink

Bob Cook

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Back to the future…. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> From: “Alastair Smith” <alastair@homemail.com.au > To: <birding-aus@vicnet.net.au> Subject: [Birding-Aus] The Biggest Life List I am presently reading ‘All things reconsidered’ a selection of essays written by Roger Tory Peterson for Bird Watcher’s Digest and edited by Bill Thompson III. I was surprised to read in a discussion written in 1984 about life lists, that an Australian, Stuart Stokes ‘reportedly’ had the biggest list with 6125. That begs the question , who is Stuart Stokes? Cheers Alastair =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au http://birding-aus.org ===============================

On Thursday we drove down to Deni and, following Gil Langfield’s instructions, easily located the Ostrichs – 4 adults + 4 young in the first group and then 1 adult and 2 young from the main road. Those adults are surely big birds – they are taller than the cattle in the same paddock. Thanks Gil.

Regarding the lumping of Corvids, well, I quickly made my decision – they were 5 (6) species when I ticked them and that is how they will be counted on my list regardless of what the Scientists say but I was relieved when the plot was revealed.

Regards

Hazel and Allan Wright

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Hi, I am hoping that you can get this message to Iian Denham. Hello Iian, Just wondering if you would be good enough to advise me and if you can recall where on Old Grassy Road King Island you spotted the pair of Moreporks? Would love to get a sighting. Thank you John                                 On the East Coast away from the prevailing Westerlies. ‘A Slice of Paradise’ (Naracoopa Holiday Cottages) TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2013 – 2014 – 2015 – – View reviews a Star Ratings Australia 3.5 Stars 2015 Accredited Tourism Business 2015 Rainbow Tasmania Tourism Accredited Winner Westpac Business Excellence Awards for Tourism Winner Westpac Business Excellence Awards for Customer Service 03 6461 1326 – 0427 002 397 – email: jonron49@bigpond.com www.naracoopaholidayunits.com.au http://www.kingislandholidayaccommodation net/ http://www.kingislandbirdwatching.com.au/