After several years in Port Macquarie I have finally added an elusive tick to my garden bird list….the common Pied Currawong, or P Wong as it goes into the notebook.
Despite an abundance of wet gullies with eucalypts, native figs and exotic camphor laurels or privet, the Pied Currawong doesn’t appear to have established a beak hold in town. I’ve seen them on a regular basis in the surrounding towns including Wauchope, Crescent Head, Kempsey and Laurieton so they are common in the region and presumably they are resident or visitors to some areas of Port Macquarie as well, however I hadn’t come across them.
I’m curious to why a bird that has been so successful on the east coast in urban areas haven’t become established here. I’ve discussed the subject with a couple of local birders and opinions have varied from competition with resident Torresian Crows to the Currawongs here being more restricted to areas of native bushland and haven’t yet adapted to the opportunities of urban life.
There were some recent discussions on Birding Aus on the impact of Currawongs and small birds in urban areas, so Port Macquarie could be a good control to compare with other urban areas where Currawongs are present. However to my eyes, there is also a lack of small birds here in urban town areas here away from the bush reserves. I put that down to continuing fragmentation of habitat, cats and the Noisy Miners.
Tim ===============================
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