I have been following this thread and it might be time to apply Occam’s Razor. To begin: 1. The most southerly records of RCPs are of vagrants in Thailand (IUCN Red Book) 2. It is a long flap for a duck from Thailand, let alone the normal southern most range in SE India. 3. The odds of a single bird arriving in NE Australia, based on the above are very, very slim. 4. The odds of a pair arriving in NE Australia are verging on astronomical. 5. Red Crested Pochards are found in water fowl collections in Australia. Based on the above, I think that we would have to regard the Pochards at Hasties Swamp as escapees or releases, not vagrants. It would be interesting to see if these birds have leg bands. Carl Clifford
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Hi Rohan, That restriction has been easing. There has long been the post-entry avian quarantine facility at Torrens Island, SA (due for closure). In the mid 90s a new q/tine facility with a post entry hatchery near Melbourne and now a new PEQ facility is being built near Melbourne (Mickleham?), with an even larger PEQ hatchery. While Torrens Is was mainly for the poultry meat trade, the Melbourne one was designed to allow a greater ornamental bird trade, as will the new facility. And then there are the illegal egg imports. AQIS is pretty good at detecting illegal egg imports, but they can’t get them all. I find the increasing import of ornamental bird species rather disturbing. Surely we have enough potential feral species in the country as it is. Personally, I would ban the keeping of all exotic bird species, but, unfortunately, that would be impossible.
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Hi Alan, Maybe you can ask him to write a detailed BARC submission? Maybe with sketches (as there are no photos)? I am still suspicious – especially the comment ‘I might not have recognised the female if it were not for the male.’ may indicate that he is not an experienced birder as a well seen (may this wasn’t the case) female R-C Pochard is unique as well. Cheers, Nikolas Nikolas Haass | MD, PhD, FACD Associate Professor; Head, Experimental Melanoma Therapy Group President of the Australasian Society of Dermatology Research (ASDR) The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute Level 6 | Translational Research Institute | 37 Kent Street | Woolloongabba QLD 4102 T: +61 (0)7 3443 7087 | M: +61 (0)424 603 579 F: +61 (0)7 3443 6966 E: n.haass1@uq.edu.au | W: http://www.di.uq.edu.au; http://www.di.uq.edu.au/associate-professor-nikolas-haass; http://www.medfac.usyd.edu.au/people/academics/profiles/nhaass.php; http://asdr.org.au/ …Turning scientific discoveries into better treatmentsŠ CRICOS Code 00025B This email is intended solely for the addressee. It may contain private or confidential information. If you are not the intended addressee, you must take no action based on it, nor show a copy to anyone. Kindly notify the sender by reply email. Opinions and information in this email which do not relate to the official business of The University of Queensland shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by the University On 28/10/14 7:45 AM, “Alan Gillanders” < alan@alanswildlifetours.com.au > wrote:
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The observer is Welsh born and raised and was a birder watcher before coming to Australia. I did not ask him about how he ruled out the other species. Alan Alan’s Wildlife Tours 2 Mather Road Yungaburra 4884 Phone 07 4095 3784 Mobile 0408 953 786 http://www.alanswildlifetours.com.au/ —–Original Message—– Sent: Monday, October 27, 2014 09:40 PM Hello all, First off I have no idea how experienced the observer is with north hemisphere ducks. So if they have considerable experience and the identity is beyond doubt- a male Red-crested is unmistakable in full breeding plumage- please ignore this post. But considering that the only diving duck from the north hemisphere depicted in any Australian field guides is the R-c Pochard and the extreme unlikelihood of northern diving ducks reaching Australia in the first place (not unlikely but most don’t migrate as far south as dabbling species). I am wondering if the the other red-headed diving ducks of the north hemisphere been considered (Common Pochard, Redhead, Canvasback) and Eurasian Wigeon? Cheers, D.
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Hello all, First off I have no idea how experienced the observer is with north hemisphere ducks. So if they have considerable experience and the identity is beyond doubt- a male Red-crested is unmistakable in full breeding plumage- please ignore this post. But considering that the only diving duck from the north hemisphere depicted in any Australian field guides is the R-c Pochard and the extreme unlikelihood of northern diving ducks reaching Australia in the first place (not unlikely but most don’t migrate as far south as dabbling species). I am wondering if the the other red-headed diving ducks of the north hemisphere been considered (Common Pochard, Redhead, Canvasback) and Eurasian Wigeon? Cheers, D.
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