Olive- backed Sunbird and the Wallace Line

By Birding-Aus, on July 23rd, 2015

Hello All, Thanks to Chris, Peter and Philip for their posts. Further to the topic, I noticed when Googling that of the 6 species of Sunbird in Singapore that the Olive-backed Sunbird is the most common. Also, one birder noted that they are common in all habitats in Thailand and are able to survive well in the polluted cities like Bangkok. My observation of them in Queensland, on Long Island and Hamilton Island, where they wiz around the resort and in Cairns is that they seem to be able to hold their own against competition from Honeyeaters. To me they seem like a “tough ” bird. Perhaps that may be part of why we have only the one species of Sunbird in Australia. All the best, Patrick 🌲 Sent from my iPhone > On 21 Jul 2015, at 2:00 am, birding-aus-request@birding-aus.org wrote: > > Send Birding-Aus mailing list submissions to > birding-aus@birding-aus.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org > or, via email, send a message with subject or body ‘help’ to > birding-aus-request@birding-aus.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > birding-aus-owner@birding-aus.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than “Re: Contents of Birding-Aus digest…” > > > Today’s Topics: > > 1. Regent Honeyeater Recovery (Chris Lloyd) > 2. Olive-backed Sunbird and the Wallace Line (Patrick Scully) > 3. Impact of drought on the American Pacific Flyway (Laurie Knight) > 4. White-throated Grasswren (Wedderburn Birding) > 5. Port Fairy Pelagic (James Mustafa Jazz Orchestra) > 6. Re: Olive-backed Sunbird and the Wallace Line (Peter Ewin) > > > ———————————————————————- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2015 11:36:09 +1000 > From: “Chris Lloyd” < pezoporus@bigpond.com> > To: < birding-aus@birding-aus.org> > Subject: [Birding-Aus] Regent Honeyeater Recovery > Message-ID: <006101d0c28c$74a2ca20$5de85e60$@bigpond.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=”us-ascii” > > I note in the latest notifications on the species that there are “probably > about 20-30 mature individuals in the Bundarra-Barraba region, NSW (NSW > Scientific Committee, 2010).” Has anyone on the list caught up with any of > these in the last few years? A supplementary question. What recovery > activities and community involvement has there been up there in recent times > or planned for the future? > > > > Any thought gratefully received on or off line. Ciao > > > > > > —————————— > > Message: 2 > Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2015 10:26:29 +1000 > From: Patrick Scully < scullyp3@gmail.com> > To: “birding-aus@birding-aus.org” < birding-aus@birding-aus.org> > Subject: [Birding-Aus] Olive-backed Sunbird and the Wallace Line > Message-ID: > 8QLw@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > Hello Fellow Birders, > I may be going to a wedding in Thailand and so as birders do, I looked up > the bird list for Thailand and to my amazement discovered that Thailand has > a larger bird list (1017) than us. I also discovered that Thailand has > some really lovely Sunbirds including our Olive-backed Sunbird. I know > that none of us can possibly know but I’m sure that others have pondered on > why the Olive -backed Sunbird is all over Asia and also Australia and yet I > suppose that the other Sunbirds have stopped at the Wallace Line. Any > ideas or theories on how we managed to get just one Sunbird would be > appreciated. > Happy birding, > Patriick > > > —————————— > > Message: 3 > Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2015 17:38:06 +1000 > From: Laurie Knight < l.knight@optusnet.com.au> > To: Birding Aus < birding-aus@birding-aus.org> > Subject: [Birding-Aus] Impact of drought on the American Pacific > Flyway > Message-ID: < DE9A72A7-3008-4A83-A0AF-846C27664473@optusnet.com.au> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > see http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/1579-birds-snowpack-drought-flyway-wetlands-California/ > > > > > > > —————————— > > Message: 4 > Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2015 18:37:54 +1000 > From: “Wedderburn Birding” < birds@malachiteconsulting.com> > To: “Birding-Aus” < birding-aus@birding-aus.org> > Subject: [Birding-Aus] White-throated Grasswren > Message-ID: <002d01d0c2c7$5fd046f0$1f70d4d0$@malachiteconsulting.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=”iso-8859-1″ > > Tim Jones and I have organised a weeklong trip to the NT, specifically to > look for White-throated Grasswren (WTG), commencing 8th August and finishing > up on 16th August. We have organised a local birding guide for three days in > order to maximise our chances of finding the WTG and to arrange the > necessary permits. > ? > Other than the WTG, we have several other targets in mind, such as Red > Goshawk, Northern Shrike-tit, Masked Owl, Black-banded Fruit Dove, > White-lined Honeyeater, Pictorella Mannikin and Yellow-rumped Mannikin. > ? > As the search for the WTG will involve hiking and camping on the Arnhemland > plateau on the eastern side of Kakadu, the trip will require a reasonable > level of fitness. > ? > Other than the Kakadu, we would be spending time around the Katherine area, > south to Mataranka and west along the Victoria Hwy to Gregory and Timber > Creek. > ? > We can accommodate one further birder if anyone is interested. > > Regards, > > Bruce Wedderburn > > > > > > —————————— > > Message: 5 > Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2015 15:59:46 +1000 > From: James Mustafa Jazz Orchestra < jamesmustafamusic@gmail.com> > To: “birding-aus@birding-aus.org” < birding-aus@birding-aus.org> > Subject: [Birding-Aus] Port Fairy Pelagic > Message-ID: > LL07rmiJQ-oA@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > Hi all, > > A little account of mine from a very exciting pelagic off Port Fairy > yesterday. Please enjoy! > http://jamesmustafabirding.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/port-fairy-pelagic-july-19-2015.html > > > All the best, > James Mustafa > 0400 951 517 > www.jamesmustafajazzorchestra.com > > > —————————— > > Message: 6 > Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2015 21:12:31 +1000 > From: Peter Ewin < sittella@hotmail.com> > To: Patrick Scully < scullyp3@gmail.com>, “birding-aus@birding-aus.org” > < birding-aus@birding-aus.org> > Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Olive-backed Sunbird and the Wallace Line > Message-ID: < COL126-W8D34A0645E00FFC8DD9D9D1850@phx.gbl> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=”iso-8859-1″ > > Patrick, > There is at least one other sunbird species in New Guine (Black Sunbird) that extends as far west as Sulawesi and a couple of close relatives of the Olive-backed are in the Lesser Sundas. > There are large numberso species in Africa (including South Africa) but relatively few on the subcontinent (many more in the tropical areas of south east Asia). Wallace’s Line may be a barrier, but it may just be that the Asian species require more tropical conditions and that suitable habitat is limited in Australia to the east coast, and that perhaps the large number of nectivores that evolved in Australia (i.e. Meliphagid honeyeaters) outcompeted any other species that tried to settle here. > No science in, just my gues based on basic knowledge of biogeography. > Cheers, > Peter > >> Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2015 10:26:29 +1000 >> From: scullyp3@gmail.com >> To: birding-aus@birding-aus.org >> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Olive-backed Sunbird and the Wallace Line >> >> Hello Fellow Birders, >> I may be going to a wedding in Thailand and so as birders do, I looked up >> the bird list for Thailand and to my amazement discovered that Thailand has >> a larger bird list (1017) than us. I also discovered that Thailand has >> some really lovely Sunbirds including our Olive-backed Sunbird. I know >> that none of us can possibly know but I’m sure that others have pondered on >> why the Olive -backed Sunbird is all over Asia and also Australia and yet I >> suppose that the other Sunbirds have stopped at the Wallace Line. Any >> ideas or theories on how we managed to get just one Sunbird would be >> appreciated. >> Happy birding, >> Patriick >>

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