Plains-wanderers: rare copulating footage

That was a truly wonderful clip – the clarity was sensational given that it must have been taken by torch light. Cheers, Tony —–Original Message—– From: Birding-Aus [mailto:birding-aus-bounces@birding-aus.org] On Behalf Of David Taylor Sent: Thursday, 9 January 2014 10:05 PM To: Philip Maher; birding-aus@birding-aus.org Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Plains-wanderers: rare copulating footage Wow – fantastic and fascinating footage – thanks for sharing Phil David Taylor On 9 Jan 2014, at 4:24 pm, Philip Maher <philipmaher@patash.com.au> wrote: > Hello > > Chris Wood, Cornell University¹s ebird project leader, took some video > of a pair of plains-wanderers mating while he and colleagues were out > with me on > 11 October 2013. I have put a link to the video on the latest news > page of our website. We¹ve seen a lot of mating displays over the > years but never plains-wanderers actually copulating. This is a rare, > if not unique, piece of footage. > > http://www.philipmaher.com/LatestNews1htm.htm > > It¹s been the best breeding season for plains-wanderers on the Hay > Plain for about ten years even though rainfall was well below average > and spring was particularly dry. We did however have the best winter > rain for a long time, followed by a couple of inches in early > December. As you¹ll see in the video, the habitat looks ideal with more herbage (wildflowers) than grass. > > We found three clutches of young and witnessed one of those clutches > of four small chicks grow to independence and a couple of independent > young of the other two clutches. On 28 December¹s Plains-wanderer > Weekend, we saw a pair doing a courtship display and past observations > would suggest that this pair may have been the parents of one of the > successful clutches recorded earlier in the season. > > All this gives us hope the species might recover its numbers. > > Cheers > > Philip Maher > Deniliquin > +61 3 58813378 > > Australian Ornithological Services Pty Ltd PO Box 385 South Yarra 3141 > Victoria Australia > Tel: + 61 3 98204223 > Mobile: 0417310200 > http://www.philipmaher.com > http://www.youtube.com/user/AOS3141 > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Birding-Aus mailing list > Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org > To change settings or unsubscribe visit: > http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org