Bird of the Month

Bird of the Month XLV (September 2025)
Flame Robin (Petroica phoenicea)

Another month, another unprecedented record of a species at a location within the Corridor! The location? Mount Buninyong Scenic Reserve. The species? Flame Robin (honourable mention to Brown Quail, also observed at Mt Buninyong for the first time!). The context? Following a bushfire in March, Mt Buninyong had been closed to the public for safety reasons, and upon its reopening in early September, multiple Flame Robins of both sexes and different ages were observed foraging about the charred understorey. Now, if the ‘Flame’ name, its plumage of fiery orangey red and ashy grey, or its scientific name being a derivative of phoenix (you know, the mythical bird that rises from the ashes) – don’t all evoke fire symbology, then perhaps the following excerpt from the Australian Bird Guide (Menkhorst et al. 2019) will solidify its affinity with fire:
“… [Flame Robins] readily, but temporarily, colonises cleared or burnt areas.”
That theory certainly seems to be the case here, given the fact the Flame Robin, previous to the bushfire, was not known to Mt Buninyong, and now its presence is strongly concentrated on the burnt side of the mount. What needs to be considered, however, is the possibility that the Mt Buninyong Flame Robins may be representative of the species colonising other areas within the Corridor. If there are Flame Robins newly present elsewhere in the Corridor, I want to test that theory!

Adult male Flame Robin Image Rob Loveband

You may have heard the colloquial moniker “Robin Redbreast”. This is a generic term for reddish-breasted robins (e.g. European Robin, American Robin) in the northern hemisphere. In Australia, we have our own reddish-breasted robins, the Petroica robins, which total five species. All five Petroica species occur in southeast Australia (also southwest WA, in the Scarlet Robin’s case), indeed including Victoria. Ballarat’s, and certainly the Canadian Corridor’s, most common Petroica is the Scarlet Robin (refer to Bird of the Month XX May 2023), with the Flame Robin being the second-most common, and the other species (Rose, Pink, and Red-capped Robins, in order of most to least common) all being recorded at irregular intervals, and either localised or on the extreme outskirts of Ballarat.
The Flame Robin, by Petroica standards, tends to be associated with open country – particularly during autumn/winter (non-breeding season) – which lends itself to the Flame Robin’s western-leaning distribution throughout Ballarat (e.g. Lake Burrumbeet). By comparison, the Scarlet Robin is usually resident at Woowookarung Regional Park, Union Jack Reserve, Mt Buninyong, and other forest reserves throughout the eastern biolink that is our beloved Canadian Corridor. To help with distinguishing between the two very similar-looking species, please refer to the table below.

 

A small (11-14cm) insectivorous passerine (songbird), Flame Robins are typically viewable owing to their habit of persistently pouncing from a low perch to the ground, in habitats characterised by an open understorey or clearings (i.e. grassy ground covers). Their disposition is generally not flighty, providing encouragement that if they are occupying an area, their habits in theory are conducive to their presence being revealed.
Flame Robins breed in uplands/ high country, in eucalypt forests (including wet forest/ rainforest), woodlands, and scrubland. An altitudinal migrant, most individuals depart the breeding habitat in autumn/ winter (there’s also an annual migration to and from the mainland by Tasmanian Flames), for open woodlands and farmland, where – unique among Petroica robins – it flocks in groups of up to 20 individuals (another characteristic conducive to high visibility). The Flame Robin’s flexibility is typified by the wide-ranging conditions in which it can occupy, from sea level to altitudes of 1,800m; closed canopy overstorey communities in breeding season to open or absent canopy in non-breeding season; and pristine, undisturbed reserves to intensive agricultural contexts.
Breeding season is August through February. Adding to their flexibility, the nest sites vary widely, ranging from tree hollows (often charred or burnt out) or hollowed stumps; behind peeling bark; a deep-forked branch (up to 20m off the ground); amongst exposed roots; woodpiles; a cavity in earthen embankment or rock fissure; mineshafts; and even sheds. The nest is an untidy bowl or bulky rough cup of bark, grass, moss, lichen, fur/ hair, loosely bound together by spiderwebs. The female is responsible for nest-building and incubation duties – the clutch size being 3-4 eggs, and hatching occurring ~14 days after laying.
Flame Robins have a geographic distribution endemic to southeast Australia, plus Tasmania, with a northern limit of southeast QLD, and a southwestern limit of Kangaroo Island (SA). The species-wide (granted, there are no subspecies/ races) conservation status is ‘Least Concern’ (global) with a decreasing population trend. Federally and in Victoria, the species’ extinction risk is classified as ‘Secure’.
Next time you wander through Woowookarung RP, and the Corridor’s other patches where forest meets open farmland – please run a watchful eye over the grassy ground covers and low perches, ready for any opportunistic sightings of the avian symbol of fire that is the Flame Robin!

Bird of the Month XLIV (August 2025)
Brown Falcon (Falco berigora)
Any time, especially after 120 bird-walks along a favourite trail, one encounters a species for a site’s first time – that is a worthy cause for excitement!  Take into consideration also the fact this encounter represents the site’s (in this case, Union Jack Reserve, Buninyong) first record of the species in 145 eBird surveys (inclusive of my fellow eBirders’ checklist), and it is all the more a notable sighting, which is rewarding to increase the site’s species tally!  To top it all off, Bird of the Month is yet to feature a falcon species.  All this considered, it would be remiss of me to not take inspiration and write about this species.  So without further ado, behold the Brown Falcon…!

At 40-50cm, the Brown Falcon is a medium-sized falcon, and one of the most common and widespread raptors in Australia.  Another attribute which ranks it most distinguished among Australia’s raptors – or any Aussie bird for matter – is the species’ widely variable plumage colourations.  Despite its rather misleading name, the Brown Falcon comes in a light morph (whitish underparts; upperparts varying shades of darker brown), dark morph (uniformly sooty brown, almost black), and rufous morph (orangey brown upperparts) – each of which pose identification challenges with other raptors (refer to the below infographic for an ID guide).  The light morph is most common in southeast Australia, dark morph most prevalent in the tropical north, while Rufous morph predominates in arid climes.  Interestingly, they are all the same species (not even separated into subspecies/races), meaning theoretically all different colour morphs could appear in the same clutch of siblings.  Convoluting matters is the fact that colouration alters in transition from juvenile to adult plumages, while the oldest adult also become paler.  Common denominators present in all colour morphs – and therefore useful in ruling out other species – include the following: (1) the ‘double tear drop’, i.e. a dark-brown vertical stripe either side of the eye, enclosing pale cheek patch; (2) short trousers, always dark-brown or red-brown (never pale!); (3) pale underwing; and (4) conspicuous barring of wings and tail.

Brown Falcons are strongly associated with open farmland.  I have visited many a farm during my time as an ornithologist, and Brown Falcons have been observed (at least once) on every one of them.  Farms aside, Brown Falcons also inhabit plains, open woodlands, forest clearings, tree-lined watercourses, roadsides, alpine meadows, coastal dunes, and gibber/mulga deserts.
By falcons’ standards, Brown Falcons are oddballs with a few points of difference.  Where most falcons are highly aerodynamic, often with considerably specialised diets (i.e. many falcons are formidable predators of birds, while Nankeen Kestrels concentrate largely on mice and locusts) – the Brown Falcon is described as “sluggish” and “clumsy” by field guides, and its diet is very generalist.  Brown Falcons possess the pointed wingtips (i.e. primaries or ‘finger’ feathers clasped together) typical of all falcons, and even join Nankeen Kestrel as a surprising exponent of hovering (i.e. flight where the bird maintains a fixed height with no movement in the three-dimensional space, a rare aerialist skill done only by a select few Aussie birds) – albeit in doing so its wingbeats are “slow and laboured”.  However, its broad, bluntly pointed wings with convex trailing edge, contrast markedly with other falcons’ sharply points, crescent-shaped wings, designed for swift flight.

Brown Falcons have a widely varying diet of snakes (including Eastern Brown), lizards (i.e. skinks, dragons), small mammals (i.e. House Mouse, young rabbits), birds (e.g. starlings, parrots), insects (e.g. locusts, beetles, dragonflies), and carrion (often scavenging roadkill or kills pirated from other raptors).  Brown Falcons are versatile in their foraging methods, which encompasses gliding, soaring, hovering, diving, ambush from perch start, aerial attacks and tail-chases, flushing prey out of cover, and even stalking prey on-foot.  Pairs engage in cooperative hunting.
Breeding season here in the south is August through October.  As with all Australian falcons, Brown Falcons do not build their own nests.  Pre-existing nests of corvids (in our case, Little Raven) or that of other raptors are adopted or usurped.  Exceedingly rare alternatives include the nest of Australian Magpie, tree hollows, or termite mounds.  Both sexes incubate the clutch of 2-3 eggs (sometimes up to 5), but feeding duties of hatchlings are carried out predominately by the female alone.  Young fledge at ~30 days of age.
Brown Falcons are a considerably vociferous species, and indeed ‘The most vocal of Australian raptors’.  Vocalisations are characterised by screeches, shrieks, and hoarse chuckles.  Interestingly, two field guides liken its high-pitched cackling to a ‘laying hen’, only ‘louder and harsher’, as follows: ‘“karairk-kuk-kukkuk”, the first part raucous, rising, the following “kuk-kuk” as a low clucking’.  Also, ‘“karark”, “kar-r-rak”, “kairrrrk”, as single calls a few seconds
apart’.

Brown Falcon at Union Jack Reserve: Sighting Significance
This sighting was significant, not least because it was the first record in 145 eBird checklists arising from the sight, but also for the following reasons:

1. Canadian Corridor Raptor Infrequency: Aside from a handful of sightings of various raptors in (or above) residential neighbourhoods (Tandara Estate), and two Brown Falcon sightings in open farmland (adjacent to Geelong Rd), and perched on a powerline (Midland Hwy), it is, in my experience, difficult to come across raptors east of Ballarat where forests abound (much easier in the agricultural west of Ballarat!). Most raptor species (including Brown Falcons) are advantaged by land clearance, and open country raptors often patrol the skies, and perch on a powerline or an exposed branch – conspicuous behaviours, offering unobstructed views for the human observer.  Raptors of the forests, however, tend to be much more secretive and elusive, preferring a concealed perch on well-foliaged limbs.  Granted, my Union Jack Reserve sighting was not a forest raptor, it was nonetheless a reminder there is raptor presence in the Corridor.  Raptors don’t read the field guides, meaning the theoretically frequented habitat types may have blurred lines – as shown by this sighting of the open country-preferring Brown Falcon in a forest reserve.
   2. Behavioural Context – Possible Breeding activity: My observation, earlier in August, was intriguing for the unmistakable vocalisations that were noted.  The unsighted Brown Falcon was flying at a scarcely visible, great height, and engaging in a territorial or courtship display.  The species is renowned for its noisy aerial courtship displays.  This behaviour may be suggestive of the new arrival of a breeding pair, and quite possibly a nearby nest.  Bear in mind, August marks the first month of breeding season.  Watch this space!

   

Brown Falcons are geographically distributed continent-wide, including Tasmania, and also occur abroad in Papua New Guinea.  The species is common throughout, and generally considered sedentary (i.e. non-migratory), but it can be irruptive in response to plagues of House Mouse and locusts, while some populations may demonstrate north-south, and altitudinal, migration.  Despite its commonness, a decreasing population trend is in effect, according to IUCN.
Next time you wander through Woowookarung RP, particularly around its clearings (e.g. former plantations), or the exterior where forest meets open farmland – be sure to scan the sky and leafless branches of dead trees, to try for a chance encounter with the variable-plumaged, versatile predator, and hen-sounding, oddball that is the Brown Falcon!

Bird of the Month XLIII (July 2025)
Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans)

Please let us never take for granted the beauty of the common species.  Forget “A dime a dozen”!  No matter how abundant, widespread, and regularly encountered they may be, the Crimson Rosella is of plumage so splendid and disposition so sweet, that we just ought to afford ourselves a moment to admire its beauty.  Besides, given we’re in the depths of winter, sometimes we’ve just got to enjoy the birds that come to us, and can be enjoyed from the toasty vantage point of indoors or in transit.

At 32-37cm, the Crimson Rosella is a relatively large rosella, only outsized by the Green Rosella (Platycercus caledonicus), which occurs exclusively in Tasmania, where it replaces the absent Crimson Rosella as the resident blue-cheeked rosella species.  The Crimson Rosella is a diverse species complex, comprising six races/subspecies, namely the red variants (nominate race Platycercus elegans elegans of southeast Australia, P. e. nigrescens of northeast QLD, and P. e. melanopterus of Kangaroo Island); Yellow Rosella (P. e. flaveolus) of the Murray Riverina region; and the orange races (Adelaide Rosella P. e. fleurieuensis, and P. e. subadelaidea of the Flinders Ranges) – all races of which are characterised by blue cheeks, and the two-toned blues of tail and wings.  Beyond the blue-cheek rosellas, we have the local congener Eastern Rosella a.k.a White-cheeked Rosella (Playcercus eximius) of southeast Australia (and the only other rosella species present in Ballarat and Victoria); the Western Rosella (P. icterotis), the smallest and standalone rosella of southwest WA; Northern Rosella (P. venustus); and Pale-headed Rosella (P. adscitus).

Focusing on our local subspecies, we have the familiar, red (i.e. nominal race) Crimson Rosella.  Individuals of both sexes are indistinguishable (apart from the females’ suffused green central uppertail), and all ages are characterised by the blue cheek, scalloped upperparts, pale blue shoulder, peacock blue tail, black primaries (‘finger’ feathers), and ivory bill.  Adults are rich crimson red on the underparts, head, and rump, while scalloped upperparts are black with red edges.  In juveniles, olive-green replaces the red, but red is present on the forehead and vent (bottom).  As juveniles become immature, patchy smatterings of red progressively replace the green.  In flight, Crimson Rosellas are strong, swift fliers, with shallow or deep exaggerated wingbeats, interspersed with undulating glides.  They may also be vociferous in flight, and if/when the tail is fanned the graduation of tail feathers (central feathers longer than the outer feathers) is noticeable.

Vocalisations have been described as ‘clear, ringing “k-tee-tip, k-tee-tip”, the central “tee” loud, high and clear; variations include “k-tee-it-tip”, “kteeeit-tip”, and “tip-tee”.’  Also, ‘ringing “trip-klee”; slow, bell-like “klee-kleeklee”; in flight, raucous clanging “klee klee klee”.’  Alternatively, flight contact call may be loud “cussik cussik”.  When perched, emits ‘loud, piping call “kwik kweek-kwik”.’  Alarm call is a harsh screech.  If contending with possible confusion with Eastern Rosella, note that the Crimson Rosella’s ‘pitch is noticeably deeper than the equivalent calls of Eastern Rosella.’

Crimson Rosellas inhabit eucalypt forests, rainforests, alpine and other woodlands, fern gullies, timbered watercourses, farmlands, roadsides, parks, gardens, and coastal scrubs.  The species forages both in trees and on ground, favouring a natural diet of grains and seeds (e.g. eucalypt seeds), blossoms and nectar of eucalypts and bottlebrushes, fruits and berries, insects (e.g. lerp), and wasp galls.  Crimson Rosellas naturally nest in tree hollows, but have adapted to nesting in building cavities.
Breeding season is September through January, with the female incubating a clutch of 4-8 eggs.  Nest hollows may be in live or dead trees, situated at widely varying heights.  The nest may be lined by wood shavings and dust.  After 20 days of incubation, the eggs hatch, and the young are cared for by both parents.  The young emerge from the nest at 5 weeks of age, and remain dependent of the parents for a further 3-5 weeks.
Crimson Rosellas occur in pairs and small flocks, with juveniles often out-numbering the adults.  Our local race is seasonally dispersive, undergoing wide autumn-winter dispersal to lowlands, including urban areas.  Individuals may be tame in parks, gardens, and resorts.  All races are common.  The nominate race has been introduced to Norfolk Island and New Zealand.
Next time you wander through Woowookarung RP, other forests in the Corridor, or even just looking out your back window or driving about town, may any sighting of Crimson Rosella be a reminder to not lapse in gratitude for the common beauties – absolutely splendid!
Author note: FoCC Committee member and co-admin of FoCC’s Facebook and webpage, Joel Ellis is the resident bird nerd, amateur Powerful Owl researcher, and editor of FoCC’s (co-funded) ‘Indigenous [Species] of Southern Ballarat’ brochure series.  Joel has studied birds up to Honours degree level, is a professional ecological consultant (ornithologist), and member of BirdLife Australia (Ballarat branch).

Bird of the Month XLI (April 2025)
Eastern Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris)

It’s heralded as Australia’s answer to the hummingbird, and it is mesmerising! Mesmerising for both their foraging exploits and their unique pastel tones that wouldn’t look out-of-place on the wrapping foil of your Easter eggs! With that long, fine, curvaceous bill, the Eastern Spinebill is actually a honeyeater, and while it can hover somewhat about the inflorescence of flowering plants, it diverges from hummingbirds by virtue of its inability to fly backwards. But spinebills are not alone in this aviation limitation, as hummingbirds are the only birds worldwide capable of this aerobatic feat. Just don’t petition for a rebrand of our national coat of arms, because there’s not enough room to include all our fauna that cannot take a backwards step/flight (which is of course the symbolic reason why the kangaroo and emu take pride of place as our emblems)! Forward-only trajectories for our nation, kangaroo, emu, spinebills, and all birds, alike! Anyway, I digress. This is a bird that will have you charmed with its gentle, peaceful presence, and a colour palette worthy of décor inspiration.

Smallish (14-16.5cm) and unmistakable, Eastern Spinebills are unlike any other local honeyeater. From the beautiful warm rufous-buff (almost apricot!) belly, to the chestnut throat, red iris (eye), gunmetal wings, and hints of white and black – the Eastern Spinebill is most definitely one of a kind. The sexes look subtly different, with the females having a olive-grey crown which is paler than the black (or blackish) crown of the male, who also has a throat crescent/band (absent or inconspicuous on female). Juveniles have a significantly different plumage to mature individuals, with olive-grey upperparts, yellow-buff underparts, and a brown iris (eye).

Eastern Spinebill’s breeding season is August to December.  Both sexes incubate (for 14 days) the clutch of 2-3 eggs, with two broods often reared per breeding season.  The nest is a small, deep cup of grass, twigs, fine bark strips, feathers, hair, moss, and spiderwebs, which hangs by its rim to a fork of the outer foliage, at heights of usually 1-5m (but sometimes up to 15m) from the ground.

Eastern Spinebills love to extract nectar from shrubs and trees with tubular flowers, to which their bill is very well-suited. They are non-migratory, i.e. present locally year-round. This being so, the availability of flowering plants that blossom at all different times of the year is very important to this species, whose hand may be forced into locally nomadic movements in search of blossoming veg. If attracting these cuties to your backyard is not incentive to plant natives that flower at all different times of the year, then I don’t know what is! Like most honeyeaters, Eastern Spinebills also feed on insects, which are both gleaned from foliage and hawked out of the airspace.

Eastern Spinebills inhabit heathlands, woodlands, forests, and gardens. They occupy southeast Australia, from southeast SA, temperate Victoria, and the eastern seaboard of NSW and QLD (south of Cooktown), through to Tasmania.

The vocalisations of the Eastern Spinebill may be characterised by ‘long, tinkling, staccato piping’, ‘explosive twittering rondos’, and ‘twittering flight song’. The song is a ‘clear, cheery “cheer-whit cheerwhit”’, while the calls are ‘sharp “chip-chip-chip-” at even, high pitch’.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung RP, another forest patch within the Corridor, or possibly your garden, be sure to listen out for chipping and piping, and maybe just maybe you will be treated to the hovering of the red-eyed, apricot-bellied hummingbird-esque Eastern Spinebill!

Bird of the Month XL (March 2025)
Grey Currawong (Strepera versicolor)

As we commiserate the departure of the summer migrants back to their northern non-breeding range, left behind is a reduced complement of faithful, resident species (not to be outdone by the migrants, our non-migratory local species are due our gratitude for they are wonderful in their own right), here for the tough slog of Ballarat’s autumn/winter, in solidarity with us.  And few species represent March more than the Grey Currawong.  This species always seems to vocalise with its utmost gusto during March – and certainly is contributes more birdsong than most others during autumn.  So, are the heightened vocals a product of breeding behaviour, you may ponder?  Given Grey Currawong breeding season ends in December, one could conclude, no, that’s not the reason for the vigorous vocals.  Perhaps it is just a matter of the freshly mature cohort adding a few extra voices to the symphony, as they express their newly hardened vocals – and these reinforcements to the flock perhaps need some extra guidance to join the local population’s nomadic movements.  For more on this theory, and further information, read on!

Along with the Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina) of southeast Australia, and the Black Currawong (Strepera tasmanicus) of Tasmania, the Grey Currawong is one of three currawongs, belonging to Family Artamidae. This Family is characterised by corvid-like Australasian passerines that includes the Australian Magpie, butcherbirds (Genus Cracticus), and woodswallows (Genus Artamus).
The Grey Currawong shares some overlap in colour, size (45-50cm), habitat, and foraging behaviour, with the Pied Currawong. Both species have some white on the wings and tail tip, while the female Pied Currawong in particular is a “less lustrous” black, therefore appearing greyer and complicating ID toss-ups between Grey and Pied. The easiest way to distinguish between the two local currawongs is summarised in the table below:

Grey left with Pied right – slight hook and thicker bill

Grey Currawongs occur in such habitats as forests, woodlands, heaths, wooded roadsides, orchards, suburban areas, and beyond Ballarat’s context, coastal scrubs and semi-arid mallee.  The species occupies the southern third of the continent, spanning the entire east to west, and is present in Tasmania.  The Grey Currawong species consists of six recognised races/subspecies, and ranges between common (particularly in the forests of the southeast) and uncommon (e.g. in semi-arid areas).  They occur in singles, pairs, and family parties, and form loose flocks in autumn/winter (which explains the noisy communication in March, referenced in the intro).

The diet of the Grey Currawong is omnivorous, comprising small birds (and their young and eggs), insects (e.g. Stick-insects), rodents, frogs, carrion (dead animals), seeds, and fruits (currently fruiting blackberries may be on the menu!).  It forages on the ground and in the trees, where it probes crevices of bark and timber.  Raiding of nests, and stealing of food are both common practices.

Breeding season for Grey Currawong is from August to December.  The female is responsible for incubating the clutch of 2-3 (sometimes 4) eggs, but both parents feed the young.  The nest is a rough, shallow bowl of sticks, with an egg cavity lined by grass and rootlets.  The nest site is often in a fork, among the fine branches of the leafy canopy, anywhere between 3-20m (usually 5-15m) off the ground.

Vocalisations by Grey Currawong are described as ‘loud, metallic “kling-kling-kling” or “chring-chring”’ or “chding chding”, and ‘ringing “cree”’. 
Also, ‘various softer mews and squeaks’, and ‘conversational notes’ that may sound either cat-like or a like toy trumpet.  Another call of “klink klank” is likened to striking an anvil.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung RP, or another forest patch within the Corridor, be sure to take in and enjoy the (almost inevitable) “clink-clink” symphonies of autumn’s nomadic vocalist – the Grey Currawong!

Bird of the Month XXXIX (February 2025)
(Australian) Rufous Fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons)

When life gives you summer, make observation of Rufous Fantails!  No, that’s not it.  Make observation of Rufous Fantails while the sun shines!  No, that’s not it either.  But maybe the sayings need to be rewritten and adapted accordingly, because I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that Rufous Fantail observations are waaaaay better than lemonade and hay!  And you better get in quick, because time is running out fast.  These little rippers are breeding spring/summer migrants, which will soon be departing our neck of the woods for their northern non-breeding range.  Read on for more fun facts about Australian Rufous Fantail!
Adorned in fiery rufous-orange upon its tail, rump/lower back, and lores (eyebrows), the Rufous Fantail is sure to dazzle with its spell-bounding colour and fanning displays!  Glistening in the sun, its rufous glows so rich and vibrant, making for a very rewarding ‘lifer’ (first-time viewing the species in your life, i.e. ticking it off your ‘life’ list of birds observed) for those yet unacquainted!  For experienced observers, the thrill never fades, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll savour every Rufous Fantail encounter like it’s your first all over again!  Trust me, it truly is a sight to behold the flitting, fanning, and dancing of the ever-active Rufous Fantail.

A small (15-16.5cm), insectivorous passerine (i.e. songbird) of the Family Rhipiduridae, which also includes Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) and Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa), the Rufous Fantail is unmistakable.  Aside from the rufous plumage, other features include the white half-collar, black breast-band, speckled lower breast of black feathers with broad pale edges, and pale grey or off-white tips of the tail feathers.  In instances where a fantail is poorly seen; heard only, or you simply wish to know what to look out for when striving for a Rufous Fantail encounter, the following table may be a useful guide, using the familiar Grey Fantail as a comparison:

Rufous Fantails occur in the shadowy understorey of rainforests, wet/moist eucalypt forests, fern gullies, and mangroves throughout Australia’s east coast.  Migrating individuals may stopover in atypical habitats, such as farmland, gardens, and urban areas, en route to its south-eastern breeding range, from northern QLD (Cape York), Torres Strait Islands and the Trans-Fly Region of south New Guinea, where it winters.  It also occurs in Solomon Islands and Micronesia.

Breeding season for Rufous Fantail is October through February, but individuals may be present in its south-eastern breeding range into April.  The parents share nest construction and incubation duties.  The nest is tidy and shaped like a wineglass without the stand (i.e. cup-shaped with a tail/stem), built out of bark, moss, grass and spiderwebs, and blended into a forked limb or horizontal branch.  Rufous Fantails prefer large-leaved trees and shrubs as the chosen nest tree, particularly those along or overhanging a creek.  Vines provide an alternative nest site option.  Clutches of 2-3 eggs are raised once and sometimes twice per breeding season.  Juvenile birds are dull rufous, with rufous edgings to wing feathers.

The vocalisations of Rufous Fantail are described as a ‘squeak, accelerating into brisk, descending squeaky song’.  The call is ‘very high, weak, “tsit” or “tsi-tsit”’, and may be followed by a song of ‘extremely high, undulating tinkling “tsit, si-sit-tswit, tsit-tseit-tswit, tseit-tswit-tseit”’.  Other vocal descriptors include ‘Pleasant, thin… usually given in 5-10 notes’.
Next time you wander through Woowookarung RP, Union Jack Reserve, Mt Buninyong or another forest patch within the Corridor, be sure to run a watchful eye over the fern gullies for the fiery glowing flames that are the proudly fanned tails of the flitting, dancing Rufous Fantail!

Bird of the Month XXXVIII (January 2025)
Australian (Southern) Boobook (Ninox boobook)

Balmy summer nights, longer days. Whether your regular bushwalk now encroaches into the enticingly warm early evening, or your outdoor entertainment on the back deck extends beyond nightfall – if ever there was an increased likelihood of observing owls it’s this time of year! Football-shaped, puffy, and cute, Australian Boobooks are a thrill to hear, and better yet, see, when one finally has the pleasure of observing them. As is often the case with owls, Australian Boobook encounters are random and unpredictable, meaning the observer oft-times has to be in the right place at the right time. Fellow bird hobbyists have personally attested to this unpredictability of occurrence, with some proclaiming that the Australian Boobook is their “bogey bird”, i.e. a species they have seldom seen or never yet encountered to tick off their ‘life’ list.
Indeed, in my experience, Australian Boobooks have either (A) fallen into my lap by perching, one evening, on the street sign of the street in which I reside (a once-in-13-years occurrence!); (B) only able to be detected, during its day roost in a Cherry Ballart, with the help of irate smaller birds betraying its presence for all and sundry to see (a once-in-50 visits occurrence); or (C) quite possibly present but so adept at hiding and going unnoticed. Those serendipitous sightings aside, I have only managed one other visual sighting and a few vocal encounters (including one, earlier this January in Buninyong!). The moral of the story is fourfold: (1) Be alert to the cues of smaller birds alarm-calling and engaging in anti-predator mobbing tactics; (2) temper your expectations as to your chances of an encounter; (3) attune your ears to vocalisations by nocturnal fauna; and (4) if/when an Australian Boobook is observed, savour and cherish the sighting with extreme (but discreet!) levels of jubilation because you never know how long you’ll be waiting until your next encounter!

Australian Boobook is the smallest (25-36cm) owl, among those breeding residents in Australia. Belonging to Genus Ninox (which also comprises the FoCC celebrity that is the Powerful Owl, plus a further four Australian species), the Australian Boobook is the nominate species of the genus of Boobooks or ‘Hawk-Owls’ (differentiating them from the Barn owls of Genus Tyto, characterised by their pronounced facial disk). It is important to note that Australian Boobooks may appear in your books or literature under the name ‘Southern Boobook’, given the species was recently renamed and split from the Moreporks of New Zealand (Ninox novaeseelandiae) and Tasmania, now renamed Tasmanian Boobook (Ninox leucopsis).
An OWLtstanding Anniversary!
This January marks the five years since Powerful Owl were discovered in the Canadian Corridor (Jan 24 2020).  This anniversary as a timely reminder to reopen awareness-raising of our local owls.  Powerful Owls were championed Bird of the Month XIII, Sep 2022, but this column is a terrific opportunity to put the spotlight on Australian Boobooks, while also providing readers some information, applicable to all owls.
CollaterOWL damage
Given humans’ encroachment into owl habitat, owls may become exposed to humans’ ill-thought choices in rodent control.  Secondary rodenticide poisoning is a known cause of death for owls that feed on dead or dying poisoned rodents.  If homeowners boycott rodenticide poisons and opt for more eco-friendly alternatives, owls will have one less threatening process to overcome.
Save the hollows!
Being obligate hollow-nesters, owls suffer when large, old, hollow-bearing eucalypts are felled.  Shortages of hollows are already problematic for hollow-nesting fauna, and the strain on nest site availability is further exacerbated when eucalypts of any age are cut down, therefore robbing future generations of the hollow-bearing trees of tomorrow.  There are laws and regulations relating to removal of native vegetation, even on private land, so please be informed to avoid environmental crimes.
Dearth of data
Owls of all species, owing to their nocturnal habit and ability to remain well-hidden during the day, tend to be rarely encountered by humans, no matter how abundant or persistent they may be in human-dense areas.  As such, owls are generally under-represented in sightings data (see Table 2), which may reflect an incomplete understanding of local distributions, abundance, and breeding activity.  This makes it all the more important, particularly when one considers the aforementioned threatening processes, for the average Joe and Joanne to report any opportunistic sightings of owls, to help fill in the knowledge gaps as to local owl presence and activity.  Tips on how to identify our local owls, plus the more commonly-encountered but unrelated Tawny Frogmouth, can be referred to in Table 1, while the sighting reports frequency of each species is detailed in Table 2.  Please reach out to FoCC if you see or hear an Australian Boobook, or any owl for that matter, to arrange for its reporting on a citizen science sightings database!

The Australian Boobook is a widely distributed species, present mainland-wide (excepting part of the Great Australian Bight), southern PNG, Indonesia and NZ.  The species is comprised of four races/subspecies: a southeast race; a central/west race; a southern SA race; and a rainforest specialist race in northern QLD.  Australian Boobooks occur in singles, pairs, and family parties in habitats ranging from woodlands, pine forests, parks, gardens, and street trees (including exotic species, e.g. cypresses, elms, willows, poplars), lightly timbered farming country, almost treeless plains, mallee and dense mulga, through to rainforests.

By day, Australian Boobooks roost in dense foliage or nest hollow.  At dusk, they sit watchfully on exposed branches, fences, telephone poles, and street lamps.  At night, they hunt along ecotones (i.e. where two different habitat types adjoin) and in open areas, preying primarily on insects and arthropods (e.g. spiders), usually by means of the perch-and-pounce method, but also alternatively sallying flying insects out of mid-air.  Small birds, mouse-sized mammals, and frogs supplement the diet.  During plagues of House Mouse, Australian Boobooks irrupt into cereal-growing areas.

Australian Boobooks’ breeding season is August through December.  Clutches of 2-3 eggs are laid in a hollow lined with decayed wood debris.  The nest hollow may be in a small hole in a high limb; in a short, hollowed-out stump; or even occasionally in a cliff cranny or abandoned domed nest such as that of babblers.  The female incubates the eggs for 34 days.  The offspring fledge at 5 weeks of age, and remain dependent on the parents for a further several months.  Australian Boobooks are considered “common”, and may be sedentary (i.e. non-migratory, occupying a territory year-round), part-migratory (i.e. annual movement by some of the population), or nomadic (i.e. irregular movements guided by food availability).

The vocalisations of Australian Boobook have been described as ‘quick, falsetto “boo-book” or “morepork”, oft-repeated’.  The second note is slightly lower-pitched and emphasised.  Also, seldom heard falsetto “yo-yo-yo-yo”, mostly in autumn; near nest, drawn-out, rising, cat-like “brrrwow”, and low, monotonous “mor-mor-mor”’.  Braying, growls, purrs, and yelps (“yow!”) make up their vocal range, while juveniles emit a cricket-like trill when begging.  Neighbouring birds often counter-call.  To the untrained ear, I’d assert that Australian Boobook vocalisations could be confused with the cooing of Spotted Dove and Crested Pigeon.

Table 2: How frequently are each of the owls recorded in my local government area (LGA)??  Below is a table of historical sightings reports for each of the local owls (plus Tawny Frogmouth), for Ballarat and its (4) neighbouring LGAs.  These statistics are according to eBird, chosen on account of eBird’s popularity as the foremost database for bird sightings.  Neighbouring LGAs were included to account for sightings on the jurisdiction borderline of Ballarat, increase the geographic scale of the study area to emphasise the low density (and frequency) of occurrence of the rarer owls, and to cater to the interests of FoCC’s followers who reside in LGAs adjacent to Ballarat.  Australian Boobook has 23 reported sightings in the Ballarat LGA, while a total of 1,030 reported sightings of the collective of owls (plus Tawny Frogmouth) have been recorded across the five LGAs.  Please note, an unquantifiable proportion of encounters go unreported (for example, Powerful Owls have 15 reported sightings in the Ballarat LGA according to eBird, but FoCC’s Powerful Owl database entries total 59, and even this number is incomplete, given there are known cases of undated anecdotal evidence, and also some locals who have ongoing encounters with resident Powerful Owls which may be represented by one single sighting report).  Last updated: 21/01/2025.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung RP, or another forest patch within the Corridor, make sure you attune your ears to alarm-calling birds engaging in anti-predator mobbing tactics – and be sure to listen to the sounds of darkness.  And if you see or hear an Australian Boobook, or any owl for that matter, cherish the sighting, and please reach out to FoCC to arrange for its reporting on a citizen science sightings database!

Please reach out to FoCC if you see or hear an Australian Boobook, or any owl for that matter, to arrange for its reporting on a citizen science sightings’ database!

Bird of the Month XXXVII (November 2024)
Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus)

This bird has a lot going for it!  In effect, a mini kookaburra in the cutest, vibrant blue, fun-sized package.  A seasonal migrant that heralds the dawn of spring and summer ongoing.  Photogenic, and with a growing celebrity currently on BirdLife Ballarat’s Facebook page.  In Sacred Kingfisher, we have another (native) novelty-from-the-north that graces our neck of the woods every spring/summer season to breed, before departing to its non-breeding range for the rest of the year.  At half the size (a compact 20-23cm) of Ballarat’s other locally established kingfisher*, the Laughing Kookaburra – the Sacred Kingfisher’s presence during the warmer months is to be enjoyed while it lasts!  Seemingly, the species’ abundance in Ballarat is at an all-time high this season, as migratory parties have been photographed at Lake Wendouree.  Further, I have personally observed the species spilling over the boundaries of forest reserves to perch on nearby powerlines overlooking cleared farmland, in plain sight, on Geelong Road – a behaviour I haven’t personally encountered previous to this season.  This is a species for which a keen eye and some intrigued attention is well worth your time and wonderment!*The common and iconic Laughing Kookaburra is a large, dry land kingfisher.  At a stretch, a vagrant individual of Red-backed Kingfisher (Todiramphus pyrrhopygius)  irregularly visit to within a 40km radius (west) of Ballarat Central.The Sacred Kingfisher’s aesthetic is characterised by its large bill, blue upperparts, pale underparts and collar, buff (beige) wedge-shaped eyebrow, and black eye mask.  Males are peacock blue on the wings, rump and tail; greenish blue on the back and head; and its underparts are buff.

Females differ subtly from males in being slightly greener and duller on the head, upperparts, rump, and tail, and whiter on the underparts and collar – it is, however, difficult to distinguish sexes when they are not side by side.  Further complicating matters is the fact that worn individuals (i.e. those overdue to moult into a fresh plumage) become greener, and their underparts whiter.  Juveniles have buff scaling on the breast, forehead, and wing coverts (i.e. shoulders).

A denizen of open forest/woodlands, the Sacred Kingfisher is not confined to watercourses nor reliant on a diet of fish, unlike some other kingfisher species.  Our Bird of the Month does, however, inhabit river margins (riparian vegetation), lakes, and may even exploit garden ponds.  Golf courses and parks are also be frequented, as are habitat types beyond the scope of Ballarat, such as seashores, mangroves, mudflats, islands, and semi-arid scrubland.  The optimal configuration of habitat is a sparse understorey.  Sacred Kingfishers can occupy cleared land, provided remnant vegetation is retained amidst the clearings.
Sacred Kingfishers occur in singles, pairs, and migratory parties (such as those newly prominent this season at Lake Wendouree).  The species perches on branches, powerlines, stumps, and posts – from which it executes its darting perch-and-pounce foraging method.  The diet mainly consists of small reptiles (e.g. skinks), large insects (e.g. dragonflies), and occasionally fish.  Often this technique renders Sacred Kingfishers inconspicuous and undetected, as their foraging entails extended periods of perching silently.
Otherwise, during breeding season, Sacred Kingfishers are typically a noisy presence.  Breeding Sacred Kingfishers’ persistent calling is often how they come to one’s attention.  The vocalisations are described as high-pitched, with ‘loud, carrying “kik-kik-kik-kik”’, “kek-kek-kek-kek” or “dek-dek-dek-dek”, usually of 3-5 notes, ‘repeated almost incessantly through the day’.  A pair together at the nest may communicate with ‘clear, shrill “kieer-kieer-kieer”’, or “kek-krreee-krreee-kreee” on arrival to the nest tree’.  In defending the nest site, a breeding Sacred Kingfisher ‘dives with loud, harsh scream’.  Other vocalisation descriptors include ‘peevish, rising’, ‘harsh scoldings’, and ‘rising musical trill’.

Sacred Kingfishers’ breeding season may span August to March, but is usually concentrated in the period from September to January.  The species broods 3-4 (but sometimes as many as 6!) eggs per clutch, often twice, in any given breeding season.  The nest is either a tree hollow lined with debris, or a tunnel drilled in an arboreal (i.e. tree-borne) termite mound or embankment.  Tree nests are high (up to 25m).  The clutch is incubated by both sexes for 17-18 days.  Fledging occurs at 26-28 days of age.
The mainland’s population is constituted by the nominal race/subspecies (three races in total), with the northern region’s Sacred Kingfishers are resident (i.e. non-migratory).  Sacred Kingfishers ‘winter’ inland, and given their diverse geographic occupancy across the coastal-inland gradient, and widespread distribution which covers the entire north-south latitude of the mainland, and most of the east-west longitude (but for an absence from a swathe of inland WA and across the border to SA and NT) – the species is impressively adaptable and successful!  Add to that, the fact the species’ population extends to Norfolk Island (its own race), Lord Howe Island (the third and final race), and beyond to Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, and New Zealand – and you can surely appreciate that the species is doing something right!

Next time you wander through Woowookarung RP, Union Jack Reserve or another forest patch within the Corridor, keep an eye out for darting flashes of blue pouncing on prey.  And if you see one, savour and revisit its presence as often as summer allows – it’ll be time well spent!

Bird of the Month XXXVI (October 2024)
Australian King-Parrot (Alisterus scapularis)

We have in our midst a new arrival to Ballarat!  A sensation and topical citizen science phenomenon that is unfolding in real time!  It has piqued the curiosity of Ballarat’s birders in recent times, and particularly so in the last month or three.  Synonymous with subtropical QLD, the Blue Mountains of outer Sydney and coasts of NSW, and to a lesser extent the Victorian rainforests of the Otways and the Dandenongs – this species, formerly never present in Ballarat, is now emerging at increasingly regular intervals and in increasingly widespread distribution within our local government area.  Sound familiar?  This is very similar to the case study of the Rainbow Lorikeet, with a few key differences.  So how did they get here?  What’s the timeline of events?  Are they spreading further and naturalising (i.e. becoming breeding residents) in Ballarat?  And what may become of their range-expansion trajectory in Ballarat?  More on the Australian King-Parrot’s rise in Ballarat later (Table 2), but for now back to usual proceedings.  Presenting the Australian King-Parrot!

A large (41-44cm) parrot with rich scarlet and emerald green plumage, the Australian King-Parrot is a visually striking bird that evokes tropical holiday vibes.  The species is sexually dimorphic, with the unmistakable male being red, and the females being green.  Adult birds of both sexes have yellow eyes (irises), while young birds have brown eyes.
Adult females usually have uniformly green heads, but not invariably so, with some females possessing red flecks on the face, which complicates the exercise of distinguishing them from immature males that are ‘colouring’ up.  Distinguishing them from other species, it’s important to be aware of the features that differentiate Australian King-Parrots from Crimson Rosellas.  Table 1 demonstrates the differences between the two species.

Table 1: How to distinguish between Australian King-Parrots and Crimson Rosellas.

In their native range, Australian King-Parrots are associated with rainforests and coastal woodlands, but of those locally available, they also inhabit eucalypt forests (especially wet and riparian forest, and dense gullies), parks, gardens, orchards, clearings (especially regrowth with berry-bearing shrubs), and croplands (e.g. potato fields).  The species is considered dispersive, whereby it breeds in heavier mountain/coastal forests, and then disperses to lowlands in autumn/winter.

The Australian King-Parrot’s breeding season is September through January.  The species is a hollow-nester, selecting a deep hollow with entrance very high up in a (very old!) tall eucalypt.  The nest chamber can be as far as 10m down the hollow trunk, in some cases almost down to ground level!  The female incubates over the course of 20 days the clutch of 3-6 eggs, and once hatched, for the first few weeks, the chicks are fed by the female, who is in turn fed by the male.  Here onwards, both parents feed the offspring, which fledge and begin flying at 5 weeks of age.

Table 2: The Australian King-Parrots rise in Ballarat.

Origin story The Australian King-Parrot’s means for colonising Ballarat is the key difference to the Rainbow Lorikeet case study.  Rainbow Lorikeets were known to self-introduce and expand their geographic range to Ballarat of their own accord.  Free of human agency, the lorikeets appeared here for the first time 2009 (per eBird), and proliferated over the intervening 15 years to become one of the most common birds in Ballarat.  Whereas free-roaming Australian King-Parrots encountered in Ballarat are widely believed to be escaped pets.  Bookmark this article and revisit it in 2037 (15 years since the first known sighting report) – will Ballarat’s Australian King-Parrot population have a similar trajectory to the Rainbow Lorikeets?? Timeline of events Sightings first came to the attention of BirdLife Ballarat in November 2022, when a group of nine Australian King-Parrots sighted in Gordon was reported.  Later that month, an immature male Australian King-Parrot was photographed outside of Union Jack Reserve (Buninyong).  Since then, while reported sightings underwent a hiatus until earlier this year, some investigative correspondence uncovered anecdotes of free-roaming Australian King-Parrots regularly – over preceding years! – visiting backyard birdfeeders at a Gear Avenue property and apparently a few others in what must’ve been a very small, localised area within Mount Helen. A growing presence Fast forward to this year, and in the month of September alone, there were groups of as many as six free-roaming Australian King-Parrots seen – and in most cases, photographed – at Ballarat North, Golden Point, and three separate reports at various locations in Mount Helen.  Add to that, earlier sightings at Victoria Park (July), Lake Wendouree (August), and a sighting in residential Buninyong (Oct 1st), plus apparently paralleled trends in nearby Daylesford (evidenced by eBird) and Creswick (anecdotal evidence) – and you get a snapshot of what is well and truly a spike in sightings!  Or is it just a matter of sightings becoming public knowledge more than previously was the case?? The analysis Interestingly, these Ballarat encounters are made all the more intriguing on account of, on a sighting-by-sighting basis, the varying ages and number of individuals, and the fact that an individual was uttering contact-calls according to one testimony.  This combination of factors may suggest the following: 1.     Multiple different individuals are being encountered each time; 2.     Immature birds may be wandering astray from the parent’s native range in search of unoccupied territory (as often applies when vagrants of any species turn up in unfamiliar places, in which case they usually remain in the area temporarily before correcting course); 3.     The behaviour of contact-calling could be an indication that the vocalising individual is aware others of its species are nearby and seeking to reunite, or may even be initiating courtship attempts (the testimony of a calling individual was this September, the month breeding season begins). Tempering the romanticised notion that there may potentially be some degree of self-introduction (which is more palatable than human-assisted means of colonising) is the fact that a recurring theme in the Ballarat sightings is the species visitation of backyard birdfeeders, which could reasonably be inferred as some partial dependency on feeding by artificial means, and tameness, by former pets.  Balancing out that recurring theme, is at least one instance of ‘wild’ foraging.

Report your sightings to FoCC

Whatever the means of colonisation, it would be useful to further our understanding of why the Australian King-Parrot is a growing phenomenon in Ballarat.  These considerations discussed above mean it is very important to determine age and sex of Australian King-Parrots observed in Ballarat, monitor individuals’ frequency and duration of presence in an area, make note of any vocal behaviours, and be vigilant to any possible breeding activity (from a respectful distance!).  If you have any local sightings data, please feel welcome to share your information with FoCC via email (where your correspondence will be forwarded to Joel), or alternatively send a private message to our FoCC Facebook admins (where your correspondence will be fielded by either one of our bird nerds, which includes Joel).

Next time you wander through residential Mt Helen or Buninyong, or forests within the Corridor, keep an eye out for unexpected anomalies, and if you encounter a parrot of uncertain ID, please make note of its appearance and don’t hesitate to reach out to us to share your wildlife observations.

King Parrot spotted at Pootilla
Following last month’s King Parrot bird of the month this image was received.

King Parrot. Image courtesy of Penny 3rd November 2024

Bird of the Month XXXV (September 2024)
Australian Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus australis)

Okay, you’ve welcomed spring, and wish to immerse yourself in the outdoors and connect with nature. But you’re more inclined to walking around urban wetlands for various reasons (e.g. gentler path surfaces and no steep climbs, checkpoints marking metreage intervals for fitness purposes, and perhaps some street lights if twilight hours are your time set aside for walking). Or maybe you’re like us at FoCC, and just really love creeks and tributaries (how could you not?!)! You don’t want your walking preference to mean you miss out on the local birdlife’s seasonal novelties.
Well, fear not, this edition of BotM is for you! There is a seasonal migrant of the wetlands whose conspicuous vocals celebrate the onset of spring and delight the ears. If you’re an avid walker of wetlands, you’ve probably heard its “rich and powerful” vocals before, but didn’t know the identity of this “outstanding singer”. Well, don’t let another summer come and go without getting to the bottom of what is making that call – wait that long, and it will have migrated back to its wintering range up north! Behold the Australian Reed-Warbler – take note, you’ve got the entire spring/summer ahead of you to seek out and come to admire these easily-heard, tricky-to-see, hidden gems!

Clamorous Reed-Warbler. Reedlark. Reedbird. Water Sparrow. These are the informal names (or previous name in the case of ‘Clamorous’) for the wondrous Australian Reed-Warbler. Depending on what reference material you read, the species may also be documented as Australasian Reed-Warbler, owing to its geographic distribution which extends to Papua New Guinea, south Asia, and even north-east Africa. Wow, a bird so widespread must be very ecologically successful!
The Australian Reed-Warbler is a small (16-17cm) insectivorous passerine (i.e. songbird) of the Family Acrocephalidae. Said family is also represented in Australia by the occasional, vagrant visitation to the northern states by Asia’s Oriental Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis),  but otherwise our September Bird of the Month is the lone Australian representative of its family, and certainly stands alone in Ballarat (and Victoria), as an evolutionarily isolated species. There’s nothing quite like it in these parts, so enjoy its presence when you get the chance!

While its unmarked plumage of olive-brown upperparts, tawny rump, fawn eyebrow, rufous-buff crown, and off-white underparts – may seem plain and understated – don’t be fooled by this unassuming aesthetic! This adornment of subtle browns is highly effective at blending in with its reedbed habitat, and its characterful charm lies in other facets of its being.

A booming vocalist whose calls are affectionately synonymous with a welcome respite from winter, this bird’s song is full of presence! From the raising of its crown to a peak when it sings, to the reveal of its yellow mouth upon bill agape, the Reed-Warbler is its most expressive self when it belts out a note! And belt a note they most persistently do!
The difficulty lies in achieving good views – and harder again, clear photographs – sufficient to admire its songful flamboyance, given the Reed-Warbler’s lifestyle is rather deeply immersed in the dense reedbeds. This is even allowing for the fact the species is common, and not shy. Be it its acrobatic clinging to reed stems and overbalancing in gravity-defying postures without consequence to bird’s sure-footedness or stem’s intactness (stunts the envy of SpiderMan!); foraging for insects which it gleans off stems (or sometimes adjacent ground); or nest-building and breeding – the Reed-Warbler’s lifecycle is almost as entwined in the reeds as its nest!

Australian Reed-Warblers breed from September through December. The nest is a deep cup narrowing at the rim, woven around a cluster of reed stems (or occasionally willow strands), and lined with fine, dry grasses and feathers.
Males and females look alike, but it’s the female that incubates the clutch of 3-4 eggs. In addition to reedbeds large and small, the Australian Reed-Warbler also inhabit thickets of Cumbungi, bamboo, and Lantana. Occasionally, they may even frequent Weeping Willow, River Red Gum regrowth, crops in irrigation channels, and public gardens. Freshwater and saline, natural and artificial, watercourses are all suitable. It is not unheard of for the species to occasionally venture out to drier shrubland and woodland, particularly after breeding or during drought.
The species is widespread in eastern Australia (including inland interior), coastlines of WA and NT, while also uncommon in Tasmania. Its presence in south-east Australia and south-west WA is as a spring/summer breeding migrant, arriving in August-October and departing in March-April. Some may ‘overwinter’, i.e. remain in their breeding range year-round, but in such cases, they are quiet throughout the non-breeding period. In the tropical north it is mostly a winter visitor, but it appears to be resident year-round in some places.
So, how to identify the Australian Reed-Warbler? While the likes of Little Grassbird (13-15cm) and Golden-headed Cisticola (9-11.5cm) are two local species similar in habit (i.e. reed-dwellers) to the Reed-Warbler, both are heavily streaked black and smaller than the unmarked Reed-Warbler (16-17cm). Additionally, the Grassbird’s call is a mournful whistle, and the Cisticola’s is sharp and insect-like. Whereas the Reed-Warbler’s call is described as ‘rich, liquid, guttural phrases’ of “chutch chutch”, “dzee-dzee-dzee”, “kwarty-kwarty-kwarty”, and “kwitchy-kwitchy”. The
alarm call is a sharp “tuk!” or “tchuk”, and rattling scolds.

Next time you wander around Lake Esmond, another urban wetland or heavily reed-lined watercourse, be sure to listen out for the clamorous calls of the acrobatic songster that is the Australian Reed-Warbler. If you hear it, why not set aside some time to observe it from a respectful distance? You will be amazed!

Bird of the Month XXXIV (August 2024)
Varied Sittella (Daphoenositta chrysoptera)

Okay, the weather is fining up, and by time you read this, spring will be calendar-official.  We’re thankful for the larger, conspicuous birds that sustain our bird fix throughout the harsh winters by offering views from the living room window, back veranda, or during our daily car rides – but now it’s time for a challenge!  If you’re able to, the challenge is thrown down to everyone to set off and find one of our smaller birds.  I’ve always thought that all fauna – avian and non-avian – is fascinating in its own right, but some are more iconic than others.  Now, reputations are earned by those iconic fauna – whether for its brilliant colours or patterns, fearsome aura, sheer size, or heart-melting cuteness – but speaking from experience, encounters with certain iconic species may be savoured only for the evocative name that is crossed off the ‘lifer’ list, and nothing more!  Then there are the unheralded, unsung heroes who don’t make headlines or fill column inches (until now!); don’t inspire the nickname or mascot of sporting teams; don’t get chosen as the subject of students’ school projects; and don’t fill shelves of souvenir shops – BUT for all the absence of fanfare, there are surprise packets, like the tiny Varied Sittella, who deliver an encounter that offers genuinely engaging insights into their mesmerising foraging behaviour, with seldom a lull in activity.  No laziness.  Not at all uneventful.  Never a dull moment!  If you’re anything like me, you’ll underestimate the impression they will leave on you, until you’ve been treated to the almost-meditative experience of slowing down to appreciate a flock of these busy birds, wholesomely going about their high-energy foraging ways!  You will come away thinking: ‘Wow, these little charmers really snuck up and affected me in a way that I wasn’t expecting!’

A tiny (11-13cm) insectivore belonging to the Family Neosittidae (Australia’s lone representative, in fact), the Varied Sittella identity represents a species complex that comprises five distinct races/subspecies.  Each race was formerly classified as a species in its own right, and as such the common name of each is long-established.  There are plumage variances between each, but all races are characterised by a slightly upturned bill; feet, eye rings, and bill base of yellow; black-and-white banded vent (vent = bottom); and compact build with short tail.  The species complex is collectively widespread, with “broad” hybrid zones and ‘intergrades’ (i.e. intermediates) between races being in effect.  In Ballarat, our sittellas are the pure nominate race of Orange-winged Sittella (Daphoenositta chrysoptera chrysoptera), and possibly said race hybridised with the Black-capped Sittella (D. c. pileata), given the two “merge in west and central-west Victoria”.  The other three races, namely Striated Sittella (D. c. striata), White-winged Sittella (D. c. leucoptera), and White-headed Sittella (D. c. leucocephala), occur interstate.
(See this brochure by Australian Bird Study Association Inc. if you are interested in distinguishing between the races)
The sexes of the local Orange-winged race look very similar, but the male has a white throat, whereas the female’s throat is blackish grey.  The male’s bill is said to be longer.

The species is highly social, forming breeding groups of 5-7 individuals in spring-summer, and larger winter companies.  When breeding (July through December), one female is believed to lay and incubate the clutch of 2-3 eggs, but all members feed the young.  The nest is situated 5-25m above the ground in a eucalypt, sheoak, paperpark, or tea-tree.   The nest design described as a “beautiful, well-camouflaged deep cup”, or cone, of bark flakes, lichen, and spiderwebs, moulded to resemble a bulge in an upright fork or exposed limb.  So well hidden is the nest, that, ‘when the bird pauses to put food into a tiny open bill, it looks as if the bird is simply stopping to peck into the bark for its prey’.
Roosting communally, and foraging gregariously, the species maintains contact with ‘constant chitterings’ and ‘incessant, sharp twittering’.  The Orange-winged race’s call is described as ‘high-pitched, thin “seewit-seewee”, “chip chip”’, and alarm calls of ‘rapid, high-pitched “didididit”’.  The species’ contact call is described as ‘rapid, sharp “chwit”, and a fast, chattering “tchwit-tchweit-tchwit-tchweit”’.  The species calls “strongly” in flight.

The flight is described as ‘undulating, rather erratic’, on ‘broad, rounded wings’ that ‘seem too large for the bird’.  The broad, wing band (orange in the case of our local Orange-winged race) is conspicuous in flight.  Flights are invariably short distances to the nearest, or a nearby, tree.
Varied Sittella is behaviourally similar to local, fellow insectivorous songbird, the White-throated Treecreeper.  Both species restlessly, and acrobatically, glean and probe branches and tree trunks for bark-dwelling insects and spiders, which has resulted in both Aussie counterparts earning the (erroneous) colloquial moniker of ‘woodpecker’ (when in fact, woodpeckers are very distant relatives, absent from Australia).  A quick way to distinguish between the two species is the rule of thumb: ‘sittellas slide (↓), and treecreepers climb (↑)’, i.e. the sittellas start high in the treetops and spiral their way down (often head-first), while the treecreepers start low and progress upwards.  Foraging direction aside, the White-throated Treecreeper is 33% larger, has a down-curved bill, lacks yellow on exposed skin, and has louder and more diverse vocal repertoire, while being less social than the gregarious sittellas.

Varied Sittella, and the local, Orange-winged race in particular, inhabit open eucalypt woodland/forests (avoiding rainforests), parks, scrubby gardens, shelterbelts, and golf courses, as well as mallee, inland acacia and coastal tea-tree scrubs further afield.  The Orange-winged race is nomadic or sedentary (i.e. present year-round), and is considered “common”.  The other race which possibly influences Ballarat’s local gene pool, the Black-capped Sittella, occupies similar habitats, and has a western distribution.  The species as a whole is safe enough from extinction to be not-listed among Victoria’s officially threatened fauna, and classified as ‘Least Concern’ globally by IUCN.  However, Varied Sittellas are in fact assessed to be undergoing a decreasing population trend, i.e. reduction in numbers and/or spatial extent of occurrence.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or another forest patch in the Corridor, be sure to look out for the hyperactive, noisy flocks of the tiny Varied Sittella; if you find them, the only downward spiral will be the sittellas’ foraging motion – your morale will be quite the opposite once the encounter has been enjoyed!

Bird of the Month XXXIII (July 2024)
Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca)

Mudlark. Peewee. Peewit. Little Magpie. Murray Magpie. These are among the many colloquial names for the Magpie-lark. Neither magpie (indeed, bearing no close genetic relationship to Australian Magpie or the Corvidae magpies) nor lark, this is a species whose many nicknames often misalign and misappropriate a bird trying to break free of misnomers and have its own substance and merit speak for itself. To contextualise further, Magpie-larks were formerly categorised as belonging to Family Corcoracidae (A.K.A Australian Mudnesters, e.g. White-winged Chough, Apostlebird) on account of its mud-composed nests (hence, the ‘Mudlark’ moniker), only for recent genetic analysis to prove Magpie-larks are instead a large (26-30cm) member of Family Monarchidae (A.K.A Monarch Flycatchers), which also includes Satin Flycatcher, among others. If you’re in the midst of, or ever have experienced, an identity crisis, the Magpie-lark is the bird to inspire your navigating to a space of self-assured, unique individuality.

Magpie-larks are adorned in black-and-white exclusively.  Males and females look the same from a distance, but look closer and you will notice the eye band, eyebrow, and face/throat plumage differ between the sexes, as summarised in the table below.  Juveniles look similar to adult females, but their black is brownish.  The petite ivory-coloured bill distinguishes them from Australian Magpie.

Magpie-larks inhabit a relatively diverse range of habitats. The species is absent from the dense forests and waterless deserts, but otherwise occur just about anywhere there are trees and mud (for nest-building). Magpie-larks are especially partial to the margins of lakes, rivers, and swamps, while they have also adapted well to human-made and urban environments – particularly if permanent water has become available. Open country and lightly wooded habitats bode well for the Magpie-lark’s habit of foraging on the ground, and even wading, for ground-dwelling insects (and larvae), earthworms, and freshwater invertebrates.
Magpie-larks typically breed from August through November, but may occasionally breed outside of this timeframe (particularly in arid and north Australia, where breeding is responsive to rainfall). If conditions are conducive, pairs may rear multiple broods (of 3-5 eggs) in a year. Both male and female share nest construction, egg incubation, and young-rearing duties. The nest is bowl-shaped and built onto a horizontal branch (typically 6-15m off the ground, but up to 20m high), often overhanging a watercourse, and situated not-uncommonly close to nesting Willie Wagtails and White-winged Trillers. Occasionally the nest may be built on an artificial structure. Lined thickly with grass, fur, and feathers, the nest is a larger version (15cm diameter) of the Restless Flycatcher’s (fellow Monarch Flycatcher) nest, only it is bound together with mud rather than cobwebs. Nests or nearby sites may be reused annually. Both parents aggressively defend the nest, young, and territory (up to 10ha), which often entails boldly fighting outside of their weight division versus Australian Magpie and raptors, including even the mighty Wedge-tailed Eagle! Magpie-larks occur in pairs, family parties, and loose autumn-winter (non-breeding) flocks. During said time, non-breeding and young birds may form nomadic flocks of surprisingly staggering abundance – up to several thousand individuals! Such flocks may embark on northward autumn/winter migration to Northern Territory and Cape York Peninsula, while the return southward migration occurs in spring/summer. Sedentary occupation of year-round territories is also practiced by the species. Magpie-larks’ geographic distribution is very widespread, occurring on all mainland states and territories (occasional vagrant visitor to Tasmania), some offshore islands, PNG, and Timor. Magpie-larks are not threatened with extinction, and actually their population trend is increasing.

Magpie-larks are quite vociferous birds, with its familiar vocals inspiring the ‘Peewee’ and Peewit’ monikers. Mated pairs often perch beside each other, and engage in synchronised duets whereby they call alternately, rhythmically raising and lowering their wings, and spreading their tails, with each vocalisation. One bird utters ‘loud, metallic “knee-deep”, immediately answered antiphonally by the other “tee-o-wee”, “pee-o-wit”’, or “wheeik”. Other vocals include ‘liquid, mellow “cloop, cloop, cloop” or “clue-weet, clue-weet”’, or “qwoo-zik”. The alarm call is ‘brassy, strident, emphatic “tee! tee! tee!”’, or “tree-tree!”.

Vocals in flight are typically ‘softer, liquid, piping, “qwoo-whik”’. Other cues to identify Magpie-larks include its flight which is ‘distinctive, slow, buoyant… with deep, uneven, lapping beats of broad, rounded wings’, and ‘exaggerated, catchy wingbeats’, as it flutters, lifts, and dodges lightly.
Magpie-larks walk with a characteristic back-and-forward head bobbing. Next time you wander the fringes of Woowookarung Regional Park, or nearby streetscapes or farmland, be sure to take in the vociferous presence and sights of Magpie-larks with a newfound admiring regard for these tenacious, one-of-a-kind birds whose courage belies its size!

Bird of the Month XXXII (June 2024)
Little Raven (Corvus mellori)

Needing to take inspiration from an avian survivalist to get you through the harsh winter chill?  Perhaps look to a bird that is a beacon of adaptability, resistant to threatening processes: then, there’s no better bird to embody than the Little Raven.  Lauded for its supreme intelligence, and flexibility of (omnivorous) diets exploited and habitats occupied, these birds are masterful at avoiding common causes of avian mortality (e.g. collision with vehicles/windows), to the point where I’m convinced they’d survive an apocalypse!  Anyway, let’s not contemplate such a dystopian idea.  The point is, Little Ravens survive the winter with aplomb, and you can too!  Take note!

Just like all other Aussie ravens and crows, adult Little Ravens are entirely black (legs and bill included), apart from its white eyes (irises).  The eyes are blue in juveniles (bird equivalent of children), while immatures (bird equivalent of adolescents) have brown eyes.  The juveniles have pink-grey naked skin on the gape (lips) and bill base, and their plumage is sooty/brownish, whereas adults have a glossy sheen.  Males and females are indistinguishable.
Survive winter?  Nah, they go one better and breed during this time.  Little Ravens lay 1-6 eggs in large nests of sticks, from May through Dec.  Both sexes contribute to nest-building, incubation, and feeding duties.  Social dispersions during breeding season vary from territorial pairs to widely-spread colonies.  After this breeding period, wandering (nomadic) flocks of all age classes may travel locally or widely within their range.
Little Ravens occupy a wide range of habitats – namely, treed grassland and pastures, open woodland/forests – from coasts to alpine regions, and along the urban-wilderness gradient from cities and towns to remote areas.  The distribution is widespread either side of the Great Dividing Range, southward of the NSW-QLD border, from the southeastern Australian coasts and inland to its western limit on the central coastal of SA.  Where the Little Raven’s geographic range ends, another raven or crow replaces it, which applies continent-wide, but overlapping ranges do occur.

Corvid on the public conscious!

‘Corvid’ is an umbrella term for representatives of the Family Corvidae (one of many passerine families within the Order Passeriformes).  Family Corvidae is cosmopolitan (i.e. occurs worldwide), with presence on all continents, barring Antarctica, and consists of 135 extant (i.e. currently not extinct) species (see Figure 1 for a simplified family tree).  Among them are 47 species from Genus Corvus – the crows, ravens, jackdaws, and Rook. The family is renowned for its supreme intelligence, which includes the capacity to make and use tools, problem-solving, memorisation (spatial, episodic memory), self-awareness, empathy, and grieving – all complex cognitive abilities previously believed to be achieved only by humans, and few higher mammals.   Corvidae brain:body size ratios are only slightly lower than that of humans, and equal to great apes, and cetaceans (i.e. whales, dolphins, porpoises), and slightly higher than its only rivals in avian intelligence – the Order Psitacciformes (i.e. parrots and cockatoos).  Of the corvids, it is the ravens who have the highest brain:body size ratio.

Ravens vs Crows – what’s the difference?

Given all crows and ravens belong exclusively to Genus Corvus, they are immediately close relatives.  In fact, there is no consistent, scientific distinction between one and the other.  Actually, the names ‘crow’ and ‘raven’ are assigned loosely as a grouping of size, with crows being slightly smaller, while the ravens are the largest corvids.  Species assigned the ‘Crow’ name are no less related to species assigned ‘Raven’ than they are to fellow ‘Crows’ – and vice versa.  Therefore, given they are virtually one and the same, ‘Crows’ and ‘Ravens’ are more closely related to each other than the relatedness between namesakes of some bird groups (e.g. ‘Honeyeater’; ‘Lorikeet’, let alone ‘Parrot’; ‘Cockatoo’; ‘Duck’, are some examples of names shared between species across many a genus.  Thus, links between common names and scientific names can be inconsistent and misleading).

Local Corvids: NO ‘Crows’ in Ballarat!

Ballarat’s local corvid is of course the Little Raven (Corvus mellori), and this species is the identity behind the overwhelming majority of corvids sighted in the Ballarat LGA.  Infrequently, Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides) may be reported in outer Ballarat and neighbouring LGAs, but this species is not a breeding resident of Ballarat, and so only an irregular visitor.  The two congeners (i.e. species belonging to the same genus) – or any of the five Australian corvids, for that matter – are virtually indistinguishable to the untrained eye, with Little Raven as its name suggests being slightly smaller than the Australian Raven which has more prominent throat ‘hackles’ (beard).  The easiest way to differentiate them is by call, with the classic vocalisation of the Australian being a distinctive, drawn-out wail. Elsewhere, in Victoria, there is the short-tailed Forest Raven (Corvus tasmanicus) of the coasts and Grampians. What about ‘Crows’ – are they absent in Victoria?  Almost.  The Little Crow’s (Corvus bennetti) Victorian distribution is limited to the state’s far northwest mallee, making it the fourth and final corvid resident in Victoria.  Torresian Crow (Corvus orru), absent from Victoria, rounds out Australia’s five resident corvid species.

Little Ravens are the ultimate opportunistic omnivores, exploiting a varied array of dietary options.  This includes insects, rodents, small birds (including hatchlings and eggs), seeds and fruit, human refuse, and carrion – whatever resources are in abundance, and anything for which they may be in the right place at the right time.  Families may congregate to exploit seasonal resources (e.g. wasp galls, lerp), while plaguing locusts and Australian Black Field Crickets may attract huge aggregations of Little Ravens.

Vocalisations of the Little Raven are conspicuous and familiar, ‘short, rapid, medium-toned, guttural “ark-ark-ark”’ and ‘longer “ark-aark-aaark” usually ending abruptly without a drawn-out finish’.

Next time you wander through… anywhere outdoors, be sure to look twice at the truly impressive, cognitive-heavyweight, avian masterminds that are our local corvids, the Little Raven!

Bird of the Month XXXI (May 2024)
New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae)

Dutchy?  Holly?  Fresh Phil?  Phyllis?  Whatever nickname of endearment you may affectionately ascribe to this feathered friend – make no mistake, these native honeyeaters are a regular, year-round presence, sure to supply your ‘phyl’ of birds during chilly times when the spring/summer migrants are long-departed to their non-breeding ranges in warmer climes (why didn’t we think of that?!).  Chattery, exuberant, and treating those amongst us afflicted with SAD (seasonal affective disorder) to a splash of colour; we have here, a bird that will entertain any gardeners who plant Silver Banksia, grevilleas, or bottlebrushes (just to name a few of its favourite locally native, and Aussie, shrubs).

Smallish (18cm), and unmistakable (at least in Victoria) with its black, white and yellow plumage, New Holland Honeyeaters are among the most quintessential of nectarivores, equipped with that long bill, and even longer – rarely seen – tongue, perfect for lapping up nectar and pollen from flowering shrubs.  The diet may also be supplemented with fruits (this sweet tooth… or rather, sweet bill, enjoys a sugar high!), plus insects and spiders which it sallies.  Small groups bicker, chase each other, dive for cover, and dart very energetically from shrub to shrub, probing inflorescences (i.e. flower heads) as they browse the low to mid strata of vegetation.  Local numbers may fluctuate in accordance with the flowering cycle of available shrubs (which is a good reason to plant native flora that flower at all different times of the year!).

New Holland Honeyeaters readily adapt to – and are common in – gardens, but also inhabit heathlands, woodlands, and forests, where a shrubby understorey is present.  The species is geographically distributed throughout its native range of the coastal and subcoastal southern half of Australia, from Brisbane, southward, unbroken – but for the Great Australian Bight – all the way to southwest and mid-west Western Australia.  They also occur in Tasmania, state-wide.

New Holland Honeyeaters are sexually monomorphic (which means both sexes look alike), with males being ever so slightly larger than females.  The species breeds at any time of the year, but most prominently in summer and even winter.  Breeding pairs may raise two or even three broods in a year, with clutch sizes of 2-3 eggs.  Both parents feed the chicks.  The nest is a cup-shaped structure of bark and grasses, lined with soft plant debris, and bound together with spiderwebs.  Generally situated in a shrub or tree, its nest may be at any height from 6m down to ground level.

If your curiosity is piqued as to how to identify them by call, the New Holland Honeyeater’s typical vocalisations are a distinctive ‘loud, single “tchik”, repeated often’, plus a ‘whistled “tsee” in flight’, and ‘rapid “chweip chweip chweip” scolding notes’, and loud alarm calls when threatened.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park’s shrubby patches, or gardens in the neighbourhood, be sure to never pass up a chance to take in and admire the endearingly infectious, life-lusting energy, and splash of colour of these sugar-rushing, pocket-rockets that are New Holland Honeyeaters – they’ll soothe your SAD!

Bird of the Month XXX (April 2024)
Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax)

 

Milestone BotM editions such as this, call for a BIG, blockbuster write-up!  And no bird is bigger in size, spirit, or reputation than the mighty Wedge-tailed Eagle!  A popular childhood favourite (including that of this bird nerd!), this majestic bird is proudly shrouded in First Nations’ cultural significance, most notably being revered by Indigenous Victorians as the inspiration behind the Dreamtime legend of Bunjil.  Elsewhere, ‘Wedgies’ features prominently in pop culture iconography.  Physically, Wedge-tailed Eagles are imposing, growing to a massive total length of ~1m, with wingspans of 2.3m, and weights of ~5kg.  Such large dimensions rank it as Australia’s largest raptor (bird of prey), outsizing the second-largest, the White-bellied Sea-Eagle, by 15% in total length, and 25% in weight, while ‘Wedgies’ are over four times heavier than the other of Australia’s three eagles, the Little Eagle (itself smaller than several other non-eagle Australian raptors).  Certainly, this sheer size lends itself to Wedgies exuding an aura of fearlessness and all-conquering domination of the food chain, which is possibly the reason for its scientific epithet of ‘audax’ which means ‘bold’ in Latin.  Food chain aside, its aura extends to its commanding presence (very palpable!) in flight, as it soars high (regularly reaching elevations of 1,800m, or as high as 3,000m), gracefully, and powerfully, completely resistant to even strong winds.  Let me tell you, this is an awe-inspiring, larger-than-life, mega-bird!
The identifying features of the Wedge-tailed Eagle are of course its long, diamond-shaped tail; long, broad wings, with prominent ‘fingers’ (the wingtip feathers are more technically known as ‘primaries’), often held upswept in a shallow ‘V’; ‘trousers’ fully-feathered down to the off-white feet; and long, ivory-coloured bill.  The plumage darkens with age throughout at least their first 10 years (breeding age at 6-7 years), going from mid or chocolate brown, to blackish brown.  Juveniles have paler tones of golden-brown or reddish brown on their crown, nape, mantle, and shoulders down to mid outerwing, while the breast feathers are fringed with those paler tones, and the underwings are faintly barred.  As with most raptors, females are larger than males, but otherwise the sexes are visually indistinguishable.

Wedge-tailed Eagles tend to be silent, but may utter ‘disyllabic and wavering trill-like whistles and yelps in social/territorial contexts’.  Other cues to alert you to its presence are the recurring dynamic of aggressive and vociferous mobbing tactics by smaller birds, such as magpies, ravens, lapwings, Magpie-larks, Willie Wagtail, butcherbird, falcons, and Brown Goshawks, etc., which harass Wedgies as an anti-predator alarm system.

Wedge-tailed Eagles are widespread across the Australian mainland and Tasmania (also New Guinea), inhabiting a wide range of habitats throughout, most notably thrive in treed open country, woodland, and forests.  Favourable conditions for a habitat, include: availability of tall tree(s) to support their ample nest(s), and provide a high vantage point; abundance of mammalian prey; and undulating terrain (e.g. hills, mountains) as these topographic features promote the updraughts on which ‘Wedgies’ so routinely soar.

Wedge-tailed Eagles exploit a diverse range of prey species.  Primarily, they target mammalian prey, with dietary staples including rabbits, and brushtail possums (which Wedgies extract from tree cavities).  Secondary diet options include hares, ringtail possums, wallabies, kangaroos (hunts may be cooperative amongst 2-15 Wedgies), birds of all sizes (e.g. galahs, cockatoos, ducks), lizards (e.g. Bearded Dragon), and roadkill.  Supplementing their diet, in infrequent/rare cases of opportunism, are rodents, feral cats, foxes, Dingo, bats (both flying-fox and microbat), Koalas, raptors, Short-beaked Echidna, Platypus, venomous snakes, fish, Cane Toads, and insects.  The Wedgies’ formidability is such that almost everything with the exception of humans (no recorded human deaths), pythons, crocodiles, and large undulates, is able to be overpowered.  Fortunately, despite common misconception, livestock is generally only exploited as carrion (i.e. cleaning up the dead).  Wedgies can carry away prey of at least 5kg, but heavier prey may be eaten in situ by up to 20 Wedgies, or covered with vegetation debris and cached for later.

Wedge-tailed Eagles are monogamous and pairs breed for life.  Breeding season is April through September, but this may vary from location to location, and year to year, dependent on local food availability (cases are known where pairs defer breeding for four years straight).  Breeding pairs may engage in aerial courtship, whereby they may choreograph loop-de-loop manoeuvres – a sight to behold!  Both parents contribute to nest-building, incubation, and young-feeding duties.  Clutch sizes are typically 1 or 2 eggs, but sometimes up to 4.  Wedgie eggs (150g) are 3 times larger than chicken eggs, and a clutch of three eggs would see the expectant mother carrying 10% of her body weight in eggs.  Incubation lasts 45 days, and the male will primarily deliver food to the female, and occasionally relieve her of incubation duties.  Fledging occurs at 67-95 days.  Up to two-thirds of Wedgies may die sometime between fledging and 3-5 years, but adults have quite low mortality rates and can live for the better part of half a century (certainly, captive individuals have been known to live to ~40 years). Nests are large (typically 1.8m wide) structures of sticks, generally reused year after year for decades, and progressively reinforced with sticks to the point where the nest may be 3.9m deep and a hefty 400kg!  The nest interior is shallow (~30cm deep), and lined with green leaves and twigs.  The nests tend to be in the tallest tree and/or a tree on elevated ground (for surveillance purposes), but dwarf trees (1-2m), telegraph poles, power pylons, cliff ledges, rock piles, and hills are all known, occasional alternative nest sites.  Nests may number 2-3 per pair to provide alternative nurseries.  Occasionally, Wedgies may inherit and upsize disused Whistling Kite nests, while Wedgies’ disused nests may be inherited by Pacific Black Ducks, falcons or owls, and active nests may even support nesting co-tenants such as finches, pardalotes, brusthtail possums.

Wedge-tailed Eagles are classified as ‘Least Concern’ globally, ‘Endangered’ federally, and ‘Secure’ in Victoria, but are said to be ‘Increasing’ in population trend.  The species’ threats are illegal poisoning and shooting; collisions with cars (owing to its scavenging habit), powerlines, and wind turbines; and natural disasters such as fire and drought for its potential to reduce nest site and food availability.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park (or adjacent farmland), or another local forest patch, keep a lookout (remember to observe the cues of magpies and other harassers) above for flyovers by the majestic, pest-controlling, carcass removalist, awe-inspiring mega-birds that are the mighty Wedge-tailed Eagle!
A pair of eagles and a Dusky Woodswallow (above right), seeing them off…

Bird of the Month XXIX (March 2024)
Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla)

Fancy a bird that has a very cheeky, and innovative, anti-predator cheat code?  How about one that is so often around, but so commonly overlooked?  If you’ve ever wondered ‘what was that little brown job (LBJ) that annoyingly hopped behind some leaves?’, or ‘what was that sweet chatter call?  All the small birds’ songs sound so similar?’ – what you saw and heard may have been this month’s Bird of the Month (among other contenders, granted).  Allow me to enlighten you to the whacky and wonderful Brown Thornbill!

One of Australia’s tiniest birds, at 10cm short (tail included) and 7g light, Brown Thornbills are one feathered friend that will see you getting your money’s worth for your binoculars (if you don’t have a pair, they’re item no.1 on your next birthday or Xmas list!).  One of four species of Ballarat’s local Thornbills, the Brown Thornbill is not as plain, dull and boring as the name suggests.  Its dark-red iris, and tinges of rufous on the rump and (scalloped) forehead, together set it apart from its fellow (local) thornbills.  Additionally, it has olive-brown upperparts, streaked throat, buff (beige) belly, and grey-brown tail to complete the get-up.

An inhabitant of biomes with a dense shrub layer, Brown Thornbills occur in heathlands, woodlands, and forests – dry and wet, as well as parks and gardens.  The species is widespread from coast to inland (to elevations of up to 1,200m), and across the urban gradient (though, not so much inner city), throughout southeast Australia.

Such is its inextricable link to shrub layers, Brown Thornbills may be vulnerable to bushfires.  The species’ conservation status is ‘Least Concern’ and of ‘Stable’ population trend, while it is considered ‘Secure’ in Victoria and federally.  The upshot of its relative vulnerability to bushfire, is the fact that notionally, it is advantaged by areas where successional regrowth provides ‘pioneer’ communities of scrub, which are to its liking.  Brown Thornbills do, however, forage at all heights, from the ground to the canopy.

Brown Thornbills primarily are insectivores, but may also supplement their diet with seeds, fruit, and nectar.  Brown Thornbills tend to feed in pairs, or family parties.  Said to not flock as readily as other Thornbills, Brown Thornbills may, however, congregate in mixed-species flocks with other Thornbills, during non-breeding season.

Breeding season is July through to January.  Pairs (which are virtually indistinguishable) occupy territories year-round, with bonds said to be long-lasting (monogamous).  Females build the dome-shaped nest, and incubate the clutch of 2-4 eggs, while feeding duties are shared between both parents.  The nests are small, designed with a partially hooded entrance, and constructed out of grass and bark; lined with feathers, fur and soft plant down; and usually built low down in prickly bushes and ferns.  Incubation lasts 19 days, and young leave the nest (fledge) within 16 days.  Offspring remain with the parents until early autumn, before dispersing from the parent’s territory.  Thus, the population, at time of writing, is brimming with exclusively mature individuals.

Brown Thornbills are vocal year-round, and boast a surprisingly loud and deep call that belies its tiny size.  The signature note is ‘tzzt’ (or ‘tchirt’) and may be composed in pleasant trills, or harsh, rapidly repeated utterings when agitated or foraging.  Trills may follow the signature note with ‘to-weet-et-wrrtt’ and end the song with a longer, higher note.  Vocal mimicry of other species’ calls may also be interspersed throughout their renditions.

And how about that cheeky anti-predator cheat code?!  Well, while on the topic of mimicry, the Brown Thornbill, when under threat by a Pied Currawong (a predator of Thornbills), have been known to imitate the alarm calls made by rosellas, honeyeaters, and robins when a goshawk is on the hunt.  The Pied Currawong, which themselves are wary of goshawks, heed the (false) alarm, and put their thornbill-hunt on hold to watch their own back – little do they know, there was no goshawk, and they’ve been out-smarted by their prey.  How impressively innovative and deceitful!  You can read more about this anti-predator cheat code at: https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2015/06/thornbill-scares-off-predator-by-mimicking-hawk-warning/

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or another local forest patch, calibrate your focals ready for views of these unjustly plain-named, deceitful impressionist, pocket rockets that are Brown Thornbills!

Bird of the Month XXVIII (February 2024)
Australian Owlet-Nightjar (Aegotheles cristatus)

Hollow check!  Nesting. 1, 2, 3.  Read me loud and clear?  Good.  It’s time now to again fly (no pun intended) the flag for our nocturnal feathered friends.  This is a nocturnal bird with a difference!  A winged, tailed, beady-eyed fluffball tiny enough to fit in smaller hollows, and therefore compatible with Eucalyptus communities of younger age class (enter Woowookarung and it’s 70-odd year-old forest community).  And not only that, but it is one nocturnal bird that obligingly reveals itself during the day, by sunning itself at its hollow entrance.  Hence, we must look twice at each hollow we come across.  Presenting, the Australian Owlet-Nightjar!

Cute and unique (more on that later), the little-known Australian Owlet-Nightjar is the smallest (21-25cm), and perhaps most widespread and abundant of Australia’s nocturnal birds.  It is an insectivore that comes in a variety of different colours, and occupies a diverse range of treed habitats (all but rainforests), continent-wide.  The species consists of two races/subspecies; a mainland race and a Tasmanian race, and five colour morphs, including dark-grey; pale-grey; grey with orange face/collar; orange/rufous; and orange with dark crown.  These colour morphs are not influenced by race or parentage, but rather biogeography, given the cooler, temperate areas (including Tasmania) tend to be darker with less orange morphs, whereas the drier regions have more orange and paler morphs.

Typical of many nocturnal birds, Australian Owlet-Nightjars have large eyes, and much like Frogmouths and Nightjars, it has whiskers (or more technically ‘rictal bristles’).  Its eyes do not strongly reflect light beams (whereas other nocturnal birds’ eyes glow red).  Another visually prominent feature is its blackish head stripes – two eye stripes that run from atop the eye down to the nape, and some may also have a third, central stripe on the crown.  Given bird experts have such a precise attention-to-detail, seldom will one find in an ID guide, a bird compared to a mammal – but Australian Owlet-Nightjar, owing to its head stripes, whiskers and tiny bill, is described by Menkhorst et al. (2019) as appearing to have a ‘rather mammalian visage (surprisingly reminiscent of a Sugar Glider when peering from tree hollow)’.

Failing a visual encounter, fear not, you can easily identify Australian Owlet-Nightjars by its voice.  It is said that ‘Once learned, [it] is one of the most commonly heard nocturnal sounds’.  Calls are frequently sounded at dusk, then at intervals through the night, and occasionally even during daylight, from the roost hollow.  The typical call is described as a ‘Diagnostic, high-pitched, “chirr”, repeated 1, 2 or 3 times’, while the alarm call is a ‘shrill screech’. Below ‘call’ then ‘song’:

 

Why evolutionary tree isolation matters: While similar-looking nocturnal birds, Frogmouths and Nightjars, belong to separate families (Podargidae and Caprimulgidae, respectively) within the same (Caprimulgiformes) Order (which makes them equivalently related as cats, dogs, hyenas and bears are to each other), the Australian Owlet-Nightjar is Australia’s lone representative of an entirely different Order of its own, that of Apodiformes.  Thus, the Australian Owlet-Nightjar’s uniqueness is such that it is way off on a distant branch (with no branchlet off-shoots) of the evolutionary tree, and is not even a bear or hyena to the cats and dogs of Frogmouths and Nightjars (despite misleadingly being namesakes).  This uniqueness is significant as it means the Australian Owlet-Nightjar proudly contributes a ‘phylogenetic’ diversity on a continent and local scale, where functional roles are saturated by the Orders of Psittaciformes (Parrots & Cockatoos) and Passeriformes (a diverse Order of songbirds which include Honeyeaters, Magpies/Butcherbirds & Currawongs, Ravens, Fairywrens, Pardalotes, Thornbills, Whistlers/Shrikethrushes, Robins, Finches, and just about any small-medium bushland bird with the exception of raptors, Kingfishers/Kookaburras, Cuckoos, and Pigeons/Doves).  Given no other species is armed with the specific adaptations to fulfil its ecological niche, the Australian Owlet-Nightjar is irreplaceable – and we must protect it against any decline towards extinction.

I digress, back to the Australian Owlet-Nightjar.  This nocturnal insectivore’s flight is described as ‘buoyant’ and ‘manoeuvrable’, thanks to those round wings, and long (barred) tail which acts as a rudder.  These flight capabilities bode well for its effectiveness at preying on insects.  Foraging is carried out within the (year-round) territory, and normally done in pairs.  Techniques include seizing flying insects from open airspace, and pouncing from perch-start on ground-dwelling or arboreal (tree-borne) prey, the latter of which has been likened to a flycatcher (evoking our previous Bird of the Month, the Satin Flycatcher).

The Australian Owlet-Nightjar’s breeding season is July through December.  The species broods one clutch of 2-5 eggs per breeding season, once a year.  Both parents construct the nest, incubate the eggs, and care for the young.  The nest is a bed of green leaves, placed in a suitable tree-hollow or rock crevice, sometimes quite low to the ground.  Hollows tend to be used as a roost site, year-round, during non-breeding season.  Artificial nest boxes may be adopted, as was the case with Photographer Rob!

Australian Owlet-Nightjar, as a well-adapted, widespread species (also occurring in southern PNG), has a global conservation status of Least Concern, and is of ‘Stable’ population trend.  In Victoria, its conservation status appears to be unknown.  Australian Owlet-Nightjars, and other nocturnal birds, tend to be under-reported (for obvious reasons) in citizen science sightings databases; thus, any data contributions from amateur observers are very valuable!

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or another local forest patch – check every hollow you see twice for this Sugar Glider-masquerading bird, and come dusk, keep your ears attuned to any chirr-ing!

Author note: FoCC Committee member and co-admin of FoCC’s Facebook and webpage, Joel Ellis is the resident bird nerd, amateur Powerful Owl researcher, and editor of FoCC’s (co-funded) ‘Indigenous [Species] of Southern Ballarat’ brochure series.  Joel has studied birds up to Honours degree level, is a professional ecological consultant (ornithologist), and member of BirdLife Australia (Ballarat branch).

Bird of the Month XXVII (January 2024)

Satin Flycatcher (Myiagra cyanoleuca)

Time is running out fast!  Get in quick, and don’t miss out!  The seasonal novelties that are spring/summer woodland migrants will only persist down south for a short time longer, before they depart for their non-breeding range in northern Australia, New Guinea and Indonesia.  And what better migrant to explore and admire than the Satin Flycatcher.  Vocally distinct for your ease of identifying (and enjoying!) its call/song, this talkative songbird will announce itself with its pleasantly vociferous presence.  Once you’ve traced the sound to its source (usually high in the forest canopy), greeting you will be the visual delight that is this most sleek of small, feathered friends – well worth a look through binoculars!

The Satin Flycatcher is a smallish (15-18cm) insectivorous passerine (i.e. songbird), belonging to Family Monarchidae (which also comprises Magpie-larks).  The species exhibits sexual dimorphism (meaning males and females have noticeably dissimilar plumages), whereby the male inspires the ‘Satin’ name with its glossy, deep blue-black head, chest, and upperparts, contrasting with its snow-white underparts – dapper like a tuxedo-clad maestro!  The female, meanwhile, has a rich orange-rufous chin, throat and breast, white underparts, and upperparts that are a slightly duskier blue-black than that of the males.  The species also has a crest of gently-sloping erectile crown feathers, which are often raised when singing.  (Note: Observers are to be cautioned that both sexes of the closely-related Leaden Flycatcher (Myiagra rubecula) look remarkably similar to its Satin counterpart.  Clear views/photographs in good light are often needed, sometimes even by experts contending with ID, to distinguish the diagnostic features between the two congeners.  Admittedly, Satin is much more common than Leaden, an occasional visitor to Ballarat, outnumbering Leaden’s reporting frequency by a ratio of more than 50:1.  Nonetheless, it’s useful to be wise to the differences, to deduce whether a rarity is to be ruled in or out. Refer to the table below for advanced ID tips).

Diagnostic feature	Satin Flycatcher	Leaden Flycatcher
Head, upperparts (both sexes)	Uniformly glossy, deep blue-black, with sheen	Duller, lead-grey; head, and especially lores (i.e. plumage between eye, bill) darker than elsewhere
Undertail (both sexes)	Dark grey	Paler grey
Bib (males)	White belly upcurves into blue breast	Square-cut boundary between blue and white
Wing feather edgings (females)	Buff (beige) or warm brown	Silver
Vocals	[Refer below]	“Squank”
Habitat	Moist forests of all altitudes	Mostly drier forest, with little understorey, at low-mid altitude

Needing auditory cues?  The Satin Flycatcher typically betrays its whereabouts with its conspicuous vocals – heard first, seen second.  So what to listen out for?  Descriptions of its vocals include ‘repeated, loud, piping “towhee-toowhee”’, ‘clear, high-pitched “to-weir-to-weir-to-weir”’, and ‘repeated, churring, grinding “tzzeep”’.  Also, ‘sharp, metallic, rising whistle: “chwee-wip, chwee-wip, chwee-wip”’, and ‘harsh, grating, buzzes, repeated often’.  Note, the descriptors of ‘grinding’ and ‘metallic’ align well with the similar, “scissor-grinder” vocals of the closely-related, white-throated, Restless Flycatcher (Myiagra inquieta) of farmlands; therefore, if one can perceive birdsong as sounding like what one might conceivably relate to a scissor-grinder, then, habitat permitting, you could well have yourself a Satin Flycatcher, or at least one of the Myiagra Flycatchers.

The breeding habitat of the Satin Flycatcher is moist forests, especially those of tall overstorey community, characterised by gullies.  Drier, more open forests may be transitioned to for foraging by loose groups of adults and newly fledged young.  Loose colonies of 2-5 pairs may nest communally, with nests spaced 20-50m apart.  Breeding season is September through March.  Both sexes build the cup-shaped nest, incubate the clutch of three (3) eggs, and feed the young.  The broad-based nest of shredded bark, grass, and lichen, is bound together by spiderwebs, and built into a horizontal branch, with overhanging foliage, at heights of 3-25m.  The incubation period lasts 17 days.

Satin Flycatchers forage energetically in the mid-, and upper-canopy, taking insects on the wing.

Distribution encompasses temperate Victoria, Tasmania, the coastal/subcoastal range of the Eastern Seaboard (NSW, QLD), where it breeds, and PNG and Indonesia where it ‘winters’ (i.e. its non-breeding range).  The Satin Flycatcher’s extinction risk is classified as ‘Least Concern’ globally, and ‘Secure’ federally and in Victoria, but the species is undergoing a ‘Decreasing’ population trend, thus considered to be in decline.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, Union Jack Reserve, or another local forest patch – look and listen out for the buzzing, dapper, tuxedo-clad maestro that is the Satin Flycatcher!

Author note: FoCC Committee member and co-admin of FoCC’s Facebook and webpage, Joel Ellis is the resident bird nerd, amateur Powerful Owl researcher, and editor of FoCC’s (co-funded) ‘Indigenous [Species] of Southern Ballarat’ brochure series.  Joel has studied birds up to Honours degree level, is a professional ecological consultant (ornithologist), and is a member of BirdLife Australia (Ballarat branch).

Bird of the Month XXVI (November 2023)
Australian Wood (Maned) Duck (Chenonetta jubata)

Okay, so the Canadian Corridor, and indeed our beloved Woowookarung Regional Park, are both primarily characterised by dry heathy, open eucalypt forest.  Granted that, it doesn’t preclude the influence of – or FoCC’s vested interest in – aquatic habitats interspersed throughout the Corridor, including Yarrowee River and its tributaries and creeks (some unnamed), lakes (e.g. Esmond), reservoirs (i.e. Kirk’s, Gong Gong, White Swan), and dams.  And where there is surface water, there’s a whole, different assemblage of many, varied waterbirds.
There is no better representative of a merger between dry land and water than the Australian Wood (Maned) Duck.  Where some waterbirds may be observed flying over Woowookarung, or taking up residence in a nearby dam or flooded paddock, the Australian Wood Duck will go one further and nest in forest – sometimes far away from water.

The Australian Wood Duck, also known as Maned Duck (or erroneously, Maned Goose), is a handsome, goose-like (i.e. long neck and upright posture) duck that gets its alternative name from the male’s mullet-like hairdo.  The origins of the ‘Wood’ of its common name are unclear, with a number of theories posited.  Such theories include its chestnut head being a colour reminiscent of wood, or the species’ affinity with wooded habitats, given it nests in tree hollows and perches in eucalypts and on logs.  Name origins aside, these pale grey ducks (44-50cm) with the brown-grey speckled breast and black wing stripes, are dabblers that forage on land, grazing on grasses and herbs (and occasionally insects) of lawns, grasslands, flooded or irrigated croplands, and littoral zones (i.e. the shores and shallow extremities of lakes, dams, sewage ponds, and estuaries).  Thus, they are not avid swimmers and certainly far-removed from divers, but may upend in the shallows, and will retreat to open water when disturbed.

Males have a richer chestnut head/neck than females, while females have more extensive mottling, and faint white stripes above and below the eye.  The species forms monogamous pairs that remain bonded year-round.  This is a highly social species that may congregate in flocks as abundant as 2,000 individuals.  Breeding season is September through November in the south of Australia, but elsewhere they may breed any time of year following sufficient rainfall.  As aforementioned, the species nest in tree hollows, which may be waterside or a considerable distance away from water.  A chosen tree hollow is often reused, year after year.  Artificial nest boxes may alternatively be used.  The primary nest material is downy feathers.  Clutches of 9-11 eggs are incubated over 28 days, and young remain with parents a month after fledging.

As a duck that sometimes nests far away from water, Australian Wood Ducks are a species hardened with a tenacity, born out of being predisposed to enduring the long, annual trek from the hollow to a suitable feeding ground, with ducklings (not yet fledged or capable of flight) in tow.  Often this entails duck families crossing, high-traffic, high-speed roads, or car parking lots.  While they haven’t garnered the reputation of Australian Magpies or Masked Lapwing (colloquially, ‘Plovers’), if any species embodies a seasonal surge of maternal/paternal protectiveness, it is the Australian Wood Duck.  In a season where most/all species, both avian and non-avian fauna, invest a single-minded, frenzied attention to furthering their lineage and protecting the next generation, Australian Wood Duck parents – and the fathers, especially – take tenacity to levels where I’ve had a male charging aggressively at my car as I rolled towards a parking space.  Thankfully, the family of ducks were unharmed, but it bears reminding that we’re amidst a sensitive season where wildlife ought to be respectfully admired from afar – and always drive safely, and be extra-watchful and ready to evade (where safe) wildlife crossing roads.

Females produce ‘loud, long-drawn, rising, nasal ‘gnow?’’, or ‘querulous “grouwwk”’.  Males produce a similar vocalisation, but ‘shorter, higher’, an ‘abrupt “nowk!”’.  Agitated flocks sound a ‘rapid clucking’ alarm, and ‘staccato chattering’ at rest or when feeding.

Flocks fly in random formation, and a profile of long neck, white panel on the wing’s trailing edge, and black wingtips, are conspicuous diagnostics.  Flight is described as ‘easy and swift as birds weave through woodland’.

Figure 1: This graphic details generic examples of the fauna that occur in forests (denoted by yellow), freshwater habitats (denoted by blue), and the species that use both habitats (denoted by green), listed roughly according to trophic levels (i.e. food chain), with herbivores at the top, insectivores in the middle, and predators at the bottom.  It is important to note that the forests and aquatic environments are not isolated, closed systems with no overlap or exchange of fauna and energy (food webs).  In fact, the two biomes are interconnected, which means that processes, both good (e.g. pollination, seed dispersal) and bad (e.g. pollution, habitat degradation), affecting the health of one biome can exert a flow-on effect on the other.  Take for example (1) if the forest suffers a reduction in hollow-bearing trees; this directly affects the breeding success of Australian Wood Ducks, which in turn could leave an absence in the said duck’s niche of feeding on grasses and herbs.  This could, therefore, potentially exert further permutations, e.g. one information source stated the species ‘may help control aquatic vegetation’ from becoming overgrown or locally invasive.  How might invertebrates and other aquatic fauna be affected by waterside lawns and littoral zones that haven’t been grazed in the absence of Australian Wood Ducks?  And how about the predators of lawn-dwelling invertebrates and other aquatic fauna?
Another example (2) if the aquatic environment suffers pollution that causes dragonflies to decline, that can manifest in to the insectivorous birds (e.g. Welcome Swallow, Scarlet Robin, White-winged Chough) being impacted by a seasonal reduction in prey availability.  How might that impact the top-order predators that prey on the insectivores?  All considerations to bear in mind, as our outdoor recreation and consumption of natural resources leave an ecological footprint on the local environment that can start a sometimes-far-reaching chain reaction.

Australian Wood Ducks are widespread throughout much of Australia (including Tasmania), apart from some of the driest deserts and tropical north.  They may occasionally appear in New Zealand as vagrants (i.e. when an individual or small amount of individuals randomly go off-course to an unusual location).  Globally, the Australian Wood Duck population is officially classified as ‘Least Concern’, and of ‘Stable’ population trend.  The species has benefited from the creation of farm dams and irrigated croplands, but given it is hunted for sport and at the mercy of tree-hollow availability, its conservation shouldn’t be treated complacently.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, pass by neighbouring farmland, or visit a local waterway such as Lake Esmond, look out for the brave, mullet-wearing, parents-of-the-year – the Australian Wood Duck – the link between forest and waterways!  And if/when you see them, take a moment to appreciate how the web of life is interconnected.

Bird of the Month XXV (October 2023)
Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguinaeae)

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree… you know the rest.  Just as you would know all there is to know about this iconic Australian bird, right?  Wrong!  Far be it from predictable or a known quantity, the Laughing Kookaburra is never short of surprises.  Here are 10 facts you may not know about Laughing Kookaburra.

Nickname: Laughing Jackass

Name origins: ‘Kookaburra’ is derivative of ‘guuguubarra’, the Aboriginal Wiradjuri name for Laughing Kookaburra — so called because it sounds like its famous call.

Family tree: The Laughing Kookaburra is a large (40-47cm), terrestrial tree Kingfisher — one of the largest Kingfishers, worldwide. In the north coast, its congener, the Blue-winged Kookaburra shares range overlap.  There are a further three Kookaburra species in New Guinea: Shovel-billed; Spangled; and Rufous-bellied, Kookaburras. All five Kookaburra species belong to genus Dacelo.

Being a kingfisher, it must live close to water? Actually, no, the Laughing Kookaburra is not closely associated with water.  More important is the availability of suitable trees to support them.  It will, however, occasionally plunge into shallow water when hunting.

Surprise assassin: In addition to the widely known prey of snakes (including dangerously venomous species), Laughing Kookaburras also feed on lizards, frogs, worms, insects, small birds, small mammals, crustaceans and goldfish from garden ponds.  Recently, on social media, astounding images emerged of a Laughing Kookaburra with a hefty Brown Hare in its bill.  Small prey items are swallowed whole, while larger prey is violently thrashed against a branch or the ground.  What it lacks in a raptor’s hooked bill and powerful, grasping talons with sharp claws, the Laughing Kookaburra makes up for with unrivalled tenacity and a BIG appetite!  Nature’s pest control!

Habitat: occupies a diverse range of habitats, including woodland; open forests and forest clearings; wooded watercourses, including along semi-arid riverine systems; farmland; parks; gardens; and orchards.

Geographic distribution: The Laughing Kookaburra occupies the entire Victorian state; the southeast of SA; all but the extreme northwest of NSW; and the eastern two-thirds of QLD, including the entire coastline and Far North. The Laughing Kookaburra was also introduced to WA, where it inhabits the southwest; and to Tasmania, including King, and Flinders, Islands.  It was also introduced to New Zealand.

 Breeding: The Laughing Kookaburra nests in tree hollows, and arboreal termite mounds.  More obscure nesting options may include haystacks and walls.  Above all else, though, large, old, hollow-bearing trees are desirable to support breeding success.  Within the chosen cavity, the nest tends to be bare and unlined.  Each clutch numbers 2-4 eggs.  Egg incubation is carried out by the female or both parents.  ‘Helpers’, which are mature offspring from 1-2 years prior, remain in the parents’ territory to support them with raising the latest brood.

Identifying sexes, different ages: Laughing Kookaburras are largely sexually monomorphic (i.e. both sexes look the same), but breeding males will develop a blue ‘flush’ on their rump/lower back.  Juveniles have a dark lower mandible/bill, whereas adults have the two-toned bill where the lower mandible is pale.  Additionally, juveniles have fine, brown scalloping of the breast/upper belly.

How are Laughing Kookaburras faring? Official conservation status reads well: the entire population is listed as ‘Least Concern’ (LC), with a population trend of ‘Stable’, while in each of the states it occupies, Laughing Kookaburra is listed as ‘Secure’.  However, anecdotal consensus among local birding hobbyist groups suggests Laughing Kookaburras may be in decline, particularly in suburban settings.  Many agree that in said settings, Laughing Kookaburra is not quite as commonly-encountered as it was previously.  Research concerned with this anecdotal consensus is emerging, and more will be needed to better understand Laughing Kookaburra population trends, threatening processes, etc.  Two targeted conservation measures spring to mind: 1) better protection of large, old trees; and 2) raising awareness of the dangers posed by secondary rodenticide poisoning (i.e. when predators get poisoned from eating poisoned rodents).  On that matter, homeowners would be advised to consider alternative methods of rodent control; and when poisoned rodents are found deceased, it is recommended the carcass be double-bagged and binned to minimise risk to scavengers.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or another local forest patch or farm, when you next see or hear a Laughing Kookaburra, maybe now you’ll have a deeper appreciation of the surprise packet that is the Laughing Jackass!

Bird of the Month XXIV (September 2023)
Black-faced Cuckooshrike (Coracina novaehollandiae)

Look!  In the sky.  Is it a cuckoo?  Is it a shrike?  No, it’s SuperM… Actually, it’s a Black-faced Cuckooshrike.  Neither cuckoo, nor shrike.  It also goes by several nicknames, including Blue Jay, Grey Jay, Cherry Hawk, Shufflewing, or Summerbird.  Misnomer and nicknames aside, this bird represents a diverse, somewhat unfamiliar, local species that many an uninitiated observer would enjoy learning about and ticking off their ‘life list’.  And thankfully for us, it’s a subject of which is relatively easy to get good views – and in the Ballarat context, largely unmistakable when contending with identifications.  Further, it exhibits some quirks that may just have you charmed, amazed, or even mesmerised.

Taxonomically diverse, Black-faced Cuckooshrike is by-and-large Ballarat’s sole representative of the Campephagidae Family, which comprises of three other Cuckooshrikes (e.g. White-bellied Cuckooshrike being one with a few isolated records in Ballarat and neighbouring LGAs), two Trillers (e.g. White-winged Triller which had a seasonal influx where it was well-reported in Ballarat a few summers ago, but absent since), and the Cicadabird, among Australian examples.  The family is characterised by medium-sized insectivorous passerines (i.e. ‘passerines’ generally refer to songbirds, or alternatively perching birds), described as “sleek”, and with “smart-looking, soft, dense plumages”.  Common among all Cuckooshrikes is their habit of shuffling their wings exaggeratedly upon landing and during courtship (hence, Black-faced Cuckooshrike’s nickname of Shufflewing).

Medium-sized (30-36cm), the Black-faced Cuckoo sports a plumage of white, silver, and grey or bluish grey, and of course the titular black face and throat, and dark bill and wingtips.  Males and females are indistinguishable (i.e. sexually monomorphic), and their plumage is consistent year-round.  The immature plumage phase (which follows the juvenile/fledgling moult, and precedes the moult into full adult plumage at one-year old), exhibits a reduced extent of black, whereby it has black ‘eyeshadow’ extending from the lores (i.e. lores = the plumage between the eyes and bill) to the ear coverts.  Immature Black-faced Cuckooshrikes are confusable with adult White-bellied Cuckooshrike (granted, we’re generally not contending with in Ballarat), which has a very similar overall plumage, but the White-bellieds’ black eyeshadow does not extend beyond the eye.

Black-faced Cuckooshrike has a very widespread geographic distribution across Australia (Tasmania included), and even Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Solomon Islands.  The species inhabits a wide variety of vegetation communities, able to adapt to all but treeless plains and closed forest.  Namely, habitat includes rainforests, forests, woodlands, scrublands, tree-lined watercourses, parks, gardens, farms, and orchards.

The species occurs in singles, pairs, parties of up to 30, and occasionally large migratory companies.  While migration is not applicable population-wide, with some being sedentary or nomadic, there are regular autumn/winter (non-breeding season) migrations northward to the inland/coastal north of Australia, where large winter companies occur.

Breeding season is from August through February.  Black-faced Cuckooshrikes may demonstrate fidelity to the same mate and breeding territory, year after year.  Both parents share nest-building, and incubation of clutches of 2-3 eggs, with labour of feeding young also shared.  The nest, which is relatively small for a bird of its size, is a shallow cup or saucer of fine rootlets, bark fibres, leaves, and spiderwebs.  The nest is built into forked limbs, sometimes open and exposed, yet blends in with the typically thick branches.  At heights ranging from 6-20m and beyond, the nest is difficult to see from below.

Black-faced Cuckooshrike’s diet primarily consists of insects and invertebrates, but may be supplemented with fruits and seeds.  Insects are most often gleaned or snatched from foliage (or occasionally from the ground and mid-air), with one notable foraging technique being hovering.  Hovering is the flight behaviour characterised by the bird skilfully maintaining its position in the three-dimensional space, above the prey target, all the while resisting displacement by the wind, usually by means of rapid flapping, and culminates in the bird plunging vertically down on its prey.  Hovering is noteworthy for the fact that it is such a rare, specialist skill, for which there are only two exponents out of all of Australia’s avifauna; those being Nankeen Kestrel and Black-shouldered Kite (three, if you include Brown Falcon, whose hovering is less-adept and less-commonly performed).

Other flight cues to look out for include its ‘strongly undulating’ flight path, ‘easy’ flight, and closed-wing ‘shooting’ when it takes off from a perch.  It also has a penchant for perching on exposed limbs.

For non-visual cues, you may identify Black-faced Cuckooshrike by its distinctive vocals.  Calls have been described as ‘loud, sharp, churring, harsh yet musical’ or ‘musical, rolling, churring’.  Vocal pitch ‘often starts high then falls’, with “chereer, chereer” being sounded during wing-shuffling.  Also, harsh ‘skair’ in aggression.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or another local forest patch or farm, don’t forget to attune your senses to the churring musical tones, shuffling wings, and skilful flight of the surprise packet that is the Black-faced Cuckooshrike!

Bird of the Month XXIII (August 2023)
Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina)

Pied Currawong.  It’s the bird that has appeal for people of all ages – but you probably don’t know it yet!  Marketed to millennials, it’s the Pokémon of the bird world with its utterance of its own name (“currawong-currawong!”), and a worthy (photographic) capture for beginner bird photography hobbyists looking to upskill from the usual suspects on their nature strip! For middle-aged people, it is aesthetically the intermediate between ravens and magpies with the redeeming qualities (e.g. sleek, intelligent, resourceful, amusingly busy) of both but without either’s notoriety for unprovoked swooping or disturbing table manners around roadkill or dumpsters.
 And for those ageing like fine wine, its distribution over your lifespan makes it the business in which any good stockbroker ought to have invested when, during your youth its stocks were low as almost exclusively a denizen of Man from Snowy River-esque habitats (a nostalgic throwback!) to over time having its stocks rise to where it has today become increasingly widespread.  This is the Pied Currawong, but not as you know it!

As alluded to above, Pied Currawong bear some resemblance to ravens and magpies.  Currawongs belong to the ArtamidaeFamily, which also consists of Australian Magpie, butcherbirds, and woodswallows.  At 42-50cm, Pied Currawong is the same size or slightly smaller than the Little Raven, and larger than the Australian Magpie.  In cases where its white is obscured, Pied Currawongs’ lack of a beard, yellow eyes, and flight characteristic of slow, deep wingbeat distinguishes it from the bearded, white-eyed, Little Raven, which flies “steady and purposeful”.  More of a challenge is the task of distinguishing between Pied Currawong and Ballarat’s other currawong, that of the Grey variety.  The two currawongs are the same size, and despite the names, there is some overlap in colouration, including plumage and eyes.  This is made all the more difficult when contending with female Pied Currawong, which are greyer (and smaller) than males, and therefore look very similar to Grey Currawong.  The difference, aside from vocals and the Pied being blacker (which may be subjective, depending on light quality) is that Pied Currawong has a white crescent on the base of the tail/rump, and its bill is ever so subtly hooked at the tip.  Grey Currawong, meanwhile, lacks both of the aforementioned features; its rump is grey, and the bill has no hook whatsoever.  Subadults of both local currawong species are brownish and have dark eyes.

In addition to the highland forests previously alluded to as the ancestral habitat of choice, Pied Currawongs nowadays inhabit a diverse range of habitats, including rainforests, woodlands, inland and coastal scrubs, farmlands, parks, gardens, and picnic grounds.  Pied Currawongs may occur in singles, pairs, and in autumn/winter (non-breeding season) gregarious flocks which wander nomadically over long distances, and roost communally.  Such flocks are quite vociferous, and particularly so in ‘rough weather’, but their ‘wailing, raucous, descending’, ‘slow, rollicking series of mellow, often gurgling sounds’ and ‘long wolf-whistle [of] “weeeooo”’ are more of an ambience than annoyance.  The species is sedentary (non-migratory, including year-round residents of highlands), abundant, and dispersive, with breeding largely occurring in forested ranges and foothills, with autumn/winter flocks dispersing to coastal lowlands and inland plains.

Breeding season is from August through January.  The nest is a bulky yet shallow, untidy bowl of sticks, with an egg cavity lined with finer grass, rootlets and bark.  Depending on the size of available trees, the nest, which is built into a slender fork of the upper/outer leafy canopy, may be at heights ranging from 5-25m.  The female builds the nest, and incubates a clutch of 2-4 eggs – all the while the male feeds her.  Once hatched, 21 days are laying, both parents share feeding duties of the young, and will continue to do so for several months after fledging.

Pied Currawongs have an omnivorous diet consisting of insects, small reptiles, small birds, and berries.  The characteristic foraging behaviour is to scour the bark of trunks and limbs (particularly of bark-stripping eucalypts, i.e. stringybarks) for invertebrates, and the resultant rustling noises are often the first sign of currawong presence.  Foraging amongst foliage and on the ground are also regular foraging behaviours.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or another local forest patch, don’t forget to look and listen out for the unprovocative, Pokémon-like bird which wolf-whistles and utters “currawong-currawong”; the bird from Snowy River – a species of humble yet nostalgic highlands origins that has since emerged as diverse of habitat and geographic range.  The Pied Currawong.  Enjoy!

Bird of the Month XXII (July 2023)
Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla)

Okay, so we’re in the height of winter, and the Ballarat weather is halfway to Antarctic proportions!  You want a bird that will delight the senses, and preferably one that comes to you (or at least your attention), so you don’t have to come to it (that way, it saves you braving the inclement weather!).  I raise to you the Galah.  Common and conspicuous enough to be enjoyed from the comforts of your home or (parked) car.  Colourful enough to brighten your day, when skies are gloomy grey.

Talkative and of vocals pleasant enough to indulge an appreciation for the ambience of birdsong.  Intelligent, sociable and quirky to observe going about its playful shenanigans.  Say no more, notwithstanding the infamous “flamin’ Galah!” Aussie slang insult, this bird sure has a very accessible, and loveable larrikin type of charm – just the tonic for your winter melancholy!

Familiar though they are, Galahs are a medium-sized (34-38cm), pink and grey cockatoo.  The crest, which is often folded down, may be white or pinkish white.  The pink of its plumage may vary in intensity, given WA birds are paler, while elsewhere some individuals are a deep rose red (hence, its alternative name of Rose-breasted Cockatoo).  Males and females look identical, apart from the fact females have red eyes, whereas males have dark-brown eyes.

Galahs inhabit a variety of timbered habitats, such as open country, open woodland, town parks, and sporting fields (e.g. football ovals, golf courses), provided suitable trees are available.  Galahs are often situated close to watercourses.  Highly social, Galahs may exhibit dispersions of pairs through to large flocks, which congregate on the ground to feed on seeds and grains.  Foraging may also take place in saltbush, shrubs, and trees, while fruits and nuts are also eaten.  Spilt grain by country roadsides, silos and railyards is often exploited by Galahs, often in company with its close relatives Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and corellas, with which it is known to interbreed and produce hybrid offspring.

Breeding season in the south is from July through December.  Galahs are hollow-nesters, requiring tree hollows to support breeding success.  However, there exists cases of Galahs nesting in cliff cavities.  Nest trees may be alive or dead, with hollows in the trunk or limbs, at heights from 2-20m high.  Galahs, like other cockatoos, have the habit of meticulously curating the hollow to its liking, which entails actively stripping bark to enlarge the entrance and create an extensive surface area of smooth, bare wood.  The hollow floor is lined with green, leafy twigs.  Both parents share incubation (and other parental care) duties of clutches of 2-6 eggs, of which 50% of young won’t survive past 6 months.  ‘Several’ broods may be bred per breeding season, with the young fledging at the age of 6-7 weeks, and being dependent until 3 months old.  Galahs form permanent breeding pairs, but will find a new partner if the other one dies.  Galahs can be relatively long-lived, with wild individuals able to live to 40 years old.

Galah vocalisations have been described as ‘rather harsh, metallic, and abrupt, yet not unpleasant: “chirrink-chirrink, chirrink-chirrink” and variations “chzink-chzink”, “czink-czink-czink-czink”’.  Also, ‘in alarm, harsh, scolding, rasping screeches’.  Other interpretations of their voice describe it as ‘high-pitched, splintered “chill chill””.

In scenarios where Galahs are observed flying, you may notice a flight behaviour characterised by deep wing beats, and “acrobatic”, “swift and tilting” flight, which takes an “erratic and crazy route across the sky”.  Though this is “abruptly varied” with steady and direct flight paths also exhibited.

Speaking of ‘crazy’, Galahs are known to – rather amusingly – shower themselves in the rain by hanging upside-down from powerlines, with wings outstretched.

Galahs, as a population, are common and in some contexts, “very abundant”.  They are sedentary (i.e. non-migratory), but locally nomadic and may travel long distances in search of favourable breeding grounds.  Population numbers are growing around human habitation, given increasing availability of water, and the clearing of heavier forest, has enabled Galahs to expand their once-inland geographic range coastward, and to Tasmania.  Indeed, this applies to the Ballarat context, as here Galahs were uncommon at the turn of 21^st century, and absent a few decades earlier, according to anecdotal accounts.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, particularly on the border of farmland – OR you’re partaking in some toasty-warm-and-dry indoor birding through the loungeroom window – keep an eye on the nature strips, powerlines and sky, where you may well see (or hear!) the noisy, crazy “chill” loveable larrikins… those flamin’ Galahs!

Bird of the Month XXI (June 2023)
Red-browed Finch (Neochmia temporalis)

Looking for some avian variety?  A change up from the usual suspects, with all due respect to magpies, ravens, wattlebirds, rosellas, lorikeets, cockatoos, and some ubiquitous non-natives (e.g. Common/Eurasian Blackbird)?  Enter the Red-browed Finch!
A useful bird to know about, given reasons threefold: 1) as the sole native representative of the Finch (Fringillidae) family in Ballarat (with the exception of some infrequent, recent records of Diamond Firetail sightings in neighbouring LGAs), the Red-browed Finch is a symbol of phylogenetic/taxonomic diversity to our local bird assemblage, contributing with its unique evolutionary adaptations to the ecosystem having all bases (ecological niches/roles) covered in defence against ecosystem collapse; 2) given its aforementioned uniqueness, the Red-browed Finch will surely inspire a greater appreciation of our local bird diversity; and 3) the Red-browed Finch is another potential ID contender for that small, unidentified feathery blur that teasingly darts in and out of cover – you know, that fleetingly glimpsed mystery bird (admittedly, perhaps one of many species) that you may want demystified for future reference?!  Read on to learn more.

On closer inspection, Red-browed Finch (11-12cm) is actually quite the visually characterful, little masked bandit – not just another ‘little brown job’.  Of course, it has that titular red eyebrow, but the red doesn’t end there.  As its alternative name, Red-browed Firetail, suggests, it sports a bold, flame red upper tail and rump, in addition to its conical, scarlet bill.  Top it all off with olive-green upperparts, and a silver cap, and you’ve got an aesthetically unmistakable package.  Males and females are indistinguishable, while young individuals have a black bill and lack the red eyebrow.

Red-browed Finches occur in pairs and family parties, and may co-inhabit with Superb Fairywrens and Yellow-rumped Thornbill.  A seed and grain eater (termed ‘granivore’), the species characteristically forages on the ground of grassy clearings in forests and woodlands, heaths/scrubs, parks, and gardens.  They may also inhabit farmland, and creek-sides.  Topical to our current seasonal context, Red-browed Finches, during autumn and winter, often form highly sociable, close-knit flocks on lawns (preferably unmown), bordered by dense understorey of bracken ferns, blackberry thickets, or even pine windbreaks.
Breeding season for Red-browed Finch is September through January.  Both parents share nest-building, incubation (13-15 days), and feeding duties of the broods of 4-8 young.  The nest is an untidy, large, horizontally orientated bottle-shaped structure, with a hood or tunnel entrance.  Made of grass, with an interior of feathers, the nest is situated at heights of 1-3m (or in rare cases 8-10m) in prickly bushes, citrus, or cypress pines.  Young fledge by 24 days of age.  The species is common, sedentary (resident year-round) or locally nomadic.

Speaking of highly sociable, Red-browed Finches communicate with ‘extremely high, almost inaudible, drawn-out squeaks’ of “tsee” or “tseet”, or when alarm-calling “tchip”.  Also, ‘sharp “dup”’ and ‘brisk chatter’.  Another clue that what you’ve encountered might be a Red-browed Finch is the fact that species’ ‘bouncing’ or ‘undulating’ flight behaviour, including when flushed.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or other patch with grassy clearings, don’t forget to look out for the bouncy, seed-eating, little masked bandits that are Red-browed Finches – and if you find them, take a moment to appreciate the diversity we have in our midst!

Bird of the Month XX (May 2023)
Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang)

Scarlet Robin.  One of the hidden gems of the bush.  The bird which will have you re-evaluating the very depths of nature’s beauty, to levels you previously never imagined possible.  The bird for which you never knew you needed binoculars until you viewed its immense and awe-inspiring beauty through the magnified lenses.
The bird that vindicates that the investment that is your binoculars was worth every cent.  The bird that gets you hooked on birdwatching and has you searching through the bush, looking for whatever other limitless beauty nature has in store, to therapise you.  Take it from this author, there are few experiences as surreal as viewing through binoculars for the first time a marvellous male Scarlet Robin.  Game changer!  This bird will have you murmuring to yourself: ‘How is it even possible for nature to produce such an exquisite, vivid red?!’
A small (12-14cm), insectivorous songbird of the Australasian Robin (Petroicidae) Family, Scarlet Robin is the most common red-breasted robin in Ballarat, and alongside Eastern Yellow Robin, one of two robins known to occur at Woowookarung Regional Park.  Unlike Eastern Yellow Robin, Scarlet Robins are sexually dimorphic (meaning males and females are visually distinguishable).  The male Scarlet Robin has a black head, throat, and upperparts; a scarlet red breast and upper belly; and a large, white forehead patch, wing bars, and lower belly.  Females and young birds are grey-brown where males are black, have a watered-down orangey red breast, and a reduced forehead patch.

To distinguish Scarlet Robin from the very similar-looking, locally uncommon Flame Robin, note that Flame males have a smaller white forehead patch, are ashy grey where Scarlet males are black, and their breast is more of an orangey red and extends upwards of the throat to the chin.  Flame females are browner than greyish Scarlet females, and the red of the Flame female’s breast is absent, whereas Scarlet females have a peachy breast.  Flame Robins also tend to have a more upright posture.

Scarlet Robins occur in singles or pairs, and inhabit open forests and woodlands, particularly Stringybark eucalypt communities.  In this author’s experience, male and females are often endearingly inseparable or at least within the other’s general vicinity.  This is consistent with the fact that the species forms permanent monogamous pairs that defend a territory year-round.  The territory is advertised by the male’s singing from a conspicuous high perch.

The song has been described as a ‘shrill, yet pleasant, cheery, rippling, musical trill, “tirrit-tirrit-tirrit, tirrit-tirrit-tirrit”’ or a ‘pretty, lilting, “wee-cheedalee-dalee’.  Contact calls are characterised as a quiet, scolding or tapping ‘tik’.  The author would describe the Scarlet Robin song as a subtle wailing, comparable to the generic peaceful snores of a cute, little Disney character.

During breeding season (August through January), the female selects a suitable, well-hidden nest site (usually 1-3m high, but outliers apply in the range of 0.5-20m) in a tree fork, and builds the nest.  Alternative nest sites include hollows of tree trunks or stumps, the fork of grass-trees (specified to apply to SW WA birds, but noteworthy for the fact Woowookarung has Xanthorrhea grass-trees – could these facilitate nesting for our local Scarlet Robins??), and apparently occasionally in nooks and crannies of buildings (e.g. roof gutters).  The nest is an open cup composed of bark, grass and twigs (sometimes also fur and feathers), bound together loosely by spiderwebs and camouflaged with a moss or lichen exterior.  The female incubates a clutch of 2-3 eggs, while the male feeds her.  Both parents feed the hatchlings and will continue to do so for some time after offspring have fledged.

During non-breeding season (i.e. winter), Scarlet Robins, described as ‘seasonally dispersive’, may be inclined to some local movements or even altitudinal migration, whereby they redistribute to more open habitats, such as grasslands, farmland, golf courses, orchard, parks, and gardens.  In the author’s experience, winter visitations to farmland have been observed in the neighbouring LGAs of Pyrenees and Moorabool.

The diet of insects is taken usually by means of the ‘perch and pounce’ foraging method.  This entails robins to, from a low branch or tree trunk, pounce down on ground-dwelling insects, then quickly returning to a perch to eat.  The process is repeated energetically many times over in quick succession, which is rather amusing, but apparently makes them susceptible to cats.

The species may be considered ‘fairly common’, but, consistent with most of its fellow red-breasted robins, official classifications of a ‘decreasing population trend’ apply to Scarlet Robin.  While the Scarlet Robin’s conservation status is classified as ‘Secure’ in Victoria, and ‘Least Concern’ globally, the noted declines are unsettling and not to be treated with complacency.  The main threat to Scarlet Robin is land clearing practices, and particularly the removal of understorey.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, Union Jack Reserve, or another bushland patch, don’t forget to look out for the marvellous Scarlet Robin – and those who can acquire a pair, it is highly recommended you equip yourself with binoculars to get a closer look!  You won’t regret it!

Author note: FoCC Committee member and co-admin of FoCC’s Facebook and webpage, Joel Ellis is the resident bird nerd, amateur Powerful Owl researcher, and editor of FoCC’s (co-funded) ‘Indigenous [Species] of Southern Ballarat’ trilogy of brochures.  Joel has studied birds up to Honours degree level, interns as an ecological consultant (ornithologist), and is a member of BirdLife Australia (Ballarat branch).

Bird of the Month XIX (April 2023)
Common Bronzewing (Phaps chalcoptera)
Did you know, in Australia, there are 22 native Australian pigeon/dove species?  The local representatives in Ballarat total three: the Crested Pigeon, Common Bronzewing, and Brush Bronzewing.  As a common inhabitant of Woowookarung Regional Park, and other forests, the Common Bronzewing is most befitting of this month’s BotM focal species!

Many locals would have encountered the Common Bronzewing – perhaps in their backyard/garden, streetscapes, or ‘Wookie’ Park itself.  But have you taken a closer look at the iridescent greens, bronze, blues, purples, and reds on its wings?  Pastel tones of greyish pink on the neck/breast, white eye shadow, pink feet, and (in the male) yellow cap/forehead and purple crown – all add up to an understated yet stylish package!  Males and females have subtle but noticeable differences, with males having richer tones than the duller females.

Widely distributed across the continent, where it is endemic; Common Bronzewings, in the Ballarat context inhabit forests, woodlands, and acacia thickets.  The species is common, and sedentary (i.e. non-migratory, present year-round) or locally nomadic.

The species occurs solitarily, in pairs, or small parties.  Common Bronzewings feed on seeds/grain, and may congregate underneath seeding wattles.  Wary in disposition, when startled, Common Bronzewings ‘flush’ (i.e. flush = take flight suddenly) with a clatter and audible wing whistles.

Common Bronzewings breed all-year round if conditions suit, but otherwise predominately July–January.  The nest is an underwhelming dish of twigs/sticks, supporting clutches of two eggs.  Nest sites vary from low down to 20m high.  Alternatively, disused nests of magpies, ravens or choughs may be adopted.  Both parents share incubation and feeding duties.  Hatchlings are naked, and young are fed a special milk-like substance produced in the crop (i.e. crop = a pouch-like digestive organ in the lower throat).

The vocalisations of the Common Bronzewing have been described as a ‘slow, resonant “whoo”’ or ‘monotonous’ “oom”.  They also have a display call of ‘short, soft “whoo-, hoo-hoo”’.  Low-pitched humming is how this columnist would best describe the call.  Head-bobbing while perched is a characterful idiosyncrasy that may endear bronzewings to onlookers.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or another bushland patch, don’t forget to look and listen out for the humming call, wing whistles, head-bobbing, and beautiful iridescent flare of the Common Bronzewing!
Author note: FoCC Committee member and co-admin of FoCC’s Facebook and webpage, Joel Ellis is the resident bird nerd, amateur Powerful Owl researcher, and editor of FoCC’s (co-funded) ‘Indigenous [Species] of Southern Ballarat’ trilogy of brochures.  Joel has studied birds up to Honours degree level, interns as an ecological consultant (ornithologist), and is a member of BirdLife Australia (Ballarat branch).

Bird of the Month XVIII (March 2023)
Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis)

Variety and uniqueness.  Subtlety and understated beauty.  Tenacious pocket rocket.  If these attributes strike your fancy, then Silvereyes are the bird for you!  As southern Australia’s only members of the ‘White-eye’ family (which also includes the Yellow White-eye of the northern coastline), Silvereyes are flag-bearers of ‘phylogenetic diversity’, which means that their belonging to their own branch of the evolutionary tree brings diversity to the region’s bird assemblage.   This diversity can be a refreshing source of variety, given majority of the region’s commonly-observed birds are largely represented by 6-9 families, including honeyeaters (Family Meliphagidae), parrots (Family Psittacidae), cockatoos (Family Cacatuidae), Family Artamidae (e.g. magpies, butcherbirds, currawongs), ravens (Family Corvidae), fairywrens (Family Maluridae) and to a lesser extent Family Columbidae (e.g. Common Bronzewing, Crested Pigeon), Family Monarchidae (e.g. Magpie-larks, Grey Fantail) and Family Acanthizidae (e.g. thornbills, scrubwrens etc.),.

With its plumage of olive-green, grey, and buff (i.e. beige), Silvereyes may lack bright colours and eye-catching flamboyance – making this cutie one for the enthusiasts of pastel tones.

Although quite small (10-12.5cm), Silvereyes are said to be “aggressive at bird tables”, with an “intimidating threat display of flared eye-rings”.

Inhabiting all manner of vegetation types, including eucalypt woodlands and forests, coastal heath, mangroves and semi-arid mallee, Silvereyes are adaptable, and have taken to parks, gardens, orchards, and vineyards.

Silvereyes also are adaptable in diet, with insects, fruit and nectar all on the menu.

Silvereye vocalisations have been described as “thin peevish ‘psee’”, with an alarm call of “wavering ‘wee-ee-ee-ee-ee’” and a territorial song that is a “rapid succession of high-pitched notes, trills, warbles”.  Also, some “rather slow, erratic series of clear, sharp, slightly peevish notes: ‘tsweeip-cheeip, peeip-a-chweip, cheeip’” and ‘many slightly different variations in rambling sequence’.  In autumn, songs may incorporate mimcry of other birds.

Breeding season starts in September and lasts through to January.  Two or even three broods may be raised per season (provided conditions are suitable), with clutch sizes of 2-4 eggs.  Both male and female (which are visually indistinguishable) share the nest-building, incubation (14-15 days) and feeding duties.  The nest is a small, deep cup, neatly woven out of fine grass, hair, moss and other plant fibres, bound together with spiderwebs and suspended amongst the dense foliage of shrubs or the lower reaches of trees (up to 5m high).

Silvereyes are not only diverse from the region’s other birds, but also diverse of and within themselves.  Up to nine races (or sub-species) are recognised within the entire species’ geographic range and each has subtle variance in plumage from the others.  Complicating matters, the eastern races regularly migrate intra-nationally and may replace each other in their different areas for parts of the year.  For example, in the south of their range, Silvereyes move north each autumn and return south in winter to breed, while the Tasmanian race (which have chestnut flanks) migrates northward in mid-summer and returns to Tasmania in Aug-Oct.  Three or four races may occur in our geographical context, here in Ballarat, across the calendar year, but this is ambiguous and requires quantifying.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or another bushland patch, park or garden, don’t forget to listen out for the peevish trills and warbles of these pastel olive pocket rockets!

Author note: FoCC Committee member and co-admin of FoCC’s Facebook and webpage, Joel Ellis is the resident bird nerd, amateur Powerful Owl researcher, and editor of FoCC’s (co-funded) ‘Indigenous [Species] of Southern Ballarat’ trilogy of brochures.  Joel has studied birds up to Honours degree level, interns as an ecological consultant (ornithologist), and is a member of BirdLife Australia (Ballarat branch).   

Bird of the Month XVII (February 2023)
Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa)

Like your birds flirty and performative?  This feathered friend is just that – and more!  Seductive embellishments aside, the Grey Fantail, is nonetheless sure to dazzle with its overt fluttery, fanned tail on display.  This cheeky bird is perhaps unfamiliar to the uninitiated, but is an endearing ‘gateway bird’ for beginners who are looking for charismatic bushland secrets, detectable at a minimum of time and effort invested by the observer – if they just search beyond the realms of magpies and ravens.

With its grey upperparts, white eyebrows and beard, and buff (i.e., beige) belly, the Grey Fantail is one of the better-known, easily-recognisable small (14-17cm) birds in Australia.  Insectivorous, the Grey Fantail’s foraging behaviour is characterised by tireless, aerial gymnastics, whereby they exuberantly dismount from the outer branchlets, twisting, turning and looping with tail widely fanned, hauling in flying insects as they go.  Rinse and repeat!  Grey Fantails rarely sit still, but the consolation is that they are conspicuous, inquisitive, and nerveless, which ensures that they don’t retreat to cover or depart the area before you can get a good view of them.

Grey Fantail vocalisations have been described as a “sharp ‘dek’”, “sweet, tinny, animated fiddle-like song”, and “squeaky, scratchy sounds”.

Grey Fantails inhabit eucalypt forests and woodlands, watercourses, parks, gardens and golf courses.  They occur (almost) Australia-wide.  Grey Fantails may partake in partial, northern migrations during winter, but some may ‘over-winter’ in the south year-round.

Breeding season is July–March, but is most intensive from August–December.  Several broods may be raised per season (clutch size 2-3 eggs).  Both male and female (which are visually indistinguishable) share the nest-building, incubation (14-15 days), and feeding duties.  The nest, which resembles a ‘wineglass with no base’, is composed of plant fibres, bound together with spiderwebs.  Nests are often supported by a forked branch, at heights of 1-12m (typically 2-5m).

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, another bushland patch or Blackwood-lined creek, don’t forget to focus in on the fiddle-like songs and squeaks, and fluttery, fanned tail of the charming Grey Fantail!

Bird of the Month XVI (January 2023)
Australian Magpie (Cracticus tibicen)

Okay, you might be wondering: ‘In a month where any of an influx of spring/summer migrants could be raised and celebrated, why select such a universally-known and mundanely common species to feature as bird of the month’?  A selection of the rather polarising Australian Magpie… why?  Well, put your partialities aside, and read along.

As with other selections, this month’s Bird of the Month featured species was chosen on an observational basis, and is topical to its given month.  But this edition comes with a difference; a local case study of Australian Magpies that must serve as a poignant lesson to all.  This case study details a wildlife-human interaction, for which magpies are directly involved, but may also be symbolic of other species.  Interactions likely reflective of behaviours extrapolatable to the broader population, rather than an isolated case of localised anomaly.  Specifically, it is the rather common practice of humans feeding wildlife that has presented as this month’s topic that warrants increased public awareness.

Okay, yes, it’s summer – there’s no better time to be outdoors, connecting with nature.  And what better way to do that than feeding our backyard fauna visitors!  Absolutely understandable.  Now, it must be made unmistakably clear, that the intent to connect with, and admire, nature is roundly encouraged.  By extension, attracting wildlife to your backyard lot is recommended as a valuable objective to maximising hospitable spaces, amidst the habitat-reducing phenomena of urbanisation.  Please do strive to make your backyard habitable to wildlife.  But what we must apply more discretion to is how exactly we go about attracting wildlife to our backyards.  To inform and guide our discretion, we need to clearly define the consequences of feeding birds, to deepen our understanding of the potential risk of negative impacts.

So, what are the potential negative impacts associated with feeding wildlife, birds, and Australian Magpies inclusive?  The consequences that ought to be considered are categorised by behavioural and nutritional disruptions.  Firstly, feeding wild animals breeds altered, unnatural behaviour patterns.  Unnatural patterned behaviour that undermines, and threatens to replace entirely, the species’ natural foraging behaviours and diet.  This is apparent when the wild animals default to begging for hand-outs, diminishing their wild, survival instincts.  Thus, the wild animals become somewhat tame, and exhibit some level of dependency on humans.

Back to the Australian Magpie context, we need look no further than my street’s resident magpies.  Their bad habit-forming is conspicuously noticeable in how, anywhere from 12-23 individuals, habitually flock to exploit hand-outs.  They constantly survey homeowners’ movements, persistently loitering about and sometimes encroaching close to beg for artificial food, expectantly.  Concerningly, when their usual providers of hand-outs pause or cease their provisions for reasons unforeseen (e.g. holiday, relocation, death), the resident magpie flock were observed to redirect their desperation towards other neighbours in such an intrusive manner that may be received by the uninitiated as mildly unnerving.  This suggests human dependency has set in, as begging is the (lazy) default and primary means of sustenance, and with that comes a disinclination towards natural foraging behaviour and diet.  Furthermore, rather alarmingly, this behaviour of flocking to exploit artificial foods is noticeably perpetuated down the generations; with parent magpies, themselves dependent on human hand-outs, teaching and reinforcing this bad example to juveniles – a slippery slope that does not bode well for the population’s resilience against fluctuating availability of human assistance.

Secondly, the nutritional disruptions are every bit as worthy of raised awareness.  All fauna possess anatomy geared towards accessing, eating and digesting a certain range of dietary items, adapted throughout tens or even hundreds of thousands of years’ worth of generations of evolution.  Since the modern context of human agency has introduced novel (improper) foods, wildlife are being exposed to (or inviting against their better judgment) junk foods for which their physiology is not evolved to digest.  Bread, mince, and chips and other typical hand-outs clog animals’ digestive tracts, whereby any goodness contained by said foods is not able to be extracted.  Beyond an upset stomach, artificial foods can cause malnutrition and various other health complications for wildlife.  A notable example is how feeding them processed meats can lead to birds suffering calcium deficiency, as the absence of a bone component does not support their nutritional requirements.  This may lead to brittleness of the bones, bill, and eggshells.

So how does this apply to the resident magpie case study??  Well, it appears the resident flock are in poor feather condition.  Most of the flock have a shabby plumage, with tattered and discoloured feathers (i.e. brown tinges where they should be black, which is distinct from the mottled grey of youngsters).  This poor feather condition has been observed over a timeframe of several months, and therefore outlasts moulting cycles, and is uncharacteristic of any age phase of plumage.  Thus, it is almost certainly caused by poor diet.

Okay, so what of the long-term implications?  Well, unnatural behaviours and poor nutrition, combined, this case study would suggest there is intergenerational ill-health that presumably bodes poorly for the genetic fitness of the local magpie population.  Quantifying supposedly declining genetic fitness and estimating timeframes of re-establishing correct behaviours are both very much guesswork, but the fact remains there is observable evidence of both diminishing natural behaviour and poor nutrition in this case study of local Australian Magpie – and action needs to be taken to reverse this!

Now for some recommendations of practical resolutions.  Prevention of dependency on hand-outs is much better than curation of said condition.  But if it’s too late for prevention, be not guilt-ridden, but rather empowered to learn and action out reformed behaviours.  The next best thing aside from prevention is to gradually weaning them off the provisions to encourage the re-emergence of natural foraging.  Provision intervals are important for patterned behaviour, i.e. if hand-outs are provided times few and far between, the irregularity of feeding intervals is less likely to have birds congregating like clockwork for hand-outs.  During weaning, try a revised menu of natural foods that support the target species’ specific nutritional requirements.  Please always refrain from provisions of breads, mince, and chips!

Better yet, opting for alternative means of attracting wildlife to your backyard, such as through birdbaths, and planting a native garden, is unreservedly encouraged and recommended.  Where the ethics of providing water differs from those of providing artificial food are that safe water is a far-less accessible, scarce resource and one that may be a matter of life and death.  Indeed, drinking and bathing water can be a life-saving commodity during days of extreme heat (see image below).  Birdbaths of different sizes, depths, heights, and proximities to cover, are considerations to bear in mind for catering to a diverse range of birds, including small, risk-averse species.  The only caution to note is that birdbaths MUST PLEASE be cleaned and sanitised regularly to prevent the spread of avian diseases!

Infographic sourced from Facebook.

As for planting a native garden, this is a wholesome, inspired way to provide food, foraging substrates, shelter and nesting resources for birds and other wildlife.  Sourcing native plants from nurseries that grow locally indigenous flora of local provenance is the absolute pinnacle among native garden options!

Next time you see an Australian Magpie, rather than passing it off as a dime-a-dozen, consider it a symbolic reminder of how well-intentioned but uninformed stewardship of birds and wildlife can elicit unintended ill-effects, which is why we must spread this educational message.  Let’s all enjoy a summer in the outdoors, connecting with nature in an informed and conscious manner!

Bird of the Month XV (November 2022)
Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus)

Colourful.  Talkative.  Mischievous and a bit tenacious.  Sweet tooth and occasional tame visitor (i; ii) to the back balcony.  If any of these qualities resonate with you, then the Rainbow Lorikeet could be your spirit bird!  Once a bird that evoked Queensland-holiday vibes, the Rainbow Lorikeet has in recent decades expanded its range, and is now a common, year-round presence in Ballarat.  When you can’t go to Queensland, Rainbow Lorikeets bring the Queensland to you!

With its scarlet bill, indigo blue head and belly, lime green nape, breast of sunrise orange and yellow smatterings (visible during flyovers), and vibrant emerald green upperparts, the ‘Rainbow’ moniker rings true.  Yep, this familiar large (25-32cm) lorikeet’s plumage is unmistakable from any other local species.

Not quite so unmistakable is its voice, which is similar to but deeper than fellow local, the Musk Lorikeet.  Rainbow Lorikeet vocals have been described as “frequent, quite pleasant, softly rasping or vibrating musical screeches”.  Other descriptions include “softer, mellow chattering and subdued screeches while feeding”, and “quiet twittering while resting”.

Primarily nectarivorous (i.e. nectar-eaters), Rainbow Lorikeets also feed on fruits, berries, and loquats, and have even been known to get drunk from eating fermented mangoes (iii)!  Seeds and insects are tertiary options for which they may supplement their diet.

Locally nomadic, Rainbow Lorikeets often purposefully distribute themselves throughout the landscape in accordance with wherever and whenever eucalypts are flowering; gumtree blossoms a bountiful source of sweet nectar and pollen that may render a single street tree abuzz with multitudes of hungry (noisy!) Rainbow Lorikeets.  Alternative to nomadism, some local populations may be sedentary residents, meaning they have food and nesting resources sustaining them year-round.  Rainbow Lorikeets inhabit rainforests, eucalypt forests and woodlands, paperbark woodlands, banksia scrubs, and gardens in southeast Australia (east of the Great Dividing Range), with non-native populations (iv) in Perth and Tasmania.

Occurring in pairs and flocks, Rainbow Lorikeets breed from June to January.  Males and females are indistinguishable.  Nesting is done in a hollow limb of a (typically live) eucalypt, where chewed and decayed wood from the hollow’s walls provides a cushioned lining.  Both sexes prepare the nest, and incubation (25-26 days worth) of the clutch of 1-3 eggs is done mostly by the female.  Chicks fledge at 7-8 weeks of age, and are independent at 16 weeks old.

Four important lessons to learn from Rainbow Lorikeets:
Lesson	Rationale
i.            If you insist on feeding Rainbow Lorikeets (or any wildlife), please ensure feeding times are irregular; food items are targeted and appropriately nutritious; and portions are small	§  To ensure wild animals maintain their wild survival instincts, protect against human dependency, and avoid disruption of the birds’ natural movements (around the landscape!) §  Junk foods, such as bread and mince (avoid!) are poorly digested and can make birds sick §  To ensure the treat is only supplementing their dietary intake – that way, they are still motivated / inclined to forage naturally
ii.            Please keep any bird baths or feeders well-maintained	§  Provision of clean, sanitary drinking water is universally approved, as water can be a more limiting resource than food, and providing something to drink can save birds from the deadly heat stress §  Regularly cleaning / sanitising avian amenities is an important service to limit the spread of communicable diseases, such as ***Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease virus (PBFD), within and between species that use them.  (***PBFD is a highly contagious, incurable virus that causes feather loss, horrific bill disfigurement, and death.  Euthanasia is the standard course of treatment for any rescued birds afflicted with PBFD, for the diseased birds’ sake and to prevent spread.  While ‘Psittacine’ pertains to parrots, the virus is also prevalent in the cockatoo family, and can afflict other birds, including chooks – plus one known case of transmission to a Powerful Owl that devoured a diseased Rainbow Lorikeet.)
iii.            Responsibly enjoy fermented fruits in moderation!	§  If you drink, then fly – you’re a silly lorikeet!
iv.            Attention aviary keepers, pet bird owners: please ensure your birds don’t escape!	§  Aviary escapees are responsible for invasive, non-native populations of Rainbow Lorikeet in Perth (and to some degree Tasmania).  Given they have not co-evolved for millennia, Perth’s local natives are ill-equipped to compete with the novel (dominant!) threat of Rainbow Lorikeets for food and nest resources.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or any local park or garden, look out for the noisy flyovers by darting, twisting Rainbow Lorikeets – and if you see them take a moment to savour their eclectic colours!

Bird of the Month XIV (October 2022)
Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis)

As spring continues to set in, what better way to rejoice in the increased bird activity and diversity.  Take a deep dive into the world of one of our most brightly-coloured, vocally-conspicuous, spring/summer additions to the local bird assemblage.  That of the Golden Whistler.

Belonging to the family Pachycephalidae which comprises all Whistlers, Shrikethrushes, and Shriketits, the Golden Whistler is a smallish (16-18cm) bird with a stubby bill, and greatly disparate plumages between males and females (i.e. sexual dimorphism).  The adult male Golden Whistler (pictured below), true to its name, sports a spectacularly rich, vibrant golden-yellow breast that is sure to dazzle any onlooker new to (and familiar with) its burst of colour.  While surely making many regret not having known of their beauty long ago (wouldn’t you be enticed to scour the bush for viewing/photo opportunities?!).  The adult female (and immature birds of either sex), meanwhile, are much more subtle and unassuming in their adornment of brownish grey and greyish olive – not quite so jaw-dropping, but still beautiful in their own understated way.  And don’t forget its whistles which culminate in a distinctive whip-crack!  Such an aesthetically, and vocally, charming bird – it would be a shame if it flew under anyone’s radar any longer!

The Golden Whistler’s vocalisations have been described as “many sweet notes; brisk ‘sweetawit, sweetawit’; rising ‘wheat-wheat-wheat-WHITTLE!, brisk ‘dee-dee-dee-ah-WHIT!,” (the ‘WHIT!’ being the whip-crack).  Also, “persistent, loud, ringing, whistles in a long, rapid sequence, swelling in volume”, and a contact call of single, rising ‘seeep’.  Endearingly, in spring, both sexes are known to sing “vivacious” duets, and display with “see-saw” posturing.

Breeding season for Golden Whistlers is from August to January.  Females produce one brood of 2-3 eggs per breeding season, and the clutch is incubated by both sexes.  Nests – an open cup of woven rootlets, stems, twigs, bark strips, casuarina leaves or fern fronds bound by cobwebs – are positioned 0.5m to 6m high in a blackberry thicket, shrub or tree.  Juveniles have a rufous (orangey brown) plumage.

Outside of breeding season, Golden Whistlers occur in singles, or mixed-species Whistler companies (Australia is home to 9 species of whistler, 2 of which occur in Ballarat, the other being Rufous Whistler).  Golden Whistlers of southeast Australia are said to migrate locally, which usually entails much of the region’s population to migrate from highlands to lowlands during autumn-winter.  Sedentary year-round residence, and coastal-inland movements are also noted of this widespread species.

Typically, Golden Whistlers prefer dense forests and woodland, but also inhabit wooded watercourses and shelterbelts, and may be visitors to parks, gardens, orchids, and golf courses.  An insectivore, Golden Whistlers forage amongst trees and taller understorey shrubs, gleaning insects off foliage.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or another local bushland, listen out for the wheaty whip-crack song of the Golden Whistler!  And if you’re able to locate the magnificently golden-yellow male, take a moment to marvel at its jaw-dropping beauty!

Bird of the Month XIII (September 2022)
Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua)

At FoCC, we are passionate about all native species, but we make no secret of our fondness for our mascot of sorts that is the Powerful Owl.  With an extinction risk classification of ‘Vulnerable’ in Victoria (‘Least Concern’ federally), Powerful Owls are a prized local rarity.  The gravity of these fascinating owls is that their confirmed presence is grounds to abort developments (i.e. vegetation removal and timber harvesting) in the sites they occupy, such is their rareness and need to be protected.

So, what is the backstory of the FoCC context?  Powerful Owls in our midst first came to our attention in January 2020 when an unidentified owl was opportunistically photographed in the Mt Helen area.  The rather innocuous photo, taken on smart phone by its unsuspecting photographer, was casually shown around amongst a small group attending that fateful FoCC meeting at the Woowookarung Regional Park Scenic Lookout.  Setting their eyes upon it, our resident bird nerds, with no prior knowledge of Powerful Owl presence in Ballarat, disbelievingly and tentatively identified it as a Powerful Owl.  Consultation with authorities of Powerful Owls confirmed the photographed owl was in fact an immature (i.e. adolescent) Powerful Owl.  Going into that meeting at the Lookout, we could never have predicted the momentum that would be generated by this discovery.  Later, we would monitor the scene, recording sightings of the same immature owl from this site.  Then other Powerful Owls at local areas further afield.  Then next breeding season (Nov 2021), at the original site, a breeding pair was confirmed, with not one but two juveniles.  We continue to watch this space with keen interest, and are maintaining a database and map of sightings.Powerful Owls are endemic to south-east Australia, ranging from SE QLD to Victoria (i.e. occur exclusively, found nowhere).  They occupy all-purpose territories year-round, inhabiting old-growth forests and woodlands, treed creeklines, farmland, parks and sometimes remnant bushland within suburban and even metropolitan contexts where possum prey is abundant.  Powerful Owls require large hollows for breeding success.  For hollows to be large enough, the gumtree must be aged 150-500 years old or older!  Habitat loss and diminishing availability of hollows suitable for nesting are major threats to Powerful Owl survival, along with secondhand rodenticide poisoning, and collisions with vehicles and powerline.

Breeding season is from April to September.  Breeding pairs mate for life, with lifespans reaching up to 30 years.  The sexes look alike, but males are larger and have a boxier head than females (for a detailed summary of its physical features, refer to the table below, which provides other information to help distinguish Powls from confusion species).  The male prepares and defends the nest, while the female incubates a clutch of 1-2 eggs and feeds hatchlings bite-sized morsels of whole prey delivered by the male.  The female does not emerge from the until the chicks reach a certain age.  Juveniles have more white throughout their plumage than adults, as they progressively moult their white downy feathers.  At around 6-7 months old, juvenile Powerful Owls look identical to adults, but remain dependent on their parents – listening for their begging trill calls is the only way to distinguish them from their parents.  Offspring may remain in the parents’ territory for over a year.

 

As Australia’s largest owl, and true to their name, Powerful Owls are the only bird in Australia capable of taking flight with prey heavier than itself in tow.  Prey ranges in size from the occasional beetle through to Greater Gliders, cat-sized Common Brushtail Possum and even subadult Koalas, and anything in between!  Arboreal (i.e. tree-dwelling) marsupials, e.g. Common Ringtail Possum, brushtails, and Sugar Gliders tend to be favoured, while Black Rats (introduced), bats, and birds – both nocturnal and diurnal – are also commonly preyed upon.  Powerful Owls, as a top-order predator, are ecologically important for the role they play in keeping prey populations from proliferating into overpopulation.  Studies arising from Melbourne have estimated that each owl eats 250-300 possums per year.  This prolific predation may protect against tree damage by unsustainable levels of browsing.  Therefore, more Powerful Owls = regulated possum numbers = healthier trees = more shelter + nest sites for all manner of wildlife.

Next time you contemplate a day stroll through local bushland, perhaps defer it until the evening (dusk is recommended), rug up, equip yourself with a yellow-light torch, and listen out for the ‘whoo-hoo’ utterings of this fascinating owl of such awe-inspiring presence. 
And if you are so lucky as to hear, see or even photograph a Powerful Owl – please submit your sighting details*** to Friends of Canadian Corridor via email or direct message to FoCC’s Facebook admin.  (***CAUTION: FoCC advises the withholding from social media of precise sighting location & landowner names, to protect Powls from disturbance & wildlife crime).

Bird of the Month XII (August 2022)
White-throated Treecreeper (Cormobates leucophaea)

If you’re an avid bushwalker, chances are you’ve heard the various, conspicuous piping and trilling vocalisations of this vociferous songster.  Perhaps you glimpsed a flash of its swift, undulating flight between trees.  If your gaze followed its movement, you might’ve found a bird slightly-larger-than-a-sparrow (16-17.5cm) busily scaling a tree.  Sound familiar?  If you didn’t know what it was at the time, read on, and perhaps you could corroborate that the mystery bird you heard or saw was quite possibly a White-throated Treecreeper.

The vocals of the White-throated Treecreeper have been described as ‘rapid, high-pitched, penetrating piping’, ‘loud, ringing, clear musical “whit-whit-whit-whit”’, ‘rippling “quit-quit-quit”’, and ‘mellow, musical “twiet-twiet-twiet”’.

Mid-brown or dark greyish-brown upperparts, with white-streaked flanks, olive-cream underparts and of course the titular white throat; White-throated Treecreepers are visually unmistakable in parts of its range (such as here in Ballarat) where none of the five other Australian treecreeper species occur.  Females can be distinguished from males by the orange patch on the female’s cheek.

Its habit is also quite unmistakable.  Spiralling its way up (preferably rough-barked) trees, the White-throated Treecreeper scampers headfirst in an almost gravity-defying feat of athleticism, probing the bark for ants and other insects/spiders as it goes, before dismounting with a hurried glide to the base of the next tree, where the cycle repeats.  It is quite a sight to behold!

White-throated Treecreepers usually live solitarily during non-breeding season, but then in pairs and family groups during breeding season.  Breeding season for White-throated Treecreepers goes from August to January.  Up to two broods of 2-3 eggs may be produced per breeding season.  The nest site is usually in a hollowed-out tree trunk/branch at heights of 5-20m, but they may sometimes even select mineshafts and cavities in buildings as the nest site.  Females build the nest – a cup composed of bark shreds, grass, fur/feathers, and sometimes charcoal.  Females incubate the eggs, but both sexes help feed the young.  Unlike other Australian treecreepers, White-throated Treecreepers are not cooperative breeders, meaning matured offspring do not remain the parents’ territory to help raise subsequent broods.

Residents of south-eastern Australia’s eucalypt forests and woodlands, White-throated Treecreepers occupy territories year-round.  They may also inhabit tea-tree and banksia scrub.  Whether eucalypts or other selected native overstorey, White-throated Treecreepers require large swathes of unbroken tree cover.  Shy, hesitant, and risk-averse in disposition, White-throated Treecreepers habitually opt for short flights between neighbouring trees, and will instinctually avoid long transits over exposed clearings (for fear of increased vulnerability to predators), and seldom venture to the ground.  This means, that, in order for White-throated Treecreepers to disperse to an unoccupied habitat patch (which, given as many as 6 offspring per breeding season must disperse from the parents’ territory before the next year’s breeding season), they ideally require landscape/vegetation connectivity to safely traverse there.  This is why White-throated Treecreepers are one of many examples of species (avian or non-avian), that are sensitive to habitat fragmentation, and one to benefit from wildlife corridors (also known as habitat linkages or ‘biolinks’).

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or another local forest patch, listen out for this piping, trilling songster, and hopefully you’ll be able to watch and admire their fascinating, gravity-defying spiralling ascents of trees!

Bird of the Month XI (July 2022)
White-winged Chough (Corcorax melanoramphos)

I know what you’re thinking.  A largeish, (almost entirely) black bird that feeds on the ground, in groups. It must be a raven, right?  Wrong!  Don’t be fooled – these busy, gregarious, forest-floor foragers are choughs (pronounced ‘chuff’), and they belong to the ‘Australian Mud-nesters’ Corcoracidae family.  Choughs can be distinguished from ravens by their titular white wing patches (which are inconspicuous or hidden when the wing is folded, i.e. only revealed in flight), curved bill, and red eye.  If they are too distant to discern finer details, some other cues to rule out a raven are a strut with back-and-forth head movement; tail bobbing (up and down); short, low flights of flapping culminating in a flat-winged glide to a perch; and calls that range from piping whistles, to small throaty clicks, and a raspy ‘hass’ or ‘ch-zark’.

Highly sociable, White-winged Choughs are almost invariably found in parties, ranging from 4-20 individuals, and sometimes more during non-breeding season.  Flocks are territorial, and typically consist of a breeding pair, and non-breeding ‘helpers’ which are often offspring from previous broods.  White-winged Choughs reach sexual maturity at four years of age, which means the breeding pair would have another three years’ worth of broods before their first brood possibly relinquishes helper duties (i.e. nest building, egg incubation, and feeding young) should they leave the parents’ flock.  Given females lay clutches of usually 3-5 eggs but as many 9 per brood (once a year) – as you can imagine that is a lot of mouths to feed, and a lot of helpers!  Males and females are identical, while juveniles are dusky dark brown, and have orange eyes.

As previously alluded to, White-winged Choughs construct nests of mud.  This large, deep bowl of mud may be reinforced with bark, grass, fur, and even the manure of cattle or Emus!  Nests are positioned on a horizontal branch 6-15m off the ground.  The availability of mud – for nest building – may influence White-winged Choughs to gravitate to wetter areas of open woodland and forest, but they are also known to frequent higher and drier areas too.  Since they probe and scratch about the forest floor – often in spread-out formation – for their food of insects and seeds, an abundance of leaf litter is a requirement of any habitat selected for.

Quite the cheeky rascals, White-winged Choughs may get up to such unruly antics as kidnapping young from rival chough flocks; other females laying eggs in the breeding pair’s nest (way to break rank!); and indulging in dust baths and ‘anting’ which entails laying on an ants’ nest with wings sprawled out to invite ants to eat away any bothersome parasites.  Mischievous and clever!

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or other local forest patch, keep an eye out for flocks of these busy, strutting forest floor foragers – and if you find some, won’t you be chuffed!

Bird of the Month X (June 2022)
Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides)

Crossing over into the realm of nocturnal birds, we have one of the most charismatic and popular birds.  A favourite among avid birders and meme enthusiasts, alike, the Tawny Frogmouth is Australia’s most commonly-encountered nocturnal bird, and quite the internet sensations to boot!  Not to be confused with owls, nor nightjars (both to which it is not closely related), Tawny Frogmouths belong to the Family Podargidae.
Images courtesy of Rob Loveband

While both are carnivorous nocturnal birds, Tawny Frogmouths and owls differ from each other in a number of ways, both aesthetically and ecologically, as summarised in the table below:

So well has evolution equipped with masterful camouflage, the Tawny Frogmouth’s grey plumage is adorned with streaks, blotches, and spots of black, white, and rufous (reddish brown) that phenomenally mimic old, weathered wood and bark as if it were marked with lichen and sap stains.  To top it all off, their whisker-like bristles around their bill portray the frayed end of a broken branch.

Occurring Australia-wide, Tawny Frogmouths are resident (i.e. non-migratory, present year-round) inhabitants of a range of habitats from open woodland and rainforests, wooded watercourses, semi-arid mallee and scrub, to alps, coastal tea-tree, gardens, golf courses, and streetscapes (particularly during night activity).

Varying widely in size (33-52cm), the males are larger, while some females are sometimes ‘washed’ (i.e. tinted) rufous.  Breeding season goes from August to December, with two eggs laid per clutch, and one brood per season (but southern Tawnies may occasionally produce two broods in a season).  Both sexes share incubation duties of eggs.

Tawny Frogmouths diet on insects, frogs, lizards, birds, mice and other small mammals, with much of their prey being ground-dwelling creatures that are pounced on from an elevated perch.  Tawny Frogmouths will also take flying insects in flight, and can be susceptible to vehicle collisions, whilst exploiting moths attracted to car headlights.  Although their long, broad wings are conducive to buoyant flight with stealthy silent wing beats, Tawny Frogmouths tend to be sluggish when taking off from the ground, which can leave them vulnerable to predators such as cats, foxes, and Powerful Owls.

Although, they continue to be recorded relatively frequently on citizen science databases, and certainly more prominently than other nocturnal species, Tawny Frogmouths are undergoing “significant overall declines in all but one region”, according to the State of Australian Birds (2015).  The major factors driving their decline are not known.  It is important to maintain search efforts and citizen sighting reports to monitor and infer population trends over time – and the same applies to other nocturnal species, as all are under-reported.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or other local forest patch, or indeed if you’re having night stroll, make sure you keep a keen eye out for the charismatic master of camouflage that is the Tawny Frogmouth – and if you find one, take a moment to admire their awe-inspiring camouflage!

Bird of the Month IX (May 2022)
Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis)

Looking to level up in your ID skills, from birds widespread and obvious to those uncommon and less-familiar?  Want to find a bird that won’t find you first, yet doesn’t require you to scour every nook and cranny of the deepest, most remote, forest?  A bird of such size that is cute and challenging to find, but not so tiny that it strains the eye?  Shier than the usual suspects, but not so shy that it is disinclined to come out of hiding and never sits still?  Perhaps a splash of colour to distinguish it from other birds, whilst inspiring awe and (literally) brightening your day?  Enter the Eastern Yellow Robin — the perfect bird for you!  This robin of unmistakable yellow and silver is thrilling for first-timers and the well-versed, alike!

With a beautiful yellow breast that stands out like a beacon, amidst — often — the dappled light of the shadowy Blackwood-lined gullies that it prefers, it sure does bring a dash of flamboyance to the bush.  Its active foraging, which involves nonchalantly perching sideways on tree trunks and pouncing exuberantly to the ground, is enough to mesmerise any onlooker.

Insects and spiders are the usual prey items, and these are typically pounced on from a low perch.  Beyond the Ballarat context, where Superb Lyrebirds occur, Eastern Yellow Robins have been known to follow lyrebirds and intentionally pick off insects disturbed by the lyrebird’s scratching of the topsoil.  How clever and opportunistic!

Inhabitants of dry woodlands through to rainforests, and parks, gardens and golf courses, Eastern Yellow Robins are often a bankable, year-round presence in suitable habitats where they are known to occur.  Sometimes, however, they may exhibit local seasonal movements or altitudinal migration, whereby they ‘quit’ the highlands during autumn-winter, in favour of lower-lying bushland.

Eastern Yellow Robins may occur in singles, pairs, and family groups.  Rare among Australian robins, the Eastern Yellow Robin is ‘sexually monomorphic’ (as opposed to sexual dimorphism), which means that males and females have identical plumages, with the only (barely discernible) difference being that the males are slightly larger (16cm) than females (15cm).

Breeding season begins in June and runs through to December.  The female builds the nest; a woven cup of fine bark, grasses, leaves, lichen and moss, bound together with spiderwebs.  She also incubates the clutch of 2-3 eggs.  Both parents are responsible for raising young, with ‘helpers’ (matured offspring) sometimes providing assistance to the latest brood.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or other local forest patch, keep an eye out for the Eastern Yellow Robin – and if/when you do find one, take a moment to admire how colourful and engaging they are, and savour the experience of this bird that symbolised your level-up into exploring what else the bird world has to offer!

Bird of the Month VIII (April 2022)
Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus)

With its dinosaur-like call, and elegant, leisurely flight, the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo easily mesmerises the observer if just a deeper attention is engaged.  Large (55-65cm), charismatic, and intelligent, the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo nomadically traverses many diverse habitats within the landscape.  In the Ballarat local context, Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo uses eucalypt forest and woodlands, farmland shelterbelts, and pine plantations.  Beyond our local patch, it also uses temperate rainforest, heathlands, and acacia and hakea woodlands; ranging from coastal, alpine, and semi-arid inland, to city suburb environs, throughout south-eastern Australia.

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos are primarily granivores (i.e. seed- and grain-eaters), commonly associated with feeding on the pinecone seeds of exotic pines.  Their traditional native food sources include the seeds of sheoaks (Cassuarina), hakea, banksia, and grass-trees (Xanthorrhea).  Stripping bark to feed on the underlying wood-boring insect larvae (grubs), and feeding on the ground are other known foraging behaviours.

Adaptable though it may seem, recent research suggests population declines in the east coast and Victoria, albeit this is not reflected in its current, official ‘Stable’ population trend, and extinction risk classifications of ‘Secure’ (Victoria) and ‘Least Concern’ (global).  The main threat is habitat loss, particularly ever-decreasing availability of hollow-bearing large, old eucalypts which it relies on for breeding success, and reduction in food trees – both due to processes / phenomena, such as: urban, residential, and agricultural expansion; timber harvest; and bushfires.

As previously mentioned, Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos are obligate hollow-nesters.  Suitable hollows are usually high up, deep, wide and about 40cm in diameter, and are lined with woodchips and decaying debris.  Breeding season is Oct—May, and the female incubates a clutch of 1-2 eggs, all the while the male feeds her.  After hatching, both parents share feeding duties.  Usually only one hatchling survives.  Young are dependent on parental care up to the age of 6 months.

Distinguishing between the sexes, there are a few subtle differences to tell males and females apart.  Eye rings: males have a pink / reddish eye ring, whereas females have an inconspicuous, grey eye ring.  Bills: males have a dark grey bill, whereas females have a pale, ivory bill.  Cheek patches: the females’ yellow cheek patch is larger than those of males.  Juveniles look similar to the adult female, but are browner.

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos occur in pairs, family trios, and – in autumn-winter – flocks may be a hundred-strong.  The flight behaviour is instantly recognisable as “buoyant”, with “slow, deep wingbeats”, and “floating glides”, long tail prominent in all.  Flighted flocks are very vociferous, and their vocalisations are described as “weird, far-carrying squealing”, phonetically translated to “why-lar” or “wee-lar”, with “conversational chuckling and ‘giggling’, in flight”.  Harsh screeches in alarm; “grinding, begging sounds from young”.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or other local forest patch bordered by pine plantations, keep an ear out for the dinosaur-like call of the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo – and if you do see one, take a moment to admire its effortlessly elegant flight!

Bird of the Month VII (March 2022)
Grey Butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus)

If you’re not familiar with Grey Butcherbird, picture a bird that looks like a cross between Australian Magpie and Laughing Kookaburra.  Firstly, Grey Butcherbird resemble the former in its black-and-white colours and bill colouration, piping vocalisations and mimicry, diet and ancestry (some taxonomies classify Australian Magpie under the butcherbird’s genus Cracticus, which makes the two equivalently related as grey kangaroos are to red kangaroo; at the very least butcherbirds and Australian Magpie belong to the same family of Artamidae, which makes them equivalently related as Eastern Grey Kangaroo is to Swamp Wallaby).  Secondly, Grey Butcherbird resembles Laughing Kookaburra in their large, heavy bill, and predatory instincts (pouncing from a perch-start on lizards, birds and insects).  In fact, the similarities to kookaburras are such that Pizzey & Knight’s field guide ‘Birds of Australia’ describes the immature (equivalent to adolescent) Grey Butcherbird as “… resembles a ‘little kookaburra’”.  Further, an alternative name (as per Pizzey & Knight) of Grey Butcherbird is Tasmanian Jackass (which aligns with Laughing Kookaburra which was historically colloquially referred to as ‘laughing jackass’).  Size-wise, Grey Butcherbirds, at 24-30cm, are roughly the length of a Rainbow Lorikeet.

An inhabitant of eucalypt forests and woodlands; parks, gardens, golf courses; and treed watercourses, roadsides and shelterbelts; Grey Butcherbirds occur in singles, pairs and family parties.  Often heard before, or rather than, seen, the vocalisations are described as “loud, mellow”, “vigorous” piping, with “varying phrases”, and also “staccato and rollicking” shrieks in aggression.

Grey Butcherbirds are aggressive near the nest, with both sexes fiercely defending a clutch of 3-5 eggs, perhaps even diving on intruders.  The female incubates the eggs, and mature offspring may remain in the parents’ territory for up to a year post-maturity, to help rear the following year’s brood.  Uneaten food – which, in addition to aforementioned animal prey, also includes fruits and seeds – may be wedged in a forked branched or impaled on a pointy branch, a la butcher’s hook; hence, the name ‘butcherbird’.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, or another forest, park or garden in the Corridor, keep an ear out for the melodic piping of the kookaburra-like cousin of the magpie – and be sure to refrain from venturing too close to its nest!

Bird of the Month VI (February 2021)
Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena)

As the Bernard Fanning lyrics so fittingly describe: “Welcome Swallow dip and swing… take their cue from the slightest thing…!”  So remarkable are the aerobatics of these long-winged, fork-tailed swallows as they gracefully and energetically ‘hawk’ insects out of the sky – that they would achieve the high honour of lyrical inspiration in said iconic Australian musician’s song “Wish You Well”.  Quite a feather in the cap of Welcome Swallows, it must be said!

With metallic blue-black upperparts, and an orangey chestnut face, throat and breast, the Welcome Swallow (15cm) is cute, common and unmistakable in much of its geographic range (including here in the Corridor).  An inhabitant of many varied biomes, which includes farmlands, grasslands, open woodlands, forests, deserts, coasts, watercourses, and even cities, Welcome Swallows are quite versatile and adaptable.  Matter of fact, their adaptability is such that it is commonplace for them to nest in human-made structures, such as in the eaves and rafters of verandas, sheds, and garages, and under bridges, while they also regularly take up perch on powerlines and barbed wire fences.  Cavernous trees, overhanging banks, cliff cavities, and mine shafts are alternative nest and roost sites.  The nest is an open cup made by both sexes using mud pellets and grass, and a lining of feathers, fur and hair.  Welcome Swallow mated pairs often have two broods per breeding seasons, with clutch sizes of 2-5 eggs.

Welcome Swallows may be sedentary (i.e. resident year-round), nomadic (i.e. intermittently occupy a locality, guided by resource availability), or part-migratory (i.e. distinct seasonal movements by some of the population).

Interestingly, as an adaptation to help funnel aerial insects into their wide, gaping mouths, Welcome Swallows possess short rictal bristles surrounding the bill – these bristles also doubling up as a mechanism for protecting their eyes during flight.  And that name?  The ‘Welcome’ is derived from the delight early sailors would feel when the sight of the swallows signalled land nearby.

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, particularly where it borders farmland, or perhaps a clearing or open expanse, keep an eye out and maybe you will be in the right place at the right time to witness the aerobatics of Welcome Swallows – and be grateful that you didn’t have to endure months of seasickness to see them!

Bird of the Month V (January 2022)
White-eared Honeyeater (Nesoptilotis leucotis)

Imagine: You’re a medium-sized (20-22cm) honeyeater.  Spring has sprung in your local patch; be it wet forest, woodland, coastal heathland, mallee scrub, or tea-tree thicket-lined salt lakes.  Your usual inclination towards a solitary existence has dissipated, and you now have a mate.  You want to get ahead with bringing the imminent next generation of olive-green juniors forth.  How best to do that?  The nest.  But it can’t just be any run-of-the-mill nest.  Only the best, most well-insulated nest will suffice when it comes to giving 2-3 juniors the best shot at surviving to fledging.  Dry grass – check.  Fine bark strips – check.  Spiderwebs to bind it all together – check.  But something is missing to complete this neatly woven, cup-shaped nest.  It needs a secret ingredient to make it thick-walled; a material that elevates it above the rest.  Then the answer occurs to you!  That’s it!  You know exactly what this nest needs!  Wallaby fur!  And what better way to obtain wallaby fur than plucking it fresh from a live wallaby.  Wally the Swamp Wallaby won’t mind – go ahead, help yourself!  And maybe go back for seconds…?
*****
This verbalised logic is an accurate, if embellished, depiction of what White-eared Honeyeaters truly do.  I have personally witnessed it, in the Grampians – and to this day, it remains my wildlife encounter most worthy of Sir David Attenborough’s dulcet-toned narration!  But the cheeky antics don’t end there.  The audacity of White-eared Honeyeaters is such that, apparently, they may take the fur-plucking antics a step further – by resorting to plucking hairs off the heads of unsuspecting bushwalkers!  Kangaroos, possums, and farm animals may be other targets.  Once made, White-eared Honeyeaters are known to perform distraction displays near the nest, to steer predators’ attention away from nestlings.

White-eared Honeyeater’s preferred foraging method of probing insects from bark influences their gravitation towards trees with bark that peels and flakes.  Other food items include nectar gleaned from flowers of the overstorey canopy, manna (i.e. tree sap/exudate), lerp (i.e. a sweet substance, produced by aphid-like bugs called psyllids), honeydew (i.e. another insect by-product), and fruits.

 

The vocals of White-eared Honeyeater are characterised by ‘CHOCKs’, ‘BEER-BRICKs’, ‘CHERRYWHEETS’, and ‘CHITTAGONGs’, and one call variant has even been described as ‘machine gun-like’ (all of this as per Pizzey & Knight, whose digital field guide is absolutely recommended for your purchase on smart phone!).  If this bird doesn’t speak to chocolate-lovers, beer-drinkers, brickies, enthusiasts of cherries and gluten, and anyone with an affinity to Bangladesh – then I don’t know what will!

Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park, Union Jack Reserve (Buninyong), or Mount Buninyong Scenic Reserve, look and listen out for the wallaby-grooming bird who is a connoisseur of Spider Man’s finest fibres – and watch your back or maybe wear a hat if you don’t wish to have your hair plucked!  Better yet, hair clippings and moulted pet fur could be a fair compromise!

Bird of the Month IV (November 2021)
Yellow-faced Honeyeater (Caligavis chrysops)

You may not have realised it, but chances are you have probably heard the beautiful song of the Yellow-faced Honeyeater.  Partly migratory, the Yellow-faced Honeyeater is very vocally conspicuous at this time of year.  Like many birds in spring, influxes of Yellow-faced Honeyeater arrive down south to breed, before returning to northern Australia upon autumn.  Migratory flocks can number over a thousand, and they intermingle in mixed-species flocks with White-naped Honeyeater.

The Yellow-faced Honeyeater is a small—medium-sized (16–18cm) honeyeater that has a similar general body structure to Red Wattlebird, only it’s half of the size.  It has an understated greyish-brown colouration, with a cyanide yellow tint to the primary feathers (i.e., ‘finger’ feathers), and an eye mask of a bright yellow stripe, bordered by black, running horizontally through the eye. Their call is described as a brisk ‘chickup’ or ‘chip chip’, while their song is a rollicking, descending ‘WHIT-chiwit-chiwickup’. In flight, they emit a soft ‘clip clip’ or ‘dep’ call.

Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, like most honeyeaters, are primarily nectarivores (nectar-eaters) and insectivores (insect-eaters) by diet.  These birds may forage solitarily or in small flocks, as they probe flowers for nectar and pollen, and glean insects from foliage of shrubs or the overstorey canopy.  Cheeky and resourceful, Yellow-faced Honeyeaters may even adopt the foraging strategy of picking insects out of spiderwebs.  Fruits (frugivory) and seeds (granivory), including those of native mistletoes, may also make up a small component of the diet.

Yellow-faced Honeyeaters inhabit forests, woodlands, gardens, and streetscapes through much of eastern Australia.  They nest in hedges, vines, and shrubs, and the nest is a finely woven cup of moss.  Females, which are slighter smaller than males but otherwise look identical, construct the nest and incubate the eggs.  Males defend the breeding territory, and both parents feed the dependent young.  Up to five different cuckoo species may parasitise Yellow-faced Honeyeaters’ nests, leaving the surrogate parent duties of cuckoo chicks to the honeyeaters.

Next time you stroll through Woowookarung Regional Park or other local forest patch, garden or streetscape, keep an ear out for the ‘chip chip’ call of the charming Yellow-faced Honeyeater. And if you’re new to birding, perhaps the Yellow-faced Honeyeater can be a starting point into many other obscure honeyeaters that take on a diverse array of sizes, shapes and colours.

Bird of the month is authored by Joel, resident FoCC  birder. All Images: Rob Loveband

Bird of the Month III (October 2021)
Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus)

This month’s Bird of the Month (BotM) was coincidentally recently voted BirdLife Australia’s Bird of the Year for 2021, to go with its equally prestigious FoCC BotM honours for October!

Well-known among birders, Superb Fairywrens are leading candidates for the world’s most promiscuous bird.  In fact, it’s common for most eggs per clutch of 3-4 to belong to different fathers, given individual females may field 13 different males’ courtship displays!  This is theorised to increase genetic fitness/diversity, and improve reproductive success.

Superb Fairywrens, like many Australian birds, are ‘co-operative breeders’, which means they enlist a number of ‘helpers’ to stay and help the parents provide food (i.e. insects) and predator surveillance for the new brood.
Younger males have breeding and non-breeding plumages.  Male’s breeding plumage – vivid blue head, dark blue throat – is partly seasonal (breeding season: June—Feb).  Males who moult into their breeding plumage earliest and retain it longest, are preferentially selected as mates.

Older males (e.g., 5 years old) retain their breeding plumage all-year round, which gives them a breeding advantage.  Non-breeding males look like females and juveniles, given all are mouse brown above, and white/buff below, but differ in their navy-blue tail, and black bill.  Adult females can be distinguished by their reddish-brown bill, lores, and eye-ring, and bluish tail.  Juveniles are alike adult females, but have brown tails.

Listen to the characteristic sounds of the Superb Fairywren here…

Remembering ‘brood parasitism’, and that cuckoos lay eggs in other species’ nest; interestingly, Superb Fairywrens have developed a ‘secret password’ for determining whether the young is theirs or a cuckoos.  This involves parents singing to the unhatched eggs, and when they hatch, only fairywren hatchlings can replicate that song when begging for food.

Adult femaleOnce among the most commonly-recorded birds throughout the south-east Australia’s gardens and parks, recent years have seen Superb Fairywren reports in cities halved.

Next time you stroll through Woowookarung RP or other local patch of dense bracken and grassy clearings, don’t forget to look for the charismatic Superb Fairywren.  And perhaps reflect on its ways of life as an exercise in non-judgment!

Bird of the Month II (September 2021)
Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus)

 

If you’re inspired by the mantra that ‘good things come in small packages’, the Spotted Pardalote is the ultimate inspiration for you!  Cute, colourful, and characterful, the Spotted Pardalote is one of Australia’s smallest birds at 8-10cm and weighing 6-12g!  Not to be underestimated, the huge part they play in the ecosystem well and truly belies the Spotted Pardalote’s small stature.  Feeding on lerp insects, which are a type of plant lice, the Spotted Pardalote’s busy foraging controls these parasites of eucalypts and contributes to maintenance of gumtree health.  That’s a big task for such a tiny yet impressively serviceable bird!

Locals may encounter Spotted Pardalote during this time of year, as these industrious little birds may seek to drill a narrow nest tunnel into a garden sand heap, creek embankments, or roadside cuttings.  Inhabiting eucalypt forests, parks and gardens, Spotted Pardalotes which occur in singles, pairs and groups of up to 20, may be hard to detect in the canopy amongst leaves that individually outsize them.  However, they will occasionally venture down to lower-lying branches, and if you keep quiet and approach gently, they can be quite confiding!  Vocally, Spotted Pardalotes may be very conspicuous once you familiarise yourself with their surprisingly loud ‘dee-dee peep’ call that has been described as “reminiscent of Crimson Rosella”.

Belonging to its own taxonomic Family (Pardalotidae), within the same Order (Passeriformes) as Thornbills and Scrubwrens; Pardalotes are recognisable by their stubby bill, short tail, and combos of yellows, reds, black and greyish browns.  The Spotted Pardalote is distinguishable from its local congener, the Striated Pardalote, by its spotted head and wing tips where Striated has stripes; red and yellow rump where Striated’s is greyish brown; and indistinct white eyebrow where Striated has a bold yellow brow.  Male and female Spotted Pardalotes differ in that the females are duller and lack the yellow throat, and the female’s head is dotted yellow while the male’s head is dotted white.

Next time you stroll through Woowookarung RP or other local patch characterised by eucalyptus trees, don’t forget to look and listen out for Spotted Pardalotes — and spare a thought of gratitude for their tremendous contribution to maintaining gumtree health!

Author note: A FoCC Committee member and co-admin of FoCC’s Facebook and webpage, Joel Ellis is the resident bird nerd, amateur Powerful Owl researcher, and editor of FoCC’s (co-funded) flora and fauna twin brochures. 

Bird of the Month I (August 2021)
Fan-tailed Cuckoo (Cacomantis flabelliformis)

It gives FoCC great pleasure to present the inaugural Spikey News’ new segment that is Bird of the Month! The species selected for first edition of Bird of the Month is the fascinating Fan-tailed Cuckoo.

Belonging to the same taxonomic family as thornbills and scrubwrens, pardalotes are recognisable by their stubby bill, short tail, and combos of yellows, reds, black and greyish browns.  The Spotted Pardalote is distinguishable from its local congener, the Striated Pardalote, by its spotted head and wing tips where Striated has stripes; red and yellow rump where Striated’s is greyish brown; and indistinct white eyebrow where Striated has a bold yellow brow.  Male and female Spotted Pardalotes differ in that the females are duller and lack the yellow throat, and the female’s head is dotted yellow while the male’s head is dotted white.

(Iain Woxvold, XC602971. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/602971)

Fan-tailed Cuckoo (Cacomantis flabelliformis) is of course a native bird that occurs locally in the Corridor. But not all year round – for most! This species is pertinent to this month, as it is a breeding migrant that has now begun to arrive in our local patch. Fan-tailed Cuckoos typically arrive from northern Australia and New Guinea to breed down south from late winter to early summer (wise of them to avoid the worst of our harsh southern winters!). Some may ‘over-winter’, which means they remain present over winter, staying put all year.
The Fan-tailed Cuckoo’s breeding behaviour is notable for the fact that they, like all but one Aussie cuckoo, are ‘brood parasites’. Brood parasites are species that lay their eggs in the nest of other birds, deferring all parental care to the adoptive parents (ah, the wonders of natural evolution!). The adoptive parents of the Fan-tailed Cuckoo offspring are usually fairywrens, thornbills, and scrubwrens, which are half the size of the cuckoo baby and have their work cut out for them sustaining big bub’s insatiable appetite for insects. Yikes!
Another distinctive feature of cuckoos, and indeed Fan-tailed Cuckoo, is that they have two backward-facing toes; this sets cuckoos apart from other similar-looking birds which instead have one backward-facing toe. Of the thirteen Australian cuckoos, five regularly occur in Ballarat, with Fan-tailed Cuckoo being the most common here. Fan-tailed Cuckoo can be distinguished from other local cuckoos by its pastel cinnamon breast and yellow eye ring.

Often heard before they are seen, the conspicuous and persistent vocals of the Fan-tailed Cuckoo have been described as “vibrating”, “musical”, “high, thin, whistled”, and a “leisurely downward trill”. (Refer to Graeme Chapman’s birds for a free online sound library).
Next time you wander through Woowookarung Regional Park or other open eucalypt forest in the Corridor, listen out for the pleasant calls of the fascinating Fan-tailed Cuckoo… and be grateful that you haven’t had a baby twice your size dumped into your care!

Author note: A FoCC Committee member and co-admin of FoCC’s Facebook and webpage, Joel Ellis is the resident bird nerd, amateur Powerful Owl researcher, and editor of FoCC’s (co-funded) flora and fauna twin brochures. Joel has studied birds up to Honours degree level, interns as an ecological consultant (ornithologist), and is a member of BirdLife Australia (Ballarat branch).Photo: R Loveband