Mallacoota Birds

Mallacoota Birds: Fan-tailed Cuckoo

Fan-tailed Cuckoo Endeavour Hills by Robert Anderson

Bird of the Month Fan-tailed Cuckoo December 2021

Header image of an adult Fan-tailed Cuckoo singing by Robert Anderson

From August/September to ~March, this bird provides the soundtrack to the forests around Mallacoota. The song – a fast descending whistle – is a little mournful, a little thrilling. It makes me think: “stop rushing, look around and appreciate all this beauty.”

Fan-tailed Cuckoo East Gippsland by John Hutchison

Fan-tailed Cuckoo hunting Cape Conran after the fires, by Rob Clay — Fan-tailed Cuckoo hunting near the ground at Cape Conran after the fires, by Rob Clay

Their song is much more obvious than the bird itself. Like most cuckoos, they don’t flutter about needlessly. They fly fast and stop, and remain motionless for minutes. If you see them fly and perch, you will get great photographic opportunities as they pose in one spot. Conveniently they will change sides, all the while looking at you with those huge, dark, yellow-ringed eyes.

Adult female Fan-tailed Cuckoo East Gippsland by John Hutchison

John Hutchison pointed out to me that the name is peculiar – they rarely fan their tails. Read more in his excellent blog: http://avithera.blogspot.com/2018/02/fan-tailed-and-brush-cuckoos.html

Fan-tailed Cuckoo Mallacoota by Janine Duffy Echidna Walkabout — Fan-tailed Cuckoo Mallacoota – this is the most fanned I’ve seen the tail, by Janine Duffy

Fan-tailed Cuckoo with hairy caterpillar prey VIC Robert Anderson — Fan-tailed Cuckoo with hairy caterpillar prey, Clematis VIC by Robert Anderson

They are a bit migratory, but some stay in Mallacoota all year round. It’s difficult to know how much of the local population leaves the area, as many of the records over summer come from hearing calls. Calling mostly ceases in winter, making them harder to find. Martin Butterfield has put together these charts from eBird, showing far fewer sightings in June – July:

It’s interesting to see how numbers of sightings fell during the drought years:

Much is made of their breeding behaviour: as cuckoos, they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. Small birds that make dome nests: thornbills, scrubwrens, are the preferred adoptive parents for fan-tailed cuckoo children. The adoptive parent birds seem to work hard to feed the cuckoo child, but keep in mind that most of these small birds would normally be feeding 2 to 3 babies. With a fan-tailed cuckoo baby, it is just one.

Read more about their breeding habits in this marvellous Connecting Country blog: https://connectingcountry.org.au/bird-of-the-month-fan-tailed-cuckoo/

Fan-tailed Cuckoo juvenile being fed by White-browed Scrubwren East Gippsland by John Hutchison — Fan-tailed Cuckoo juvenile just been fed by White-browed Scrubwren East Gippsland by John Hutchison

Cuckoos are no better or worse than other predatory birds, and most birds are predatory. Falcons, eagles, goshawks and owls kill other birds for food. Herons, egrets, kookaburras, ravens, currawongs, butcherbirds and magpies eat eggs and kill baby birds. Thornbills, fairy-wrens, whistlers, honeyeaters, robins and scrubwrens kill insects and their babies. Cuckoos remove eggs and replace them with their own egg. Some cuckoos go to great effort to do this, watching the nest closely, being harassed by other birds when found, and even supplementing the food of their chick throughout their development. They could be an important biological control to ensure that small birds don’t overpopulate, and if you think about it, removing eggs is a fair way to do it. They are not bad parents, they are not lazy and they are not cruel. Those are all human motivations. Cuckoos don’t have a choice – this is the only way they can breed.

There’s some fairly new research about them (2019) by Colleen Poje from Griffith University.

Juvenile Fan-tailed Cuckoo You Yangs by Janine Duffy Echidna Walkabout — Juvenile Fan-tailed Cuckoo, You Yangs VIC by Janine Duffy

IDENTIFICATION:

The bird that they could be confused with in Mallacoota is the Brush Cuckoo – notes on telling them apart below each heading.

Adult males: Rufous (light orange) throat, breast, belly and vent. Blue grey face, head, back wings. Yellow eye-ring and black iris. Strong, broad dark bars on underside of tail, can be seen at white edge-spotting on upper side of tail.

[Brush Cuckoos are lighter overall, grey on throat and breast, lack the yellow eye-ring. Fewer bars on tail underside.]

Adult male Fan-tailed Cuckoo Marlo by Rob Clay

Adult females: Duller rufous throat, usually more pale on belly and vent. Sometimes has fine grey barring on breast and belly.

[Brush Cuckoo females lighter than Fan-tailed females. Some can be quite heavily barred on breast and face]

Adult female Fan-tailed Cuckoo Cranbourne VIC by Robert Anderson

Juvenile: Fairly smooth warm brown head, face, back, wings. Breast streaked with grey. Tail underside has broad bars alternating with fine bars – this is a good way to tell them apart from Brush Cuckoo juveniles which have all fine bars on their tail.

[Brush Cuckoo juveniles heavily spotted on head, back and front, all the way to tail.] You can see some pics of a Brush Cuckoo juvenile in John’s blog.

Juvenile Fan-tailed Cuckoo You Yangs by Janine Duffy — Juvenile Fan-tailed Cuckoo, You Yangs VIC by Janine Duffy

very young juvenile Fan-tailed Cuckoo NSW by Christine Rand — very young juvenile Fan-tailed Cuckoo Mid North Coast NSW by Christine Rand

Juvenile Fan-tailed Cuckoo by Jack Winterbottom

LISTEN TO THE CALLS and scroll through to see lots of great pics here: https://ebird.org/species/fatcuc1?siteLanguage=en_AU

Details: Fan-tailed Cuckoo Cacomantis flabelliformis

Adult Fan-tailed Cuckoo with hairy caterpillar prey by KJ Hocking

Location: southern, eastern & north-eastern Australia. New Guinea, West Papua, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Fiji & Vanuatu. Apparently shows up occasionally in New Zealand.

Conservation status/learn more: https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/fan-tailed-cuckoo

Fan-tailed Cuckoo in flight Benalla VIC by Robert Anderson

Thanks to Robert Anderson, Rob Clay, Christine Rand, John Hutchison, Michael Williams, Brett Howell, Scott Roberts, Jack Winterbottom, KJ Hocking and Martin Butterfield for your wonderful pics and information.

Mallacoota Birds: Striated Heron

Bird of the Month: Striated Heron November 2021

Having a Striated Heron in Mallacoota is like having a breeze from the Tropics. It’s a reminder of the unique microclimate of Mallacoota, distinct from the rest of Victoria.

Striated Heron Daintree River, Queensland by Kayleen Bilson

Striated Herons are essentially tropical/sub-tropical birds. In Australia they live along the north, east and west coasts, but rarely south of Sydney NSW or Exmouth WA. Worldwide the same species ranges across Asia & India, the Middle East & Egypt, Africa south of the Sahara, and widely through South America. Each of the regions has a slightly different-looking subspecies.

To those new to birding, they are confusing. Herons are supposed to be large and elegant, white or grey, with long necks and legs. So here’s this small brown bird, with short legs, and a short neck* stalking around on the mudflats. It just doesn’t make sense.

But then you might learn about a whole group of secretive herons called bitterns that all have chunky necks and short legs. But they are so hard to see! They camouflage brilliantly, and live amongst reeds and rushes and rice fields. There are nocturnal herons – Mallacoota’s famous bakery Nankeen Night-herons are included in this group. There are brown, orange, green, yellow and purple herons. In fact, the whole world of heron is diverse and beautiful. There is even an international conservation group for herons worldwide, and they list 65 species: https://www.heronconservation.org/herons-of-the-world/list-of-herons/

Watch the Striated Heron. After a few minutes the neck will shoot out to catch a fish, and you can see that the neck is long after all. They were just hiding it. Maybe they prefer to be underestimated so that their prey doesn’t perceive the danger.

Read more about their hunting behaviour on John Hutchison’s excellent blog: http://avithera.blogspot.com/2021/08/striated-herons.html

Map sightings Striated Heron Mallacoota by Martin Butterfield from Birdata — Map of historic sightings of Striated Heron around Mallacoota by Martin Butterfield from Birdata

Records of Striated Heron in Mallacoota are few. Martin reports that there was a flurry of sightings between 2010 and 2013, mostly around Gipsy Point. Sightings are spread throughout the year, with a record in almost every month. They can be a hard bird to see – well camouflaged, often standing stationary amongst dead branches over grey mud – so they may get missed.

Striated Heron Mallacoota by Jack Winterbottom — Striated Heron in typical habitat, Mallacoota by Jack Winterbottom

Chart by Martin Butterfield from Birdata — Chart by Martin Butterfield sourced from Birdata

The current Mallacoota bird is still young. It has streaks on the throat that will smooth out as it matures. Adults of our east coast subspecies have grey-pink cheeks, throat and underparts with a white stripe down the throat. Adults always have a black cap, and a black line under the eye onto the cheek. Their wings have a scalloped edging, like each feather has been outlined in fine bronze.

Striated Heron Mary River, NT by Janine Duffy Echidna Walkabout — Striated Heron Mary River, NT by Janine Duffy. This is the other subspecies, stagnatilis

They could be confused with a Nankeen Night-heron, which are quite common in Mallacoota. But Nankeens are much larger (2x the size) with a very pale throat and belly when adult. They don’t have the black stripe under the eye, and their wings have a smooth, all-over colour, with no scalloped edging.

Juvenile & immature birds are harder to tell apart. Size is the best indicator. But failing that, I always feel that a young Striated looks like a brown bird streaked with white, while a young Nankeen looks like a white bird streaked with brown.

immature Striated Heron Mallacoota by Chrissy Freestone

LISTEN TO THE CALLS and scroll through to see lots of great pics here: https://ebird.org/species/strher

Details: Striated Heron Butorides striata macrorhyncha

Location: coastal eastern, northern and north-western Australia, from Exmouth WA to Sydney NSW, with a few records south of that.

Our subspecies macrorhyncha eastern Australia to about the QLD-NT border.

Conservation status/learn more: https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/striated-heron

Striated Heron

Thanks to Chrissy Freestone, Rob Clay, Jack Winterbottom, Kayleen Bilson and Martin Butterfield for your wonderful pics and information.

Mallacoota Birds: Spectacled Monarch

Bird of the Month: Spectacled Monarch October 2021

Speccy Mon is here! A very special, brave little bird, (and a Victorian Mega) who had the good form to stay for an entire four days!

Speccy Mon was found in the afternoon of Tuesday 5 October by Chrissy Freestone and George Appleby, who had come to Mallacoota looking for the Striated Heron* found by Martin Butterfield the week earlier.
*More about Sheron next month

Spectacled Monarch Mallacoota by Dan Pendavingh

The Spectacled Monarch is a small bird of the rainforest, wet gullies and wet eucalyptus forests of the north and east coast of Australia. They are usually seen in the low to mid levels of the forest, catching insects, and apparently not too shy.

The normal range of the Spectacled Monarch is the coastal forests of Queensland and northern NSW. Sightings are common on Cape York (subspecies albiventris – resident) and around Cairns & Bowen (subspecies melanorrhoa – possibly resident). From Mackay to the mid north coast of NSW subspecies gouldii breeds, and sightings are fairly common to Myall Lakes NSW, uncommon south to Jervis Bay, and very very uncommon further south.

Spectacled Monarch Mallacoota by Alex Holmes

But much of this bird’s normal breeding range was burnt in the Black Summer fires.

Why is it here? They are migratory birds (particularly this subspecies) so perhaps this one is checking out new horizons. Maybe the bird found its old breeding area burnt out. Or maybe food availability has been poor, and this bird has kept flying until it found richer pickings.

Spectacled Monarch Billinudgel NSW by John Hutchison

This isn’t the first time this species has been seen in Victoria, but it is the first time its been recorded for Mallacoota, and the first time a Spectacled Monarch has been seen in Victoria, by multiple observers, over four days.

Spectacled Monarch Daintree QLD by Kayleen Bilson

I don’t think it’s likely, but if anyone sees this bird doing anything that could be a sign of breeding – ie. carrying a twig, feather or moss, two birds interacting, even strong and persistent calling, please let us know. If this bird finds a mate and stays to breed it will be very exciting. (note: if anyone finds this bird on a nest, please do not publish the location. If you wish you can send details to Martin Butterfield privately – he can help to limit disturbance)

Spectacled Monarch Julatten Qld by Janine Duffy Echidna Walkabout — Spectacled Monarch Julatten Qld by Janine Duffy

In New Guinea, Timor and the Moluccas there are other subspecies of this bird.

Spectacled Monarch Atherton QLD by Kayleen Bilson

This bird is part of the subspecies gouldii which is migratory, arriving in Australia about September and leaving about March. This tiny creature has flown over, possibly from Timor or Indonesia.

Other times this species has come to Vic and been seen are:

Dec 1977 Point Addis RAOU Observer code 62
Oct 1979 Orbost Bendoc Road, 5km from Bendoc by Chris Belcher
Dec 1999 Wingan Inlet, East Gippsland (observer name not supplied) source: VBA: Victorian Biodiversity Atlas

Male and female adults look the same. Juveniles have white on the face in front of the eye, pale base to the bill, and lack the black mask. The head starts grey, wings are brown. as they approach adult the head darkens starting from below the eye and cheek area. See pics of juveniles and immatures here: https://ebird.org/media/catalog?taxonCode=spemon1&mediaType=p&sort=rating_rank_desc&age=i,j

LISTEN TO THE CALLS and scroll through to see lots of great pics here: https://ebird.org/species/spemon1?siteLanguage=en_AU

Details: Spectacled Monarch Symposiachrus trivirgatus gouldii
3 subspecies, gouldii is the most southern and is migratory. Other two subspecies melanorrhoa and albiventris are probably resident in Qld.

Location: coastal eastern and north-eastern Australia. Mostly Qld and northern NSW, but occasionally ventures south to Sydney, and rarely further south.

Conservation status/learn more: https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/spectacled-monarch

Thanks to Dan Pendavingh, Alex Holmes, Kayleen Bilson, John Hutchison, Chrissy Freestone & George Appleby for finding the bird, and Martin Butterfield for your wonderful pics and information.

More information on Graeme Chapmans wonderful site

And this is the VBA: https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/biodiversity/victorian-biodiversity-atlas

Mallacoota Birds: Jacky Winter

Bird of the Month: Jacky Winter July 2021

Jacky Winters are those sweet little birds you see on fencelines at the airport and water treatment plant at Mallacoota. They are cute but plain, grey-brown and completely lacking distinguishing colours or markings, except for the brilliant white outer feathers of the tail. But there’s something brave and charming about them – a bit like Willie Wagtails and Eastern Yellow Robins.

Jacky Winter immature by Jack Winterbottom — Jacky Winter – I think this one is immature, based on the white tips to coverts, by Jack Winterbottom

Jacky Winter Mallacoota Waste Water Treatment Plant Janine Duffy — Jacky Winter at Mallacoota Waste Water Treatment Plant by Janine Duffy

You can know these birds using only your ears, or a brief view from a moving car. Their identification usually relies on behaviour, shape and call.

Look for an upright bird, alone on a fencewire, staying still for long periods. Sometimes there is another one on another wire. They prefer open country, and are often seen on farmland with grassy paddocks. They use the ground a lot too, and regularly fly up to the same spot on the fence, making them excellent photography subjects.

Jacky Winter by Jack Winterbottom — Jacky Winter at Peach Flat by Jack Winterbottom

Jacky Winter singing by Craig Boase — Jacky Winter by Craig Boase

They have a habit of swinging their tail from side to side, and sometimes you can see the white outer feathers.

Jacky Winter by Craig Boase — Jacky Winter showing white outer tail feathers, by Craig Boase

Most of the books describe the call as peter-peter-peter or witta-witta-witta but I’m most used to hearing a single note, strong piercing call. They also do some mimicry.

Jacky Winters start out as spotty juveniles like most of our robins (see Jack Winterbottom’s pic below). But within a few weeks they look just like adults, with only a few white tips to their wing coverts to show they are young (see Jack Winterbottom’s pic of an immature above). I remember seeing a really big, adult-looking Jacky Winter screaming for food, while I was running a trip at Mungo NP, NSW. I couldn’t believe it was a juvenile. But the carry-on was very juvenile! The parent fed the hungry monster a caterpillar, and flew off, relieved for a moment’s respite I think.

Jacky Winter juvenile by Jack Winterbottom — Jacky Winter juvenile with adult behind, by Jack Winterbottom

Adult Jacky Winter feeding juvenile, Mungo NP NSW by Janine Duffy Echidna Walkabout — Adult Jacky Winter feeding a juvenile, Mungo NP NSW by Janine Duffy

The most similar bird in our area is the Golden Whistler female. But she’s bigger, with a stout bill, often has a tinge of warmer colour (red-brown and yellow) and lacks the dark stripe through the eye. Check out the pic following that shows a young Golden Whistler left (pic by John Hutchison), Jacky Winter right (pic by Jack Winterbottom).

golden whistler compared to Jacky Winter Jack Winterbottom John Hutchison — Golden Whistler (left) by John Hutchison; Jacky Winter (right) by Jack Winterbottom. Note the difference in bill shape.

My feeling that they are like Willie Wagtails and Eastern Yellow Robins comes from their behaviour. They are all brave little insect hunters, who perch and pounce, and can be quite relaxed with people. Jacky Winters are actually robins, so very closely related to Eastern Yellow Robin. This group are also known as flyrobins, or Australasian Robins (family: Petroicidae), to separate them from the European Robin, a flycatcher (family: Muscicapidae); which is unrelated to the American Robin, a thrush (family: Turdidae).

Willie Wagtail is an Australian Fantail, and not far removed from the flyrobins either.

Interesting that Martin Butterfield has found they are much more often seen around Mallacoota in winter.

Jacky Winter at Mallacoota, by month. Chart by Martin Butterfield

Jacky Winter at Mallacoota, by year. Chart by Martin Butterfield

Jacky Winter Mallacoota by Martin Butterfield — Jacky Winters are sometimes seen in larger groups, Mallacoota by Martin Butterfield

LISTEN TO THE CALLS and scroll through to see lots of great pics here: https://ebird.org/species/jacwin1?siteLanguage=en_AU

Details: Jacky Winter Microeca fascinans fascinans

Location: southern, eastern and northern Australia, with the exception of the north-west of WA, most of the inland, and Tasmania. Our subspecies fascinans is the largest, and lives in SE SA, most of Vic & NSW and the eastern half of QLD.

Conservation status/learn more: https://www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/jacky-winter

Thanks to Alison Nisbett, Christine Rand, Craig Boase, Jack Winterbottom, Rob Clay, Michael Barnett & Gregory Storer and Martin Butterfield for your wonderful pics and information.

Jacky Winter You Yangs VIC Echidna Walkabout — Jacky Winter You Yangs VIC by Scott Roberts

Mallacoota Birds: Pied Oystercatcher

Bird of the Month: Australian Pied Oystercatcher June 2021

On a tan beach, steely blue waves crashing behind, they look immaculate, distinguished, unruffled by the constant wind and cold. Their dress code for every occasion is Black Tie, and they wear it well. The plain, spotless black and white plumage is accented by a fluorescent vermillion beak, matching eye and pale pink legs.

Pied Oystercatcher on beach Echidna Walkabout — Pied Oystercatcher in ideal habitat, East Gippsland by Janine Duffy

Pied Oystercatcher Mallacoota Caroline Jones — Pied Oystercatchers Mallacoota by Caroline Jones

Australian Pied Oystercatchers are one of the largest of shorebirds, and unlike many other shorebirds, they are resident year round. They also form long-term pairs, and put a lot of time and effort into caring for their chicks, which is unusual amongst shorebirds.

Reporting rate by month Pied Oystercatcher Mallacoota Chart by Martin Butterfield — Chart by Martin Butterfield

Reporting rate by year Pied Oystercatcher Mallacoota Chart by Martin Butterfield — Chart by Martin Butterfield

Pied Oystercatcher Raymond Island Echidna Walkabout — Pied Oystercatcher feeding at Raymond Island by Martin Maderthaner

They are such good parents that you don’t often see oystercatcher chicks – the parents hide them well, and defend them very strongly.

Pied Oystercatcher chicks Gippsland Lakes John Hutchison — Australian Pied Oystercatcher chicks Gippsland Lakes by John Hutchison

Pied Oystercatcher chicks Janine Duffy Echidna Walkabout — Pied Oystercatcher with 2 chicks, November 2009 East Gippsland by Janine Duffy

Many of them are banded, and it is very interesting to follow the progress of a known bird, like Yellow 85, who was first banded at Barry Beach, Corner Inlet VIC in 2010. This bird was seen around Corner Inlet until 2013, but made at least one visit to Wonboyn NSW in 2010. Then in late 2013 it made a journey to southern NSW, where it was recorded twice. By 2015 it was seen at Mallacoota, and has only been recorded there since. See table below – most entries are from the Australasian Wader Studies Group (AWSG), entries in blue are from the Mallacoota Birds facebook group or eBird photographs.

Yellow 85
YEAR	DATE	LOCATION & OBSERVER
2010	14 August	Barry Beach, Corner Inlet VIC
2010	12 November	Wonboyn Beach NSW
2011	15 February	Barry Beach, Corner Inlet VIC
2011	17 June	Barry Beach, Corner Inlet VIC
2013	23 July	Barry Beach, Corner Inlet VIC
2013	15 October	Merimbula NSW
2013	12 December	Wonboyn Beach NSW
2015	30 August	Quarry Beach, Mallacoota VIC
2016	24 June	Mallacoota VIC
2016	13 November	Mallacoota VIC
2017	24 May	Quarry Beach, Mallacoota VIC
2018	11 May	Davis Beach, Mallacoota VIC
2018	16 June	Tip Beach, Mallacoota VIC LW
2018	26 July	Quarry Beach, Mallacoota VIC MB
2018	21 September	Pebbly Beach, Mallacoota VIC JL
2018	22 October	Mallacoota VIC
2018	26 December	Quarry Beach, Mallacoota VIC
2020	4 January	Mallacoota VIC
2020	30 March	Quarry Beach, Mallacoota VIC MB
2020	26 May	Quarry Beach, Mallacoota VIC MB
2020	27 June	Mallacoota VIC
2020	20 July	Mallacoota VIC
2021	29 May	Bastion Point, Mallacoota VIC MB

OBSERVERS: MB: Martin Butterfield, JL: Jenny Lawrence, LW: Leanne Wicks

More details here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BxNqHOipCtWDnMy_JE9zPq2-7GCRPN0RsuPAE1LtFKU/

Pied Oystercatcher Yellow 85 Mallacoota Martin Butterfield — Australian Pied Oystercatcher Yellow 85 Mallacoota by Martin Butterfield. I think this is a male.

If you see a banded bird please report it to the AWSG here: https://vhost2009.hosted-sites.deakin.edu.au/importing/import.php

Having a quick look through eBird, I’ve found quite a few banded birds around the area, including:
Yellow 9A Bastion Pt 29/5/21 MB; 26/5/20 Quarry Beach MB, 30/3/20 Quarry Beach MB – AWSG has 12 records of this bird, nearly all at Mallacoota
Yellow 9N Betka Beach 13/9/16 by Michael Preston.
Yellow JJ Bastion Pt 29/5/21 MB, Quarry Beach 4/9/18 MB – AWSG has 7 records of this bird, most at Mallacoota
Yellow SL 30/3/20 Quarry Beach MB
Yellow 57 4/6/20 at Big Beach Mallacoota by Martin Butterfield – AWSG has 10 records of this bird, most at Mallacoota.

Pied Oystercatcher Yellow 9P Lake Tyers Beach Jack Winterbottom — Pied Oystercatcher Yellow 9P Lake Tyers Beach by Jack Winterbottom

Elsewhere in East Gippsland:
Yellow 81 Point Hicks 3/7/19 by Drew Stevens
Yellow AW Snowy River Mouth 17/11/16 by Aiden Worseldine

Yellow 113 Raymond Island 11/11/18 by Martin Maderthaner
Yellow 137 Raymond Island 11/11/20 by Lance Rathbone
Yellow 167 Raymond Island 15/11/17 by Bruce McKinlay
Yellow MA Raymond Island 10/10/17 by Caroline Jones

Yellow 9P Lake Tyers Beach 27/2/17 by Jack Winterbottom
Yellow HR Lake Tyers Beach 6/6/21 by Rob Clay
Yellow C4 Lakes Entrance 26/4/18 by Ken Crawley
Yellow ZZ Lakes Entrance 31/10/20 by Colin Trainor
Red 45 Raymond Island 20/11/20 by Lance Rathbone

Martin has more details on some of these birds here: https://mallacootaweatherwildlife.blogspot.com/2020/06/movements-of-banded-pied-oystercatchers.html

Pied Oystercatchers often suffer from entanglement in fishing line and other non-natural fibres. This scourge sometimes results in the loss of a foot or loss of life, and a lot of pain and suffering. Birds with entangled feet are very difficult to catch, as they become very wary and will fly off at the slightest attention. Please, if you see fishing line on the beach, remove it.

John Hutchison has some information about an entangled Pied Oystercatcher he saw at Booderee NSW here: http://avithera.blogspot.com/2017/09/pied-oystercatcher-ex-ex-one-foot.html

Pied Oystercatcher fishing line entanglement, Booderee John Hutchison — Australian Pied Oystercatcher with fishing line entanglement, Booderee by John Hutchison

You can tell males from females. Females have black flecks in their iris near the pupil, which makes their pupil look bigger, and more oval-shaped than the male’s. She also has a longer bill, that can have a more tapered shape.

Australian Pied Oystercatcher female Tathra John Hutchison — Female Australian Pied Oystercatcher showing flecks in iris, Tathra by John Hutchison

These features are best seen when two birds are together, or on very high quality photos.

Australian Pied Oystercatcher female male flying Mallacoota Jack Winterbottom — Australian Pied Oystercatcher, female below, male above, Mallacoota by Jack Winterbottom

Australian Pied Oystercatchers bill length female male Mallacoota Jack Winterbottom — Australian Pied Oystercatcher, image modified to show relative bill lengths, Mallacoota by Jack Winterbottom

John also has some amazing pictures of Pied Oystercatchers mating here: http://avithera.blogspot.com/2017/06/bega-river-entrance-tathra-nsw.html

Lastly, if anyone sees a very short Pied Oystercatcher please take photos and let us know. There is a New Zealand species – the South Island Pied Oystercatcher (SIPO) that looks a lot like ours, and one or two visit from time to time. SIPO has shorter legs, a longer bill and more white on the back and wings than our Pied Oystercatchers.
SIPO has not been recorded in East Gippsland yet, but has been seen at Stockyard Point near French Island and at Mossy Point near Moruya NSW – so maybe it’s just a matter of time??

Tagged South Island Pied Oystercatcher 1N Jack Winterbottom — Tagged South Island Pied Oystercatcher 1N by Jack Winterbottom

LISTEN TO THE CALLS and scroll through to see lots of great pics here: https://ebird.org/species/pieoys1?siteLanguage=en_AU

Australian Pied Oystercatcher flying Mallacoota Michael Barnett & Gregory Storer — Australian Pied Oystercatcher Mallacoota by Michael Barnett & Gregory Storer

Details: Australian Pied Oystercatcher Haematopus longirostris

Location: pretty much the whole coastline of Australia.

Conservation status/learn more: Secure through most of Australia, but endangered in NSW. https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/australian-pied-oystercatcher

Thanks to Caroline Jones, Jack Winterbottom, John Hutchison, Michael Barnett & Gregory Storer, Martin Maderthaner and Martin Butterfield for your wonderful pics and information.

Pied & Sooty Oystercatcher flying Cape Conran Echidna Walkabout — Pied & Sooty Oystercatchers flying Cape Conran by Martin Maderthaner

Mallacoota Birds: Golden Whistler

Bird of the Week: Golden Whistler 21 May 2021

I reckon I hear this bird calling more often than any other in Mallacoota. The breeding season song is not their only call, and they seem to call all year. They have a range of single whistles that they repeat monotonously “sweep! Sweep!”, and a bunch of variations of the tchee-tchee-tchee-tuwhit! Most of the songs finish with an up note, not quite a whipcrack, but almost.

Adult male Golden Whistler East Gippsland Rob Clay — Adult male Golden Whistler Marlo by Rob Clay

Great videos including the calls, by Michael Barnett & Gregory Storer:
https://youtu.be/e43x7h3FQk0
https://www.facebook.com/553710148/videos/10156634481220149/

and here’s another great one by Darilyn & Les Goldsmith: https://www.facebook.com/1525053898/videos/10219481233851232/

Like most of our whistlers, they have a tendency to stop on a branch for longer than most birds. They fly in, prop and stay quite still, then dart out to grab a caterpillar. This habit makes them easier to see and identify than the fast-moving honeyeaters and thornbills that share the habitat with them.

Male Golden Whistler Mallacoota Michael Barnett & Gregory Storer — Male Golden Whistler Mallacoota by Michael Barnett & Gregory Storer

The male is distinctive, brilliant. But he can be frustratingly well-hidden in thick Blackwoods or Boobiallas at times. When you hear a big whistling song coming from the same place, for ages, mid-high in a small tree, but can’t see the bird no matter how you try, think “whistler”. He’s there, you just need a different angle.

Male Golden Whistler East Gippsland Rob Clay — Male Golden Whistler Marlo by Rob Clay

The females and young birds behave the same as the males, but are harder to see as they are brown-grey.

Immature female Golden Whistler by James Cornelius

Adult females over 2 years old have a black bill, mostly grey wings with sometimes a little edging of yellow-olive. They are greyish brown everywhere else, paler on the throat and belly and under the tail. They have a tiny patch of yellow on the vent (the underside of the rump) but sometimes its so tiny that you can’t see it.

Adult female Golden Whistler East Gippsland Echidna Walkabout — Adult female Golden Whistler – note black bill – East Gippsland by Janine Duffy

Immature female Golden Whistler ssp youngi by Ros King — Immature female Golden Whistler by Ros King

I think the best way to identify them from other brownish-grey birds is that they have no distinctive features whatsoever! Its more the combination of shape, size, colour, bill that helps. Jacky Winter has white outer tail feathers, very obvious when they fly, Brown Gerygone has a white eyebrow, Grey Shrike-thrush has a brown saddle.

Young Golden Whistlers start out very orange-rufous, but only for a few days after leaving the nest. Immature birds look like females but have a pale brownish bill, and rich rufous on the wings.

immature Golden Whistler Sarsfield John Hutchison — Immature Golden Whistler – note the rufous wings and partly pale bill – East Gippsland by John Hutchison

immature olden Whistler Marlo by Rob Clay — Very young juvenile/immature Golden Whistler – note the rufous feathers around the head and pale bill – Marlo by Rob Clay

LISTEN TO THE CALLS: https://wildambience.com/wildlife-sounds/australian-golden-whistler/
Scroll through to see lots of great pics here: https://ebird.org/species/golwhi1?siteLanguage=en_AU

Adult male Golden Whistler at Mallacoota Edna June Brady — Adult male Golden Whistler at Mallacoota, resting after persistent attacks at the window! By Edna June Brady

Details: Golden Whistler Pachycephala pectoralis youngi

Location: Eastern Australia from the Nullabor SA through VIC, NSW TAS and south-eastern and north coastal QLD. Our subspecies youngi most of Vic and NSW.

Conservation status/learn more: https://www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/golden-whistler

Thanks to Michael Barnett & Gregory Storer, Rob Clay, John Hutchison and Martin Butterfield for your wonderful pics and information.

Golden Whistler male Mallacoota Martin Butterfield — Male Golden Whistler Mallacoota by Martin Butterfield

Mallacoota Birds: Eastern Spinebill

Eastern Spinebill Sarsfield John Hutchison

Bird of the Week: Eastern Spinebill 7 May 2021

This small, active honeyeater can be hard to see and harder to photograph. The distinctive call is usually the first indication of their presence, for me.

immature Eastern Spinebill Gary & Judy Smith — Immature Eastern Spinebill by Gary & Judy Smith

I always think of a squeaky bike wheel when I hear the call – a bike starting slowly then speeding up quickly, and repeating. Listen: https://www.xeno-canto.org/567413

Mallacoota people see them in their gardens all year round I suspect – Wendy G saw one just this morning. They seem to be present around Mallacoota all year, although there may be more of them in winter – high country birds tend to move towards the coast.

juvenile Eastern Spinebill Sarsfield John Hutchison — Juvenile Eastern Spinebill East Gippsland by John Hutchison

They eat nectar from flowers, and their very long thin curved beak is particularly suited to tubular flowers. They have a very long tongue too!

Eastern Spinebill tongue out John Hutchison — adult male Eastern Spinebill showing long tongue, Sarsfield by John Hutchison

John Hutchison has noted that they love the Kangaroo Paw in his garden. I have delighted in watching them feed from Common Heath Epacris impressa, just centimetres above the ground.

Like most honeyeaters, they don’t just eat nectar – they take insects and spiders too.

Eastern Spinebill Mallacoota Caroline Jones — adult male Eastern Spinebill Mallacoota by Caroline Jones

Adult males have an all-black head. Adult females have a grey crown. Juveniles are brown on top and buff underneath.

female Eastern Spinebill Mallacoota Michael Barnett — Adult female Eastern Spinebill Mallacoota by Michael Barnett

They are one of our smallest honeyeaters, only just a little bigger than the Scarlet Honeyeater. But they are quite long-lived – one study recorded a bird for 13 years!

Some lovely information here: https://connectingcountry.org.au/bird-of-the-month-eastern-spinebill/

Eastern Spinebill White-naped Honeyeater grass-tree Echidna Walkabout — Eastern Spinebill with White-naped Honeyeater at Grass-tree flower, Cape Conran East Gippsland by Martin Maderthaner

LISTEN TO THE CALLS & Scroll through to see lots of great pics here: https://ebird.org/species/easspi1?siteLanguage=en_AU

Details: Eastern Spinebill Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris tenuirostris

Location: coastal eastern Australia, from north of Adelaide, SA through VIC, TAS, NSW QLD. Four subspecies – ours is tenuirostris

Conservation status/learn more: https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/eastern-spinebill

Thanks to Gary & Judy Smith, John Hutchison, Caroline Jones, Martin Maderthaner and Michael Barnett for your wonderful pics and information.

Eastern Spinebill Mallacoota Echidna Walkabout — adult male Eastern Spinebill Bucklands Jetty, Mallacoota by Janine Duffy

Mallacoota Birds: Rufous Fantail

Rufous Fantail Cabbage Tree Palms Rob Clay

Bird of the Week: Rufous Fantail 23 April 2021

What I find most amazing about these birds is the fact that they migrate. It’s not unusual – many of our small birds undertake a regular migration, including Silvereyes, Flame Robins, Black-faced Monarchs, Yellow-faced and Scarlet Honeyeaters and even the Grey Fantail.

But if you asked most Australians “do our birds migrate?” Most would say no, or just look confused.

Why? Partly because we’ve grown up reading story books from Europe and North America, where, it seems, all the birds migrate south for winter, in massive flocks. Northern areas are left with no birds at all over winter. (In fact some birds – ducks, gulls, crows, magpies and even little bullfinches, chickadees and kinglets – can be seen in winter even in far northern places like Tromso, Norway and Juneau, Alaska. But overall, the numbers of birds is vastly reduced in winter. )

Rufous Fantails East Gippsland Rob Clay — Rufous Fantails at Cabbage Tree Palms by Rob Clay

In Australia the migrations are less noticeable, more birds remain over our mild winter, and the migration paths differ. Some migrate from south to north along the coastal ranges (Rufous Fantail, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Scarlet Honeyeater, Leaden Flycatcher, Black-faced Monarch). Others migrate from coast to inland (Grey Fantail SE birds). Some migrate from mountains to lowlands (Flame Robin). Silvereyes and Striated Pardalotes cross Bass Strait from Tas to Vic.

I’ve never seen Rufous Fantails migrating. I’ve just noticed that they are hard to find (almost impossible) in East Gippsland in winter. See Martin’s charts below:

Graph: Rufous Grey Fantail sightings Mallacoota by year, by Martin Butterfield — Rufous and Grey Fantail sightings in Mallacoota by month, by Martin Butterfield

Rufous Grey Fantail Penelope Lind — Rufous Fantail with Grey Fantail by Penelope Lind

Chart: Rufous Fantail sightings Mallacoota by year, by Martin Butterfield — Rufous Fantail sightings in Mallacoota by year, by Martin Butterfield from eBird

They are active little birds, twisting, leaping, fanning their tails constantly. The rich orange colour of their lower back/upper tail catches your eye like a struck match in a dark room.

They are difficult birds to photograph!

Rufous Fantail Marlo Rob Clay — Rufous Fantail Marlo by Rob Clay

Photography tip from Rob Clay:

“The challenge stems from the fact that they are in thick vegetation areas with low light, meaning you have to use a slow shutter speed, but they never stop moving, so slow shutter speed often means blurry photos! The wildlife photographer’s constant challenge on fast-moving animals in low light conditions: getting sharp images with acceptable ISO.”

Males and females look the same, except that females are slightly smaller.

Rufous Fantail Fairy Dell, Bruthen Jack Winterbottom — Rufous Fantail Fairy Dell, Bruthen by Jack Winterbottom

Juveniles have a slightly browner plumage than adults, and their legs are paler.

Our subspecies, rufifrons has pale tips to the tail feathers, brownish-grey under the eye and on the lores (in front of the eye). But in some it is quite a dark brownish-grey, almost black. The northern subspecies intermedia apparently has black under the eye and on the lores. I don’t really know whether you could tell the two apart in all cases.

There is a closely related species in Australia in NT Top End: the Arafura Fantail. It has less orange on the tail, less black on the breast and bigger white tips to the tail feathers.

i have not been able to find a lot of research about Rufous Fantail migrations. But I did come across this interesting paper about speciation and diversification in 3 of the Solomon islands subspecies. https://scholarship.miami.edu/discovery/fulldisplay/alma991031447370702976/01UOML_INST:ResearchRepository

LISTEN TO THE CALLS & Scroll through to see lots of great pics here: https://ebird.org/species/ruffan1

Details: Rufous Fantail Rhipidura rufifrons rufifrons

Location: eastern Australia, from VIC, through NSW and QLD to New Guinea, The Solomon Islands, North Maluku (Banda Archipelago), Guam and North Mariana Islands.

Conservation status/learn more: https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/rufous-fantail

Thanks to Rob Clay, Penelope Lind, Jack Winterbottom and Martin Butterfield for your wonderful pics and information.

Mallacoota Birds: Crimson Rosella

Bird of the Week: Crimson Rosella 16 April 2021

Rosellas as a group have penetrated Aussie life in an interesting way. I have often been asked by non-birdy Aussies “is that a rosella?” Usually the bird is any parrot – a lorikeet, or a Red-rumped Parrot. Funny that the word rosella is better known.

Crimson Rosella East Gippsland Echidna Walkabout — Crimson Rosella East Gippsland by Martin Maderthaner

The name has a great story.

From Australian Bird Names co-author Ian Fraser:

“My favourite derivation in Australia is probably ‘rosella’, which is probably familiar to many readers, but worthy of retelling anyway. The brightly coloured parrots around Parramatta, then known as Rose Hill, became Rose Hill Parrots, then Rose Hillers, which in time was elided to roselle or rosella… I first thought this one a tall story, but the steps are all recorded. Until the 1920s the Eastern Rosella was just Rosella, and the only one – other rosellas were just ‘parrots’.” https://blog.publish.csiro.au/a-rosella-by-any-other-name/

Crimson Rosella East Gippsland Rob Clay — Crimson Rosella Marlo East Gippsland by Rob Clay

From a piece on Birding-Aus by Chris Daniels, Associate Professor in Environmental Biology at the University of Adelaide:

“However, there is another possibility. In old shooting lists of 1830, these
parrots were called rosetta* parrots. The word rosella first appeared in the
diaries of John Gilbert, who was one of Gould’s collectors. It may have been
a simple slip of the pen – from rosetta to rosella. Note: Rosetta is apparently the Italian pet form of Rosa.

I’ve also heard them referred to as Red Lowry, Mountain Lowry or just Lowry, and Wikipedia also lists Pennant’s Parakeet, Campbell Parakeet and Blue Mountain Parrot as common names.

Crimson Rosella Mallacoota Caroline Jones — Crimson Rosella Mallacoota by Caroline Jones

They are resident at Mallacoota all year round, though Martin’s graph below shows much higher abundance (number of birds) seen in winter months. Sadly, like most of our birds, the annual numbers are falling.

abundance of Crimson Rosellas at Mallacoota by month, Martin Butterfield — abundance of Crimson Rosellas at Mallacoota by Martin Butterfield

sightings of Crimson Rosellas Mallacoota by month Martin Butterfield — sightings of Crimson Rosellas at Mallacoota by Martin Butterfield

Crimson Rosella sightings at Mallacoota by year Martin Butterfield — Crimson Rosella sightings at Mallacoota by year by Martin Butterfield

Though well-known to bird lovers, a lot of confusion exists about adults, juveniles, males and females.

The green ones are juveniles and immatures.

The red ones are adult males and females. You can tell them apart, but it’s only slight.

Full adult males: red all over, except for blue cheek, wings and tail. Back feathers with black centres.

Crimson Rosella Marlo Rob Clay — Crimson Rosella Marlo East Gippsland by Rob Clay

Crimson Rosella male, East Gippsland Janine Duffy Echidna Walkabout — Crimson Rosella male I think, East Gippsland by Janine Duffy

Full adult females: same as adult male except upper central tail feathers have a greenish touch, and some of the back feathers retain green edges.

Juveniles (both sexes): green all over except for blue cheek and wings, teal face, red forehead, bib, undertail. Tail can look brownish-green.

juvenile Crimson Rosella Marlo Rob Clay — Juvenile Crimson Rosella Marlo East Gippsland by Rob Clay

Crimson Rosella juvenile John Alan — Crimson Rosella juvenile by John Alan

Immatures (both sexes): start acquiring red adult feathers on the face, crown and chest first.

Crimson Rosella immature East Gippsland Rob Clay — Immature Crimson Rosella Marlo East Gippsland by Rob Clay

Immature Crimson Rosella Marlo Rob Clay — Immature Crimson Rosella Marlo East Gippsland by Rob Clay

The last picture is a challenge. What is this bird? Seen on Raymond Island.

Eastern Crimson Rosella hybrid, Raymond Island by Brett Howell Echidna Walkabout — mystery bird, Raymond Island by Brett Howell

LISTEN TO THE CALLS & Scroll through to see lots of great pics here: https://ebird.org/species/criros2

Details: Crimson Rosella Platycercus elegans elegans

Location: eastern Australia, mostly VIC, NSW but a little bit of southeastQLD, southeast SA and outlying populations in north QLD. Our subspecies elegans has the widest distribution from se QLD to just west of SA/VIC border.

Conservation status/learn more: https://www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/crimson-rosella

Thanks to Rob Clay, Caroline Jones, John Alan, Martin Maderthaner, Brett Howell and Martin Butterfield for your wonderful pics and information.

Mallacoota Birds: Eastern Curlew

Eastern Curlew Mallacoota Tim Van Leeuwen

Bird of the Week: Eastern Curlew 9 April 2021

On almost any day from September to March at the Mallacoota mouth you can see an Eastern Curlew – partly because they are big, with a distinctive, extremely-long bill; partly because it is a regular feeding spot for this long-distance migrant.

Eastern Curlew Marlo East Gippsland Rob Clay — Eastern Curlew Marlo through digiscope photo, East Gippsland by Rob Clay

Eastern Curlew Gippsland Lakes John Hutchison — Eastern Curlew Gippsland Lakes by John Hutchison

But for how long can I say this? I have never seen an Eastern Curlew at the Western Treatment Plant, one of Australia’s top shorebird sites, despite visiting 30+ times from 2017 – 2019. Yet they were frequently there until the 1990’s. (There was one in March 2021, but I was busy elsewhere.)

They are a pretty rare sight on the Gippsland Lakes as well – read John Hutchison’s informative blog about two seen in January 2019: http://avithera.blogspot.com/2019/01/eastern-curlew.html

One day in future you will see the last Eastern Curlew at Mallacoota. No-one knows when, but the figures are clear and the trend is unrelenting. Here’s a graph of Eastern Curlew sightings at Mallacoota over time, put together by Martin Butterfield. Though there was a little increase in 2020 it is unlikely that it will continue to improve.

Eastern Curlew sightings by year Mallacoota graph by Martin Butterfield — Eastern Curlew sightings by year at Mallacoota by Martin Butterfield

Eastern Curlew sightings by month Mallacoota graph Martin Butterfield — Eastern Curlew sightings by month at Mallacoota by Martin Butterfield

So, next time you can, go out and look across the low water from Captain Stevensons Point, or walk down the steps at Bastion Point. If you see this great bird, smile. She is Critically Endangered, and she has come a long way.

Eastern Curlews live most of their lives in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. Only a few weeks a year are spent at their breeding site in the Russian Arctic. Every year they fly there, and back, to breed, using the fuel provided by shellfish from our wetlands and mudflats. They fly so fast and hard they don’t have time for mistakes, or exploring. So if a feeding site changes, they die.

Eastern Curlew feeding Gary & Judy Smith — Eastern Curlew feeding deep by Gary & Judy Smith

For this bird, feeding sites have been changing too often. Seawalls and reclamation in South Korea and China have destroyed entire inlets. Coastal ‘developments’ in Australia have – and continue to – destroy feeding habitat. Queensland is right now pushing ahead with an insane coastal destruction at Toondah Harbour, Moreton Bay. If it happens, the Eastern Curlews that live or stopover there are goners. Maybe they are ‘our’ Mallacoota mouth curlews – maybe the day that Toondah goes ahead will be the last time we see them.

Help stop this tragedy. Sign this petition https://www.actforbirds.org/toondah or donate. https://www.birdlife.org.au/media/threatened-birds-first-migration-from-toondah-harbour/

And don’t think: “Oh, those terrible Queenslanders. Oh those terrible Chinese.” We’re doing it too, here in Victoria. Shocking loss of intertidal mudflat along the Victorian coast. Check out this amazing site: https://www.intertidal.app/ Search for Melbourne, and then look at all the blue & grey areas on the map – all lost habitat, gone forever.

To know them, look for a huge brown-grey bird, as big as a Pacific Gull or a Great Egret, though not as tall. Bigger than the Australian Pied Oystercatcher. Look for an extremely long downcurved bill. The bill is almost as long as their body.

Eastern Curlew Jack Winterbottom — Eastern Curlews by Jack Winterbottom

Eastern Curlew flight Jack Winterbottom — Eastern Curlews in flight by Jack Winterbottom

There’s not much else you could confuse them with. The most similar, the Whimbrel, is rare at Mallacoota, about half the size and with a shorter bill. They have a distinctive black cap, and when they fly their feet don’t project out past their tail like the Eastern Curlew’s do. Whimbrels also have a white triangle on their back, visible in flight.

Eastern Curlew, Whimbrel, godwits, knots Darwin Janine Duffy Echidna Walkabout — Eastern Curlew, Whimbrels, godwits & Great Knots, Darwin by Janine Duffy. Terrible photo, but the greater size and longer bill of curlew is apparent

Eastern Curlew, Whimbrel in flight Darwin Janine Duffy Echidna Walkabout — Eastern Curlews in flight with Whimbrels, Darwin by Janine Duffy. Even in this terrible photo the trailing feet can be seen

There’s a wonderful book, written by Melbourne author Harry Saddler: The Eastern Curlew. Much of the information above is taken from the book. https://affirmpress.com.au/publishing/the-eastern-curlew/

They are also known as the Far Eastern Curlew. I think the two names are both correct.

LISTEN TO THE CALLS & Scroll through to see lots of great pics here: https://ebird.org/species/faecur?siteLanguage=en_AU

Details: Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis

Location: Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, SE Asia, China, Japan, Korea & eastern Russia.

Conservation status/learn more: Federally listed as Critically Endangered
https://www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/eastern-curlew

Thanks to Rob Clay, Tim Van Leeuwen, Jack Winterbottom, John Hutchison, and Gary & Judy Smith for your wonderful pics and information.