Birds Australia Latest News

Owl ... the urban edge

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 22:30:49 GMT

Owls have always fascinated people, and accordingly they have long featured in art, weaving themselves into legend and culture on virtually every continent. Continuing this tradition, Steps Gallery is hosting an exhibition of sculpture, printmaking and works on paper which all focus on these mysterious denizens of the night.

Daylesford Sculptor Dave Dando has joined forces with Kathryn Gribbin and Lisa Sewards, both printmakers from Melbourne, to deliver an outstanding exhibition that explores these nocturnal predators who live in the shadows at the interface of our rural and urban landscapes.

Using towering metal and copper sculptures, luminous light-boxes which exude light and cast shadows, and beautiful works on paper that include fusions of photographs, drawings and printmaking, the works all highlight the plight of Australia’s owls and the conservation work being conducted by Birds Australia.

Owls are “flagship” species which help us to understand the conservation needs for all sorts of forest-dwelling species. 10% of sales of the artworks will be donated to Birds Australia and Birds in Backyards to assist with ongoing conservation work to make a difference for Australia’s birds.

Join the artists on opening day, Saturday 21 January, between 3–5 pm

River plan fails birds

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 05:49:41 GMT

The Murray–Darling Basin supports around 98 species of waterbirds, including many migratory shorebirds. It is one of the most important breeding areas for waterbirds in Australia. However, since 1983, waterbird abundance in the basin has declined by 80%.

Upon reading the draft Basin Plan released today, Birds Australia’s conservation manager, Samantha Vine, fears this precipitous decline will continue.

“Birds Australia is extremely concerned that the proposed plan will do little to address critical water shortages, and implement the reforms necessary to ensure the survival of millions of birds that rely on the river system”, said Samantha.

“Firstly, by the time the reductions outlined by the Plan are enforced in 2019, it is likely to be too late for many of the 35 bird species in the basin already threatened with extinction”.

Birds Australia's own research suggests that the critically endangered Orange Bellied Parrot’s habitat has been lost in coastal wetlands in South Australia because of changed hydrological regimes. A direct result of over extraction, hypersaline conditions have killed off large areas of saltmarsh that the Orange-bellied Parrot relies on as a food source.

Similarly, in the middle reaches of the Murray, the persistence of two nationally threatened parrots, the Superb and Regent Parrot, is inextricably

Virulent Disease Waiting in the Wings

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:18:16 GMT

The virulent paramyxovirus has been found in domestic racing and hobby pigeons at a number of properties around Melbourne, and recently it has also been detected in wild Rock Doves.

While the fate of domestic pigeons is not usually in the sphere of Birds Australia, it is essential that we monitor the situation, because, although confined to in pigeons at this stage, this disease could potentially be transmitted to other wild birds that come into contact with infected pigeons.

The Victorian Department of Primary Industries has requested that people be on the lookout for any signs of disease that are unusual or clusters of deaths in wild birds. If you have or see pigeons displaying symptoms of the virus (see below), or numerous dead pigeons, immediately phone the Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline on 1800 675 888. This will put you in contact with your state or territory department of agriculture. It is critical that outbreaks are reported to prevent further spread of the virus, and to assist in eradication efforts. There are no penalties for reporting.

What are the symptoms

Read more...

Slow response heightens emergency

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:14:30 GMT

What do crabs and birds have in common? The answer is that newly discovered populations of either are not necessarily guaranteed protection by the Federal Government.

This dire situation became apparent recently when several new species of crabs and other crustaceans were discovered on Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula. The newly discovered species could have been afforded protection under the powerful Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act if the Government had followed its own guidelines, but instead they chose inaction, leaving the fate of the as-yet-undescribed crustaceans in the hands of the miners who propose to extract bauxite from the site.

Why the fuss? This situation could easily be applied to populations of birds as well.

In the recent review of the EPBC Act, one of the few recommendations accepted by the Government was to provide emergency protection to newly discovered species. It was one of the few bright spots in what was an otherwise lacklustre response to the review. Birds Australia supported all of the review’s recommendations, which addressed the major gaps that exist in the EPBC Act.

However, despite accepting this particular reform, the Government has baulked at efforts to fast-track its progress through
Read more...

Clive Minton wins prestigious Eisenmann Medal

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:05:23 GMT

Birds Australia is pleased to congratulate Clive Minton on being awarded the 2012 Eisenmann Medal by the Linnean Society of New York.

The Eisenmann Medal is awarded to people not only for their great achievements in ornithology, but to those who have also provided outstanding guidance, assistance and encouragement in working with volunteers, amateurs or students as a personal mission (not as part of their employment) to interest them in ornithology.

Clive’s countless hours of work with both the Victorian and Australasian Wader Studies Groups for so many years on so many different levels has made him an obvious and deserving candidate for this prestigious award.

“I'm particularly pleased that this award relates to the activities of volunteers/amateurs and especially in organising and involving them in ornithological fieldwork. This is the way I have operated throughout my life and it's only through the enormous effort and dedicated support of huge numbers of people that I've been able to achieve so much over the years,” said Clive.

“The VWSG and the AWSG (especially the north-west Australia expeditions) are
Read more...

New Action Plan for Australian Birds

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:41:45 GMT

Birds Australia, Charles Darwin University and CSIRO Publishing today launched The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010. The Action Plan is the third in a series that have been produced at the start of each decade. It analyses the status of all the species and subspecies of Australia's birds to determine their risk of extinction.

“At one level this book describes a tragedy,” said Dr Graeme Hamilton, CEO of Birds Australia, “That in the 200 short years since Europeans arrived in Australia we have so diminished our natural capital that 234 Australian birds are either Extinct, threatened with extinction or Near Threatened, is a national disgrace”.

But this is not a book of lost causes. It is a call for action to keep the extraordinary biodiversity we have inherited and pass the legacy to our children. Every one of Australia's threatened birds can be saved.

“We do not need to lose any more Australian birds,” said Barry Baker, President of Birds Australia. “This book describes the populations of species at greatest risk and outlines ways we can turn them around.”

There is much reason to hope. We would have lost far more had there not been enormous effort over the last few decades. After
Read more...

National Protection for National Parks

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:16:08 GMT
In recent months, many Australia’s National Parks seem to have been under siege, with proposals to allow hunting in some, while others had cattle released into their pristine habitats under the guise of ‘scientific research’. It is good news, then, that the Federal Environment Minister, the Hon. Tony Burke MP, has announced a plan to give greater protection to areas with high biodiversity, such as Australia’s National Parks, as Matters of National Environmental Significance.

The proposed regulation would mean that any new proposals to introduce grazing, logging, mining or inappropriate clearing would ‘trigger’ the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act), the Commonwealth’s primary piece of environmental legislation.

“We applaud this as a great first step, and we hope it will be part of a broader package of reforms” said Samantha Vine, Birds Australia Conservation Manager and convener of a conservation working group pushing for reform of the EPBC Act. “Recognising ecosystems of national importance, such as the National Reserve System, as Matters of National Environmental Significance is just one of the many recommendations outlined by Dr Hawke in his independent review of the reforms necessary to protect our natural environment,” she said.

It
Read more...

New Biodiversity fund announced

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:48:42 GMT
Birds Australia welcomes news of a New Biodiversity Fund of almost $1 billion announced recently, as part of the Clean Energy Future Package.

The Government has announced that it will provide funding of $946 million over the first six years for landholders to undertake projects that establish, restore, protect or manage biodiverse carbon stores.The Fund, which Birds Australia, along with a number of key NGOs, have been advocating, was reported to have made it into the plan with support from the Greens and Independent Tony Windsor.

The Fund will support restoration and management of biodiverse carbon stores including:

reforestation and revegetation in areas of high conservation value including wildlife corridors, rivers, streams and wetlands

management and protection of biodiverse ecosystems, including publicly owned native forests and land under conservation covenants or subject to land clearing restrictions

action to prevent the spread of invasive species across connected landscapes.

Guidelines which will outline the criteria for accessing support from the Fund will soon be developed.
The Biodiversity Fund will be managed by the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. An independent Land Sector Carbon and Biodiversity Advisory Board will be established to provide advice to Government on implementation,
Read more...

The egg has landed

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 02:28:34 GMT
Having recovered from the Great Nest Disaster of 3 February 2011, when the branch supporting the massive nest of the resident White-bellied Sea-Eagles at Birds Australia’s Discovery Centre in Sydney Olympic Park collapsed, the eagles are now back on track to raise a new generation of eaglets.

By Easter the Sea-Eagles had started to build a new nest in the same tree, and ten weeks later the female seemed ready to lay an egg, but there were a few false alarms along the way. In previous years, the eggs had already been laid by mid- to late June — perhaps things had been delayed by having to build a new nest from scratch.

On 4 July, interest was high at the Discovery Centre, with all hands on deck watching EagleCam as the female settled in the nest at 5:15 pm. Over the next 20 minutes she stood up a few times, revealing an empty nest. Then, when she stood up at 5:40 pm, there it was — a large, white egg!

Read more...

Longline fisheries drive albatross declines

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:14:13 GMT

Seabirds continue to be killed in vast numbers as fisheries managers fail to stem the tide.

A new global estimate of the impact of longline fisheries on seabirds reveals that, despite efforts to reduce seabird deaths, upwards of 300,000 birds are still being killed every year.

Publication of the study, in the science journal Endangered Species Research, coincided with World Oceans Day (8 June, www.worldoceansday.org) and is a powerful reminder of how far we still need to go to ensure ecologically responsible fishing.

Since the 1980s, scientists have linked global declines of albatrosses and other seabirds with ‘incidental catch’ in longline fisheries. Adult and juvenile birds become snared on hooks attached to the lines, which can be over a hundred kilometres long, and are dragged underwater to a premature death.

Dr Orea Anderson, policy officer for the Global Seabird Programme and lead author of this study, said: “It is little wonder that so many of the affected seabird species are threatened with extinction their slow rate of reproduction is simply incapable
Read more...

Newhaven Sanctuary Annual Bird Survey

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 01:08:49 GMT
“These data sheets are not big enough!” cried a desperate volunteer whose data sheet was overflowing with observations. It was a constant complaint during the 2011 Newhaven bird survey.

Newhaven Sanctuary, like much of arid Australia, has been experiencing above-average rainfall lately, and the property is alive with birds.

Eleven dedicated volunteers spent two weeks during March carrying out bird surveys for the fifth consecutive year. Each year, the 70 2-hectare permanent-monitoring sites are surveyed by a pair of well-trained eyes — in fact, each site is surveyed three times by three different pairs of well-trained eyes.

The bird-survey data provides some of the information that Australian Wildlife Conservancy requires to assess the effectiveness of their on-ground land management, which in turn influences management decisions. The bird-survey data are used to report on chosen indicators of biodiversity, conservation and ecological processes. For example, the abundance and species richness
Read more...

Big birds lose out in a crowded world

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 02:33:21 GMT

One of the world’s largest species of bird is on the brink of extinction according to the 2011 IUCN Red ListTM for birds, just released by BirdLife International.

Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis nigriceps has been uplisted to Critically Endangered, the highest level of threat. Hunting, disturbance, habitat loss and fragmentation have all conspired to reduce this magnificent species to perhaps as few as 250 individuals.

Permission: Released under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Standing a metre in height and weighing in at nearly 15 kg, Great Indian Bustard was once widespread across the grasslands of India and Pakistan but is now restricted to small and isolated fragments of remaining habitat.

“In an ever more crowded world, species that need lots of space, such as the Great Indian Bustard, are losing out. However, we are the ones who lose in the long run, as the services that nature provides us start to disappear”, said Dr Leon Bennun, BirdLife’s Director of Science and Policy.

This year’s update brings the total number of threatened bird species to 1,253, an alarming 13%
Read more...

Bird Poisoning Alert

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 02:05:12 GMT

Birds Australia and BOCA are asking all birders to look out for suspicious bird deaths in areas that are experiencing mouse plagues.

This follows a report from the NSW Riverina of large numbers of dead birds (including Galahs, Magpies, Falcons, Kestrels and Barn Owls) in an area where landholders are using poisoned grain to control mice.

In agricultural areas, landholders are permitted to use registered baits which contain zinc phosphide or bromadiolone. Bromadioline, which is an anticoagulant, carries a risk of secondary poisoning of birds. Bromadioline may affect granivorous birds that eat poisoned grain or carnivorous birds (such as raptors) that eat mice that have fed on poisoned grain. There are tight restrictions on how and where landholders may use Bromadioline baits in order to minimize the risks to non-target species such as birds.

Unfortunately some landholders may be making their own baits using chemicals that are even more toxic to birds.

If you see any suspicious bird deaths, such as a group of dead birds lying close together, please report them to the relevant government authorities:

Victoria: Department of Sustainability and Environment   136 186

NSW: Department of Primary Industries   1800 808 095

SA: Department of Primary Industries and Resources   08 8463 3000

QLD:
Read more...

Murky future for Murray-Darling Basin

Fri, 27 May 2011 04:47:12 GMT

The future of the Murray–Darling Basin has been the subject of much debate in recent years, and its future seems a little murkier now with news that the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists has ceased its involvement in the Murray–Darling Basin Authority’s (MDBA) planning process.

During the nation’s worst recorded drought, which ended last year, various water users were competing for the Murray–Darling’s water, resulting in the environment coming last. As a consequence of excessive extraction of water from the river system, the mouth of the Murray River was blocked by sediment for years because of insufficient flows, hypersalinity destroyed fisheries and shorebird habitat in the Coorong, forests of River Red Gums and Black Box (home to numerous threatened species) dried out and died, and the process of terrestrialisation destroyed many aquatic habitats that require inundation to survive.

In the wake of the drought, these ecological catastrophes were supposed to be overcome by improved planning, including the provision of sufficient water for effective environmental flows, to ensure that this would never happen again.

Thus the environmental future for the Murray–Darling
Read more...

Rats in the ranks

Thu, 26 May 2011 02:18:24 GMT

Seabirds and rodents on Australia’s outlying islands

Rabbits and rodents have wreaked havoc on seabird populations on Macquarie Island, with rabbit grazing destroying albatross habitat and rodents preying on petrel chicks in their nests. Birds Australia has identified Macquarie Island as an Important Bird Area for four species of penguins, four species of albatrosses, Northern and Southern Giant-Petrels, White-headed Petrel and Brown Skua. Measures to reduce the number of introduced mammals on the island are crucial for seabird conservation.

Birds Australia has just received an update on the progress of an ambitious aerial baiting program on the island from Macquarie Island Pest Eradication Manager, Keith Springer.

The program began last year, with the aim of eradicating rats, mice and rabbits from Macquarie Island. Unfortunately, bad weather brought a halt to the first phase of the program last July, but operations resumed this May. Hopefully the program will be successful this year.

Read more...

Plastic Not Fantastic

Wed, 18 May 2011 23:26:05 GMT

Waste and Lord Howe Island’s seabirds
Lord Howe Island is one of Australia’s truly spectacular places. The World Heritage-listed island is well known for its abundant wildlife, particularly the 203 bird species recorded there. The Island has been identified by Birds Australia as an Important Bird Area for both endemic birds and seabirds, and has globally significant populations of Providence Petrel, Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Flesh-footed Shearwater, Little Shearwater, Red-tailed Tropicbird, Lord Howe Woodhen and Grey Ternlet.

Yet there’s trouble in paradise. Research reported recently in The Age shows that “staggering” amounts of plastic are being found in Flesh-footed Shearwaters breeding in colonies on Lord Howe Island, their only breeding site in eastern Australia. They are apparently mistaking plastic for food. More than 200 pieces of plastic were found in one bird’s stomach, and 95% of nesting shearwaters had at least some plastic in their digestive systems. The sharp-edged fragments of plastic tear the birds’ internal organs, block their digestion and leak toxic substances into their bodies: mercury levels (toxic to birds at 4 parts per million) were up to 30,000
Read more...

World Migratory Bird Day

Thu, 12 May 2011 01:13:27 GMT
World Migratory Bird Day, 14 May 2011, celebrates the incredible journeys of birds all around the world that fill the skies with the chatter of contact calls and the flickering of wing-beats.

Dr Golo Maurer, Birds Australia Shorebirds 2020 project manager, said “Australia truly has reason to join these celebrations. Australian beaches, mudflats and inland wetlands are home away from home for more than two million shorebirds during the southern summer.”

Now these birds are chasing the sun to the opposite end of the globe where they have a short but intense breeding season. From Russia to Alaska and the Himalayas, shorebirds will soon be looking for mates and once again trying their luck at raising young.

Almost as amazing as the non-stop flights of shorebirds, is the effort more than 1000 volunteers across Australia put in every year to count these birds. With their help Birds Australia’s Shorebirds 2020 program can monitor population developments and identify conservation needs for these species.

Sadly, all is not well for shorebirds. The vast majority of shorebirds visiting Australia come via
Read more...

Vale Pauline Reilly OAM

Mon, 02 May 2011 01:02:31 GMT
Pauline Reilly was a remarkable, energetic woman whose boundless enthusiasm and drive strongly influenced ornithology in Australia for over half a century. We are sad to announce that Pauline passed away over the Easter period.
Pauline’s interest in birds was nurtured by Dr Graham Brown, a former President of the RAOU, when they both lived in the dairying town of Colac, on western Victoria’s volcanic plains. This interest was confirmed in 1956 when she joined the RAOU. As a reflection of her enthusiasm, within 10 years Pauline was elected to the RAOU Council, one of eleven separate administrative offices she held between 1964 and 1994. She was elected President in 1972.

Just the second woman to hold the lofty position of President of the RAOU, she was a reluctant starter. After all, her expertise was in fieldwork, not administration. It took the eminent D.L. Serventy 16 days to convince her to take on the role, while they were doing
Read more...

Regent Honeyeaters are coming back

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:51:46 GMT
Birds Australia’s Woodland Birds for Biodiversity project has been chalking up one success after another since its establishment in 2009. Its most recent is the sighting of a captive-bred Regent Honeyeater which had been released at Chiltern in April last year.

The sighting of this bird, known only as ‘Blue/Mauve’, in Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park in north-eastern Victoria, comes almost exactly a year after it was released into the wild in the same area. The last time Blue/Mauve was seen was in September 2010. Although the release of captive-bred birds is just a small part in the overall strategy for recovery, the survival of Blue/Mauve is vindication of the objectives and methods of the Woodland Birds for Biodiversity project and Regent Honeyeater recovery team. It shows that captive-bred birds are capable of thriving in the wild, giving great hope to those charged with the species’ recovery.

The sighting comes after 44 captive-bred Regent Honeyeaters were released into the Chiltern section of the park last April. Monitoring showed that almost as soon as they were set free many of them began
Read more...

And the winner is ... Beach-nesting Birds. Again!

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 04:25:47 GMT

Birds Australia’s multi-award-winning Beach-nesting Birds project has just added some more silverware to its already bulging trophy cabinet.

One of Birds Australia’s most effective projects, the Beach-nesting Birds team was the winner of the ‘Natural Environment’ category in the Victorian Coastal Awards. In addition, the project was also a finalist in the ‘Education’ category of the awards. Announced at a glittering ceremony, the award, in the form of a commemorative platter, was presented by the Victorian Minister for the Environment to the delighted Project Manager, Dr Grainne Maguire and BNB Community Education Project Officer, Dr Meg Cullen.

Congratulations are due to the hardworking team Grainne, Meg, Chris, Kasun, Tanya, Glenn and Georgie, and the hundreds of volunteers who provided invaluable assistance along the way.

Of course, plaudits like this do not happen by accident — they are the culmination of years of hard work by Birds Australia staff and the many volunteers who have tirelessly toiled away on the beaches as well as in the office, gathering data, spreading the word and, above all, taking decisive action to make the beaches a safer place for the birds which nest there.

As pleasing
Read more...