Besides having over 5000 volunteers and a host of project officers who are a critical part of the TBN team, the network is co-ordinated by one paid staff member - Janelle Thomas. Janelle worked for six months on Birds Australia's Beach-nesting Birds project, coordinating and conducting monitoring of nesting Hooded Plovers around the Victorian coastline, and prior to this she was assisting the Important Bird Area and Orange-bellied Parrot projects.  Prior to arriving at Birds Australia, Janelle worked on a number of wildlife management projects including koala management on Kangaroo Island, platypus research in Victorian waterways, and various vegetation management projects.

Additionally, office volunteer Mary Satchell assists with the operation of the network. Mary volunteers for TBN one day a week and manages the volunteer database, a big job by all accounts, as well as assisting with administration and organisational tasks. Mary has a Masters Degree in Environmental Science and is a great asset to the project. A former long-term TBN volunteer, Ian Hance has recently completed a literature and past records review of the Australian Painted Snipe, with all historic sightings now in a database at TBN. Ian has left the TBN nest to pursue his artwork and bird conservation activities in the Northern Territory.

What does TBN do?

• Distribution of the biannual Volunteer newsletter, which outlines projects which require assistance of volunteers. Regular features include:

1. Atlas related articles, including an outline of exciting new features of the Birdata website
2. Summaries of Birds Australia threatened bird projects which are seeking volunteer assistance
3. Recovery roundup - reports on previous activities of each project, and announcements of upcoming events and volunteer activities
4. Species in the spotlight - this section features species which could be the subject of projects
5. Noticeboard - announcements of new publications, conferences and funding opportunities

• Assistance with the planning and operation of field projects, such as Grey-crowned Babbler surveys

• Providing recovery teams with lists of potential volunteers for their projects

• Publishing articles in scientific journals, magazines and popular press on the various aspects of threatened bird conservation

• Presenting talks, displays and seminars to a range of interest groups

• Coordinating volunteer training workshops for selected threatened bird species

• Representing Birds Australia on a number of threatened bird recovery teams, such as the Regent Honeyeater

• Assisting with information for the State of Australia's Birds report, an annual Birds Australia publication

If you think This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it can help your project or group through any of these avenues, please get in touch with us.

Publications

Along with various articles in magazines and the popular press, TBN is also responsible for the production of a number of newsletters and scientific journal articles over the years. Some of these include:

Painted Snippets - Newsletter of the Australian Painted Snipe project Volume 3. Thomas (2009). Birds Australia, Carlton.

Painted Snippets - Newsletter of the Australian Painted Snipe project Volume 2. Ingwersen (2006). Birds Australia, Hawthorn East.

The breeding bottleneck: breeding habitat and population decline in the Australian Painted Snipe. Rogers, Hance, Paton, Tzaros, Griffioen, Herring, Jaensch, Oring, Silcocks and Weston (2005). Status and conservation of shorebirds in the east asian-australasian flyway.

Painted Snippets - Newsletter of the Australian Painted Snipe project Volume 1. Tzaros (2002). Birds Australia, Hawthorn East.

Volunteers in bird conservation: Insights from the Australian Threatened Bird Network. Weston, Fendley, Jewell, Satchell and Tzaros (2003). Ecological Management and Restoration 4(3), 205-211.

A survey of contributors to an Australian bird atlassing project: demography, skills and motivation. Weston, Silcocks, Tzaros and Ingwersen (2006). Australian Journal on Volunteering 11(2), 51-58.