As those of the birdwatching community would understand, it’s always satisfying to get a clean sweep and sight all of the members of one bird ‘family’. And nothing could be more exotic than covering the length of Queensland to see the four Australian-based ‘Birds of Paradise’ from the family Paradisaeidae. Admittedly, there are 40 Bird of Paradise species in total, the majority of which occur on New Guinea and surrounding islands. But you’ve got to start somewhere!
After chasing down the Paradise Riflebird (Ptiloris paradiseus) in Lamington National Park and then catching sight of the Magnificent Riflebird (Ptiloris magnificus) and Trumpet Manucode (Manucodia keraudrenii) in Cape York last year I couldn’t rest until I had ticked the fourth and final aussie Bird of Paradise off my list.
The Victoria’s Riflebird male (photo by Ian Montgomery birdway.com.au)
The final hurdle was the Victoria’s Riflebird (Ptiloris victoria), known to inhabit the wet tropics region of north QLD. When in Townsville early this year we took the opportunity to head up to the Paluma rainforest. By all accounts the Victoria’s Riflebird is pretty easy to find. Although they have a limited range they are fairly common throughout the year. At the top of Paluma range we ducked into a rainforest walking track not 20m from the road, and within 1 minute – a Victoria’s Riflebird appears. Sometimes it is that easy!
The Victoria’s Riflebird female spotted at Paluma rainforest (photo by J. Neilly)
This bird, named after the queen in 1848 is smaller than the other riflebirds but the male exhibits the same beautiful iridescent plumage and interesting mating displays that make them so speccy to watch. Of course when we pulled our cameras out the not-so-flashy female was the only one that would oblige. This excerpt from the Planet Earth documentary shows some of the New Guinea Birds of Paradise in all their glory. In fact, the elaborate plumage of the males of most species are what gives this family great appeal to ornithologists and collectors/hunters alike.
While I can’t deny feeling a little bit chuffed at seeing all of the Australian Birds of Paradise, the fact that there are 36 other stunningly adorned family members out there does make you want to plan a trip to New Guinea…
An interesting news story caught my eye this week – a group of kids were found playing in a suburban Sydney street with a Red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans). Luckily, a passer by recognised the turtle for what it was, and reported it to NSW DPI.
Having lived in Queensland’s south east for 17 years and providing snake relocation services I’ve heard more than my fair share of supposed ‘taipan’ sightings in properties throughout Brisbane’s western suburbs and Ipswich. Amongst the hundreds of suspected taipans none have ever eventuated in this highly overstated species…until now.
Twelve months ago, BIG readers were asked if the cassowary could weather Yasi’s storm. Before the sun had set the day after the category 5 cyclone belted the Queensland coast, cogs were already turning as the community and State Government banded together to address and manage the impact to the endangered, Wet Tropics population, of the southern cassowary, Casuarius casuarius johnsonii.
How is the 'big black chook' going 12 months on from Cyclone Yasi?
The cassowaries, or ‘big black chooks’ as they’re affectionately known, have been the subject of an extensive supplementary feeding program since the cyclone. Cassowaries from Innisfail to the Cardwell gap have had their fruit served up on a platter… well not so much a platter, big red buckets to be more exact. This is a program that many of the older cassowaries may be familiar with, after Cyclone Larry (another category 5) and Cyclone Winifred (category 3) hit Innisfail in March 2006 and January 1986 respectively.
In the past year, the Cassowary Response Team has distributed over 140 tonne of fruit! This amazing effort would not have been a reality without the dedicated crew of volunteers that have given over 4300 hours of their time, something that makes me proud to be a Queenslander. And while there is still a long road ahead, the forest is showing signs of recovery and the cassowaries are returning to forage on native fruits, evident in the scats the birds leave behind them.
Cassowaries are returning to forage on native fruits, evident in the scats the birds leave behind
While there have been casualties; either due to car strikes, dog attacks, injuries or illness, it still appears to be business as usual for many adult cassowaries. Birds have been seen walking around with two bald patches on either side of their rump. A good indication that the adults had been “getting down to business” *wink-wink* *insert wolf whistle* and chicks were going to follow.
The presence of 'stripeys' indicates the Cassowaries are doing well post Yasi
Late last year everyone was very happy to see little stripeys running behind a number of dads in the cyclone affected footprint.
On a side note, the female cassowary has it all worked out… she is the better looking of the two sexes (a rarity in the avian world) and larger than her male counterpart, weighing up to a whopping 90 kg. And despite living a solitary life, she is a girl who knows how to throw her weight around when she wants to.
The females’ arrangement with her inferior partner goes a little something like this: “I will be prettier than you, eat more food, you will serenade me before we mate, I’ll lay my eggs in the nest you have so meticulously built for me *insert batting eyelashes*, you will sit on the nest for around 60 days to allow the eggs to incubate, then you will run around after our chicks for 12-18months or until I return for some more action…. Deal?”
The resilient Southern Cassowary
Everyone loves a gal who will stare down the face of Australia’s biggest known cyclone, pick herself up, dust herself off and get on with ensuring this prehistoric species persists for generations to come.
A few weeks ago, BIGs specialty bird knowledge services were called upon. A group of serious twitchers were coming to town, with one little bird on top of their list: the Eungella honeyeater (Lichenostomus hindwoodi). We arranged to show the travelling birdos around Eungella NP and surrounds, and hoped that we’d catch sight of the EHEs we have come to know through our surveys.
The arrival of spring is not the only reason to celebrate in September, it’s also national biodiversity month.
It provides a chance to celebrate Australia’s magnificent flora, fauna and landscapes; and to promote the conservation of our unique native wildlife.
To wrap up NBM 2011, I thought we’d reflect a bit on what “biodiversity” means in Australia.
The Cookiecutter shark (Isistius brasiliensis) is a small shark with large specimens barely exceeding 50 cm from tail tip to snout. They live in warmer open waters throughout the world’s oceans and feed on marine mammals such as Sea Lions and Dolphins, fish such as Tuna and Mackerel and have even been known to nibble on the sound absorbing tiles of submarines.
Far north QLD never fails to deliver awesome wildlife encounters at any time of the day or night. While spotlighting recently on Cape York I half tripped over a small log while navigating a particularly dense patch of woodland. I shone my torch to the ground to avoid a face plant and realised my ‘log’ had two eyes and an unimpressed look on his face. I had accidently stumbled over Australia’s largest snake, the Scrub Python (Morelia kinghorni).
The Sandhill Dunnart (Sminthopsis psammophila) was first discovered in the Northern Territory during 1894 when the lead scientist on the expedition kicked the small darting animal with his boot! 117 years later, these insect-eating marsupials seem to have largely escaped intensive research, and we still know little about them.
