![]() The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage says other threats include climate change, the psittacine circovirus disease, and a loss of breeding and foraging habitat due to forestry management practices. “We didn’t realise exactly how much trouble gang gangs are in – they’re likely to be nationally listed as endangered when reassessed next year,” biologist Dr Susan Rhind said.Īccording to the Conservation Council ACT Region, gang gangs suffered enormously from the 2019-2020 bushfires, which are estimated to have reduced their population by 10 per cent. It’s estimated that in the last 21 years, the population of gang gang cockatoos has declined by 69 per cent. The sight of gang gang cockatoos is a joy for wildlife lovers and bushwalkers – hearing their creaking call overhead makes you look upwards to try and snag a glimpse of the flame-red feathers of the male birds.īut sadly, sights like this are becoming much less common. After the students left I checked out the site more thoroughly and found what looked to be a large hollow in a Manna Gum tree 20 metres away.ĭan and I dropped down to this site later that week at dusk and confirmed there was a breeding pair.Eurobodalla Shire Council is joining with biologists to try and save the iconic gang gang cockatoo. I was going internally berserk at this point but kept my cool in front of the group and continued on our excursion. Well, they all did but when a student (whose name I’ve momentarily forgotten) came back and said “there was this big owl sitting in a Blackwood tree back there” I said, “what? OK perhaps we should go and have a look!” It ended up being a male Powerful Owl roosting (original photo of the bird roosting in the Blackwood tree). On this one particular day in 2007, the Glenburnie Primary School group was asked to go off into the bush and find three things they wanted to talk about, or ask questions about and to come back after five minutes. When I was working with ForestrySA as a Conservation Planner, we often did trips down to the forest with schools to talk to the kids about biodiversity and what fun we did have too! This program of biodiversity education exists today some 10 years on. Fortunately, I’m quite good at identifying birdsong there’s nothing wrong with my buccaneering.”Īnd a story about Powerful Owls ( Ninox strenua) by Bryan Haywood (Senior Ecologist, NGT) ![]() So in ten years of looking for the real thing, I have not seen one but heard two. Now Long John is long gone and Matey is no more. Matey’s behaviour could only be described as theatrical and his agent was a complete Bustard. The parrot answered to the name of Matey. My ancestor Long John Silver stained the seven seas with one on his shoulder they were inseparable. It is the unique Orange-bellied Parrot subspecies Neophema chrysogaster buccaneer. The male’s vibrant red head and crest is a giveaway, but after getting closer looks at the female plumage, I think their patterning and colour palette is most striking!īackyard birds are such a powerful icon for kids, and encourage them to start to observe, explore and connect to nature in their local environment native birds have definitely sparked lots of curiosity and enjoyment for my kids!”Īnd for something a little different from John H. The boys know the call straight away and call out ‘Gang Gangs!’, and they love counting how many they can spot amongst the eucalypt trees. It is a bird that I share lots of fun watching with my two sons as local flocks frequent our neighbour’s pond. “This beautiful parrot is a species I have only become familiar with since moving to western Victoria about eight years ago. Gang Gang Cockatoo ( Callocephalon fimbriatum) – Lauren Kivisalu (Ecologist, NGT) If you’d like to help monitor snipe in your area, check out the website.“įemale Gang Gang Cockatoo. Rich is one of the many volunteers who have helped out with the Latham’s Snipe Project. You can read about this mammoth trip carrying a lightweight geolocator here. These birds have high site fidelity – they come back to the same place, even to within a few hundred metres after migrating 7,000km. T0 was the first snipe ever to be recorded doing a complete migration between Australia (Port Fairy) and the northern hemisphere (Hokkaido, Japan). Rather than hanging out in flocks where people can see it, it likes to hide during the day in long grass (which could be kikuyu!), then venture into swampy areas (even heavily grazed swampy areas) at night to eat, eat, eat! This is a photograph of my friend Richard Chamberlain and ‘T0’. It is a rather special migratory waterbird. “One of my favourite birds (there are many) is Latham’s Snipe. Latham’s Snipe ( Gallinago hardwickii) – Jodie Honan (Ecologist, NGT)
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