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Aboriginal peoples at opposite ends of the globe have teamed up to plot the epic journey of a feathered adventurer, the short-tailed shearwater or muttonbird. First nations rangers in Western Australia are joining with their native-title counterparts in Alaska on a ground-breaking project after expressing alarm at falling numbers of shearwaters at both ends of their global range. The knowledge-sharing research aims to ensure the survival of the migratory … [Read more...] about First Nations team up to track muttonbirds

Birds are said to act as the “canary in the coalmine’’ to warn of threats to the environment from hunting, land clearance and pollution. The same notion is now being applied to the impact of war. With the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the worst fears of bird-lovers have been realised. Along with the colossal toll in human life which we see daily on our television screens, the country’s birdlife is also suffering. When Russia invaded four years ago I wrote a column … [Read more...] about White storks keep Ukraine hope alive

A pair of wood ducks catching the last rays of a dying winter sun had the shock of their lives when a duck-billed platypus leapt from the water in the Cascade Gardens and joined them. The ducks were resting on the flat concrete sluice which carries the Hobart Rivulet to the boulder trap catching rocks and tree trunks before they can block the watercourse closer to the central city. The platypus had been swimming and diving in the substantial concrete-lined trap before … [Read more...] about Platypus steals wood duck show

In the skies, the skylarks rise Above the sounds of war. Since that day, I knew they’d stay with me for ever more. Paul McCartney reveals with his latest album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, that he has had a lifetime interest in birds. In fact, it is not commonly known that the former Beatle could be described as a “twitcher”. While on his frequent tours, including those to Australia, he takes his binoculars with him and goes birding while killing time before appearing on … [Read more...] about Beatle Paul makes music with the birds

The truth has been revealed about Donald Duck. The familiar, lovable “quack” does not belong to Donald at all. It belongs to the female of the species. It appears that in the haste to describe and record birdsong in the past, virtually all songs and calls have been ascribed to males. A new book is setting the world straight however and, in an ultimate victory for women’s rights, is pointing an accusing finger at a male-dominated birding world. When we hear the beautiful … [Read more...] about Donalds not what they are quacked up to be