The 240 kilometres of ocean separating Tasmania from the big island has kept us safe from the scourge of city parks in Melbourne and Sydney – the Australian white ibis. This strange, mercurial bird goes by the name of “bin chicken” and “tip turkey” in some parts. In its more aggressive moments it is also known as the “sandwich eater” and the “picnic pirate”, so it’s a welcome relief that it rarely reaches Tasmania on its travels and does not breed here. Despite its … [Read more...] about ‘Tip turkey’ gives up on life in the city
Happy birders prove to be golden whistlers
New research has suggested bird-watchers are laying a “golden egg” when it comes to domestic tourism. The travel trade has at last been able to separate birders from other tourists to determine what they contribute to the economy. It comes to a staggering $282 million per year. Until recently, quantifying the scale of birdwatching tourism in Australia was difficult because of a lack of data. But Birdlife Australia has used statistics from a survey conducted by Tourism … [Read more...] about Happy birders prove to be golden whistlers
Storm clouds carry a silver lining
A scarlet robin sat on an exposed twig, bathed in a mellow, yellow autumnal light. After a day of torrential rain, the clouds had lifted and so had my spirits. A robin on a low perch, its head moving from side to side, his eyes trained on insects flitting in the kangaroo grass beneath him. Not normally an uncommon sight in the great Tasmanian outdoors. All the same I had been complaining over coffee to a birding friend the previous day that there seemed to be a shortage of … [Read more...] about Storm clouds carry a silver lining
Birdsong at quarry echoes from the past
In and out of Hobart, we follow in the footsteps of the first peoples of Tasmania and those who came after them. The physical shape of these trails have been cut through the landscape over a period of 40,000 years, first by the feet of the Muwinina people and in more recent times the stamping hooves of horses on packhorse trails. And all the while birds found nowhere else on earth have provided the background music for these songlines and laylines. This soundscape is a … [Read more...] about Birdsong at quarry echoes from the past
‘Diamond birds’ find their voice
The song of the spotted pardalote is pinging around the neighbourhoods this month. It’s the same every autumn and winter when these stunning little birds find their voice. The pardalotes’ two-note “ping-ping” or “pee-pee” can be heard from every corner of Hobart, my last encounter with them in the gums at the Dunn St car park in the CBD. Autumn is a good time to learn birdsong simply because there are fewer songs – the migrant songsters have departed for the mainland. In … [Read more...] about ‘Diamond birds’ find their voice