On The Wing

Trying to identify the song of the only native thrush found in Tasmania, I received a shock when I discovered the ABC had dubbed the species the “fart bird”. I took a double take: was I really reading this about the Bassian thrush? But there it was, not so much in black and white, in audio on ABC Radio Melbourne’s Afternoons with Jacinta Parsons. Jacinta was in conversation with BirdLife Australia’s Sean Dooley who was detailing ongoing research into how the Bassian thrush … [Read more...] about ‘Fart bird’ debate purely hot air

Singing lessons for a bird? It seems implausible in the wondrous world of nature but that is the prospect in store for captive-bred teenage honeyeaters looking for love. The regent honeyeater is one of Australia’s most threatened bird species and conservationists have hit a snag in their efforts to save it from extinction. They’ve discovered the captive-bred birds do not know how to sing the right love songs to attract mates. Programs to breed rare species in captivity to … [Read more...] about Love is in the air for regent honeyeaters

Ancient rituals linked to the winter solstice have been given a modern twist in Hobart in recent times with the advent of Dark Mofo and its mid-winter swim. I didn’t need a cold plunge in the Derwent, though, to tell me we were moving from the dark into the light with the lengthening of daylight on Tuesday last week. The sweet melody of a male golden whistler told me the worst of the winter would soon be over. We might have human rituals to celebrate mid-winter but the … [Read more...] about Whistler’s song signals end to winter

Every year during the annual Tasmanian gull count I’m reminded we must never under-estimate these amazing birds even though in some quarters they are derisively called “rats with wings”. The truth is our gulls are highly intelligent and not quite as unhygienic and unsanitary as we might imagine. And, like many other bird species, they also have a sense of time and place to rival our own. I first became aware of gulls’ awareness of time during my primary schooldays in … [Read more...] about Counting the way gulls mirror our lives

Far off-shore a gannet wheeled in the sky across the Derwent Estuary. It paused as if frozen in mid-air and then plunged into the water, sending up a huge spray of water. It emerged with what looked like silvery fish before the seabird was beating the air again with huge black-tipped white wings. I was watching a remarkable bird at a remarkable place, Crayfish Point at Taroona, a birdwatching hotspot that had escaped my attention in the past. I have to thank our gardening … [Read more...] about Students tackle citizen science