Publications


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Showing 12 of 1617 documents

Site fidelity of Rufous Whistlers Pachycephala rufiventris rufiventris on the Cumberland Plain, NSW

Posted: 19/08/2025
Author(s): John Farrell, Alan Leishman and Jeremy Webb

Banding and sighting data accumulated from 1965-2020 at seven sites across the north-west and south-east sectors of the Cumberland Plain were utilised to show that Rufous Whistlers Pachycephala rufiventris frequented these sites from September to April and, except for a few isolated records in June, were absent from May to August. Many individuals returned for […]

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Population trends of Silver Gulls Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae in breeding colonies in Port Jackson, Sydney

Posted: 27/07/2025
Author(s): Benjamin Hope, Nicholas Carlile and Ben Cottier

Silver Gulls Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae are a native species. They thrive in urban areas and can take advantage of new resources effectively. In the late 1980s, a breeding colony established itself in Port Jackson, Sydney. We look at how the size and location of this breeding population changed over time. We did a full count of […]

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Selection of nest and roost sites by Eastern Barn Owls Tyto alba delicatula in north-western Victoria

Posted: 25/07/2025
Author(s): John G. McLaughlin and S.J.S. Debus

Nest-site and roost-site selection of the Eastern Barn Owl Tyto alba delicatula were studied by JGM in northwestern Victoria during 1987–1990, in agricultural and woodland areas (n = 15 nests and 82 roost-only sites). Most nests were in tree hollows (93%), in those local tree species providing the largest hollows, and one in a hay […]

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Breeding events and success of Yellow-billed and Royal Spoonbills in Victoria

Posted: 01/07/2025
Author(s): Kim Lowe

Abstract. Two species of spoonbills occur in Australia: the Yellow-billed Spoonbill Platalea flavipes and the Royal Spoonbill P. regia. The biology of these species is poorly known with only a handful of studies on breeding by Royal Spoonbill and no published studies of breeding by Yellow-billed Spoonbill. Australian waterbird populations have significantly declined over the […]

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Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda: five nesting seasons, 2020-2025, on Rottnest Island, Western Australia

Posted: 29/05/2025
Author(s): Suzanne Mather

The Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda has nested on Rottnest Island, off Fremantle, Western Australia, on five consecutive nesting seasons since 2020. It is unusual to have this tropical seabird nesting at this latitude of 32º S. An earlier southern breeding colony on Sugarloaf Rock failed in 2001, as did the nesting attempt on Rottnest Island […]

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Observations of breeding, feeding and seasonal migration of Cattle Egret in south-west Western Australia

Posted: 10/05/2025
Author(s): Marcus Singor

Field studies show that the Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis in the south-west of Western Australia follows a similar seasonal migration pattern as those in the eastern states. The core feeding grounds outside the breeding season are pastures found around Alcoa Wellard Wetlands, Harvey, Bunbury, Denmark and Albany. Observations indicate that most of the population in […]

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An Osprey Pandion haliaetus breeding pair subjected to avian mobbing from the first hours of nest building

Posted: 05/04/2025
Author(s): Matthew Mo

During June 2024, a breeding pair of Ospreys Pandion haliaetus in Ballina, New South Wales, were monitored daily for five days. This enabled pinpointing the start of nest construction to the approximate hour. During a subsequent 70-min period, avian mobbing from four species, the Magpie-lark Grallina cyanoleuca, Pied Butcherbird Cracticus nigrogularis, Willie Wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys […]

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Breeding of Spotted Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna guttata on Melville Island in the Northern Territory

Posted: 01/03/2025
Author(s): Magen Pettit

The distribution of Spotted Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna guttata ranges from the Philippines through eastern Indonesia to Papua New Guinea. This species was first reported in Australia in 1995. The probable breeding of Spotted Whistling-Duck in far north Queensland was suggested in 2002 and the first breeding records confirmed in 2005. In Queensland, its distribution range has […]

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Year-round courtship and maintenance of pair bonds at a Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus nest-box

Posted: 01/03/2025
Author(s): Cilla Kinross

Observations via webcam were made of the year-round pair bond maintenance and mating behaviour of pairs of Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus sequentially using a nest-box on a water tower at Orange, New South Wales. Between 2012 and 2024, five Peregrines used the site – two females and three males. The courtship and pair bond maintenance […]

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