Publications

There are nine or ten species of harrier Circus in the world. depending on the taxonomic opinion.  Except for the Spotted Harrier C. assimilis of Australia, Sulawesi and the Lesser Sunda Islands, all are ground-nesting hawks.  The Spotted Harrier is the only one to nest regularly in a tree.  This note describes how the nest […]

Attention is drawn to two colour phases of the Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides  from forests on the New South Wales north coast.  The possibility of these phases being confused in the field with the marbled (Plumed) Frogmouth P. ocellatus plumiferus is discussed·

The islands off Esperance, Western Australia. form part of the Archipelago of the Recherche.  This archipelago extends from about 120º36’E. Long., some 23 km west of Esperance to the western end of the Great Australian Bight, about 124º08’E. Long., some 240 km to the east.  Termination Island. about 65 km roughly south of Esperance, is […]

Breeding activity on the Salt Lagoon Islands was surveyed in c. 50 visits between October 1962 and November 1979.  Observations are presented on the timing, abundance and (in most cases) habitat of the breeding of 26 species of birds, with special attention to nine species of ardeiformes and four of Phalacrocorax.  Results are given of […]

Letter-winged Kites Elanus scriptus were found to be feeding predominantly on House Mice Mus musculus in north-eastern South Australia.  In its normal central Australian range, the Letter-winged Kite‚s diet has previously been recorded as consisting of native mammals, particularly the Long-haired Rat Rattus villosissimus.  Potential ramifications of a major shift in dietary emphasis are discussed.

Brown Treecreepers have been banded and retrapped over a period of fifteen years as part of the Mount Mary Plains Survey in South Australia.  Data were obtained on longevity, weight differences between the sexes, and fluctuations in local populations.

The diet of the Mistletoebird Dicaeum hirundinaceum was studied near Beerburrum, south-eastern Queensland. by examination of material voided by 92 birds over a three-year period.  Between late December and June, the basic food of the few birds present in the area is fruit of the Viscaceous mistletoe Notothixos subaureus.  Mistletoebirds congregate in the area between […]

We discuss a variety of methods of collecting information on the diets of birds, including observation, examination of faeces, emetics and stomach-flushing.  Stomach-flushing is described in detail.  We believe it has certain advantages over other methods; it samples food from the upper parts of the gut before most digestion has occurred and incurs very low […]

Analysis of the measurements of museum specimens of Mangrove Honeyeaters Lichenostomus fasciogularis indicated that there were significant differences between the sexes.  Males had larger wing, tail and culmen lengths and weights than females.  Most of these parameters were not normally distributed but Critical Values were calculated to allow sexing of individuals with approximate levels of […]