wvenable@spam.ua.oz (Bill Venables) (04/08/91)
Recently my brother and three other team members took part in a 24 hour "twitchathon" for the World Wildlife Fund. They did a tour from inland Queensland through to the coast at Brisbane, taking in some of the major habitat types. The cumulative list for his team is included below, and is reproduced here with his permission. I apologize if American readers find this of no interest, but personally I would be interested to see how it compares with other 24 hour autumn (fall) lists, in both number and variety, for other warm temperate parts of the world. The total number of species, (129 + 1 Brush tailed possum + 1 Koala) is about 17% of the full Australian bird list. He is a very experienced birdwatcher. Virtually all readers will, possibly unfortunately, find some familiar birds here, for example feral pigeon and common starling, but also the Osprey and the Eurasian coot, which may be conspecific with, or at least closely related to, the American coot. (?) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Broadwater Lagoon, near Dalby, Qld. -- Australasian grebe Dollarbird Pelican Yellow robin White faced heron Willie wagtail Sacred ibis Grey crowned babbler Straw necked ibis Speckled warbler Yellow billed spoonbill Inland thornbill Black duck Yellow thornbill Grey teal Striped honeyeater Wood duck Blue faced honeyeater Black shouldered kite Noisy miner Wedge tailed eagle Scarlet honeyeater Australian kestrel Mistletoebird Masked lapwing Striated pardalote Crested pigeon Common starling Feral pigeon Apostlebird Glossy black cockatoo Pied magpie lark Galah Black faced woodswallow Sulphur crested cockatoo Pied butcherbird Scaly breasted lorikeet Australian magpie Red rumped parrot Pied currawong Kookaburra Torresian crow Bunya Mountains foothills (Wet Sclerophyll) -- Pacific heron Grey fantail Brown pigeon Eastern whipbird Phesant coucal Superb blue fairy-wren Fantailed cuckoo Brown gerygone Rufous whistler White throated treecreepe Grey shrike-thrush Lewin's honeyeater Leaden flycatcher Yellow faced honeyeater Rufous fantail Eastern spinebill Red browed firetail Bunya Mountains rainforest. -- Grey goshawk Golden whistler Brush turkey White browed scrubwren King parrot Satin bowerbird Crimson rosella Green catbird White throated needletail Paradise riflebird Scaly thrush Night driving near Nanango, Qld. -- Barn owl Brush tailed possum (honorary bird!) Tawny frogmouth Koala ( " " " " ) Mt. Glorious - rainforest, Eucalypt forest, open grasslands. -- Cattle egret Golden headed cisticola Peaceful dove Red backed fairy-wren Wompoo pigeon Large billed scrubwren Topknot pigeon Brown thornbill Rainbow lorikeet Bellbird Sacred kingfisher White naped honeyeater Rainbow bee-eater New Holland honeyeater Noisy pitta White cheeked honeyeater Welcome swallow Silvereye Richard's pipit Regent bowerbird Black faced monarch flycatcher Grey butcherbird Logrunner Deep water bend, wetlands. -- Little pied cormorant Purple swamphen Little black cormorant Eurasian coot Great egret Brolga Intermediate egret Black winged stilt Royal spoonbill Eastern curlew Magpie goose Whimbrel Chestnut teal Pale headed rosella Dusky moorhen Lytton, Qld. Tidal flats, Beach front, Melaleuca swamp. -- Pied cormorant Black tailed godwit Osprey Bar tailed godwit White bellied sea eagle Great knot Brahminy kite Curlew sandpiper Marsh harrier Silver gull Golden plover Caspian tern Red capped plover Mangrove kingfisher Ruddy turnstone Mangrove gerygone Grey tailed tattler Brown honeyeater Greenshank Figbird -- Bill Venables, Dept. of Statistics, | Email: venables@spam.adelaide.edu.au Univ. of Adelaide, South Australia. | Phone: +61 8 228 5412