Ian’s Bird of the Week – Little Grebe

July 24, 2012 by Ian

Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) by Ian 1

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Little Grebe ~ by Ian Montgomery

Newsletter – 7/22/12

When I was in Dublin – I’m now back home in North Queensland – and we were waiting for the arrival of my niece’s baby, we used to take the dogs for a walk in nearby Bushy Park along the River Dodder. In the park, there is a large artificial pond with an island and I soon found this Little Grebe or ‘Dabchick’ patiently incubating eggs on her nest.

Grebes are usually fairly shy, so a nesting one is a good photo opportunity as they build their floating nests in the open in shallow water. The nest is anchored to submerged vegetation and branches and the fact that it is floating gives it some protection from changing water levels after rain, for example. The second photo was taken on the 26 June, the day when my niece’s daughter finally arrived.

Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) by Ian 2

It was a while before I could check the progress of the Little Grebe again and when we returned on the 9th June, third photo, the nest had vanished and, as there had been some bad weather in the meantime, I feared the worst. Both adults were still present but there was no obvious sign of any chicks. However, if you look carefully at this bird, you’ll see that the left wing is slightly raised and not folded flat.

Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) by Ian 3

The reason for this became clear when the bird turned around, revealing a chick carefully tucked away under the wing.

Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) by Ian 4

The fourth photo was taken on the same day. We returned again 4 days later and I saw only the one adult and no chick but there is plenty of cover around the island and I may have missed it.

Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) by Ian 5

Any Australian birders would immediately notice the similarity between the Eurasian Little Grebe and the Australasian Grebe. They can be distinguished in breeding plumage by the amount of rufous on the neck, throat and breast. These are rufous in the Little Grebe (hence the specific name ruficollis) but the throat and breast of the Australasian Grebe are black as in the fifth photo. Other distinguishing field marks are the yellow, rather than reddish-brown, iris and the greater amount of white under the tail of the Australasian Grebe, though the latter is not evident in this photo.

Australasian Grebe (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae) by Ian

These are fairly trivial differences and for a long time the two were treated as conspecific. However, the ranges of the two overlap in New Guinea (are ‘sympatric’) and it is usual to treat them as separate species with the Little Grebe being widespread throughout Eurasia and Africa and the Australasian Grebe occurring in New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand.

Best wishes

Ian
**************************************************
Ian Montgomery, Birdway Pty Ltd,
454 Forestry Road, Bluewater, Qld 4818
Tel 0411 602 737 ian@birdway.com.au
Check the latest website updates:
http://www.birdway.com.au/#updates
**************************************************

Lee’s Addition:

I love the photos of the little one riding under the wing of the parent. Of course that brings to mind several verses.

Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, (Psalms 17:8 KJV)

How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. (Psalms 36:7 KJV)

He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. (Psalms 91:4 NKJV)

We see the Pied-billed Grebe and the Horned Grebe here. It would be neat to see those two that Ian had the privilege of seeing. The Grebes belong to the Podicipedidae family. There are 23 Grebes worldwide.

See more:

Ian’s Bird of the Week articles.

Podicipedidae – Grebes Family

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Bohemian Waxwing

July 5, 2012 by Ian

Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) by Ian 1

Bohemian Waxwing by Ian 1

Bird of the Week – Bohemian Waxwing ~ by Ian Montgomery

Newsletter – 7/5/12

Following on from the Black Woodpecker, here is the (Bohemian) Waxwing another unusual northern European species that has a 50 year connection for me.

The Bohemian Waxwing breeds across northern Eurasian and North America and moves southwards in winter in search of its staple winter food, berries. In Western Europe, it usually goes only as far as Germany and northern France, but in some years, driven by food shortages, it makes its way as far west as Britain and, more rarely, Ireland. That happened in the early 1960s when I was a schoolboy in Ireland, and I once saw several feeding on berries in a suburban street in Dublin (Eglington Road). I hadn’t seen them again since until my trip to Finland two weeks ago and I drove down that street a few days ago.

Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) by Ian 2

Bohemian Waxwing by Ian 2

These starling-sized birds are exotic by European standards and beautiful by any, so you can imagine my excitement all those years ago. It was good to catch up with them again in Finland, and this female, perched on top of a conifer, allowed me to approach fairly closely. They get their name from the red waxy-looking tips to some of the wing feathers, which you can see if you look carefully at the photos. These are more obvious in males, and the whitish stripes below the red spot are much yellower in males.

Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) by Ian 3

Bohemian Waxwing by Ian 3

In Europe, these birds are just called Waxwings, but in North America there are two species and this one is qualified with the Bohemian tag to separate it from the slightly smaller but otherwise rather similar Cedar Waxwing. This featured as Bird of the Week three years ago and here it is again:

Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) by Ian 4

Bohemian Waxwing by Ian 4

Waxwings have silky feathers, and the generic name Bombycilla means, in pigeon Latin, ‘silky tail’. There are only 3 species – the third being the Japanese Waxwing – and they were originally the only members of the family Bombycillidae. Recent genetic studies have shown that several other species are related to them and have been moved into the family. Interestingly, these include the three species of aptly-named Silky-Flycatchers (the ‘silky’ being apt, not the greatly overused ‘flycatcher’), such as the Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher and you’ll see the family resemblance if you follow the link.

Meanwhile in Dublin, my niece has given birth to a delightful baby girl, Aoibhinn, and both mother and child are doing well. Ancient Irish names are very fashionable here and ‘bh’ in Irish has a ‘v’ sound (strictly speaking it’s an aspirated ‘b’, traditionally represented by a dot over the ‘b’) so the name is pronounced something like ‘eaveen’. Aiobhinn timed her arrival well and waited until all the immediate members of the family were in Dublin, including my other niece who came over from Strasbourg with her husband.

Best wishes
Ian

**************************************************
Ian Montgomery, Birdway Pty Ltd, to a
454 Forestry Road, Bluewater, Qld 4818
Tel 0411 602 737 ian@birdway.com.au
Check the latest website updates:
http://www.birdway.com.au/#updates

Lee’s Addition:

She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. (Proverbs 31:22 KJV)

What a gorgeous bird and I am thankful that Ian met up with an old friend from years ago. Seeing her must have brought back memories. Thanks again for sharing your birding adventures with us, Ian.

See these other articles about the Waxwings:

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Cedar Waxwing

See all of Ian’s Bird of the Week articles

Birds Vol 1 #4 – The Bohemian Wax-Wing

Waxwings – Bombycillidae family

Cedar Waxwing – Fruit Passer…

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Black Woodpecker

June 27, 2012 by Ian

Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) by Ian 1

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Black Woodpecker ~ by Ian Montgomery

Newsletter – 6/26/12

I said last week that my main target in Finland the Black Woodpecker was another story. It’s a story that started 50 years ago when I started bird watching in Ireland as a teenager and received, as a Christmas present in 1962, the classic Guy Mountfort Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe. It had, for its time, superb colour plates of all the European bird species by Roger Peterson. Some of these birds were to this Irish teenager unbelievably exotic and, living on a woodpecker-free island, I was struck by the woodpecker page in general and the huge Black Woodpecker in particular (I still have the field guide):

The concept of a bucket list (things to do before you ‘kick the bucket’) hadn’t been articulated then, but the Black Woodpecker went straight onto mine. So, when the only route that Qantas could offer me a few months ago for a frequent-flyer ticket in the general direction of Ireland was on Finnair via Helsinki, I immediately thought ‘Black Woodpecker’ (and ‘owls’, another great page in the field guide).

In fact finding birds such as woodpeckers and owls in the endless forests of Finland proved very difficult, so eventually I went out with an excellent Finnature guide, Antti (Finnish for Andrew) and a delightful English birding couple in the Kuusamo region. It was a very bad year for owls (owl years are very dependent on cycles in the vole population) but Antti did eventually find us a distant Pygmy Owl and, last bird of all, showed us the nesting site of a pair of Black Woodpeckers.

Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) by Ian 2

We were treated to a view of the male – the female lacks the red crown, having on a small red patch on the back of the head – arriving to feed the young, but there then followed a long period without any activity and, as it was time to return to the hotel for breakfast, I returned later on my own so that I could photograph them at my leisure. Again, the male arrived (second photo) and three hungry chicks appeared at the nest entrance. The male then fed them, presumably by regurgitation – third photo – as he didn’t appear to be carrying any food when he arrived.

Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) by Ian 3

At 45-50cm/18-20in in length, these are crow-sized birds are the largest Eurasian Woodpecker and comparable in size to the related Pileated Woodpecker of North America. Their white bill is 5cm/2in in length and an impressive implement. They usually dig a new nest hollow each year, but Antti told us that this pair had used the same one for two years running. The Black Woodpecker is quite widespread in mature forest in Eurasia and is expanding its range.

Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) by Ian 4

After feeding the young, the male left the nest for several minutes and then returned and entered the hollow. Nothing further happened for over half an hour until the female, who had been in the nest all along, emerged and flew off (fourth photo). The nest was in a tree on a quiet road outside a house, so I was able to watch it in comfort from my rental car (fifth photo), the red arrow indicating the location of the nest.

Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) by Ian 5

So, my visit to Finland reached a satisfactory conclusion and the Black Woodpecker lived up to expectations. Three days later I flew to Dublin, where I am now to join the rest of the family and await the arrival of the first member of the next generation. My niece went into hospital yesterday and the arrival of the baby, ten days overdue, is anticipated either tonight or tomorrow.

Best wishes,

Lee’s Addition:

The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted; Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house. (Psalms 104:16-17 KJV)

Congratulations on a new generation beginning. Also obtaining another of your bucket list birds. What a neat bird. That camera lens is something else!

Thanks again, Ian, for sharing your birdwatching photography with us. We await your next adventure in to the domain of the birds.

The Woodpeckers are in the Picidae – Woodpeckers Family of the Piciformes Order. Check out Ian’s many Woodpecker photos.

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Ruff

June 19, 2012 by Ian

Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) by Ian 1

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Ruff ~ by Ian Montgomery

Newsletter ~ 6/19/12

This week we have nothing short of a fashion parade, male Ruffs at a communal display ground or lek in eastern Finland. Finland is my second stop-over on the way to Ireland to visit my family and I am spending a week in the northern part of the country in search of some unusual northern European birds. I spent a couple of nights in Oulo on the west coast, a 1 hour flight north of Helsinki and then drove north west to Kuusamo near the Russian border where I am now.

In Oulu, the birding and wildlife tour company Finnature put me very early in the morning in a hide that they had set up near the lek. I settled down to watch a rather unpromising-looking piece of raised ground in a meadow, having been assured that, though it was late in the season, a couple of birds had been seen at the lek on the previous morning.

Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) by Ian 2

After about half an hour and shortly before 4:00am the black-ruffed bird in the second photo arrived but flew off when I moved the camera. Happily, it soon returned and this time the second white-ruffed bird arrived too and the pair started their extraordinary display, spreading their ruffs and wings apparently to make themselves appear as intimidating as possible. Sometimes, they jumped vertically in the air and at other times they crouched low on the ground in submissive looking postures.

Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) by Ian 3

Although the birds often came into close physical contact, there was no actual fighting and no physical damage. These black- and white-ruffed birds were the main performers during the 4 hours that I remained in the hide, but other birds joined in and at one stage there were about 10 birds on the lek. The colours of the ruffs and the erectile feathers on the head were varied. Here is a buff and black one with the white bird.

Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) by Ian 4

The colour of the bare wattled skin on the face varied too, being sometimes yellow and sometimes red, though it was my impression that this colour wan’t permanent and the red flush was associated with more intense display. This non-displaying one with a chestnut cap, piebald ruff has yellow facial skin.

Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) by Ian 5

This one is mainly chestnut.

Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) by Ian 6

While this one with an ermine ruff look suitably regal.

Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) by Ian 7

Ruffs are unusual among lekking birds in that the display is aimed mainly at other males to establish dominance, rather than at attracting females. Females may mate with multiple males producing young with different fathers and homosexual mating also occurs. The different ruff colours are apparently significant and white-ruffed males are smaller and less dominant and called satellite males.

Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) by Ian 8

The females, called Reeves, are quite plain and look rather like other sandpipers such as Sharp-tailed and Pectoral. In non-breeding plumage, the males resemble the females but are larger and longer-necked. Ruffs breed across northern Eurasia from Scandinavia to Siberia and winter in Africa, Asia and, in small numbers, Australia. You can see a female and ruff-less male, photographed in India, here: http://www.birdway.com.au/scolopacidae/ruff/index.htm.

Who said waders are plain and boring? I had a wonderful time at this lek. The Ruffs wasn’t one of my target species in Finland but an unexpected bonus, thank you Finnature. My main target was the largest Woodpecker in Europe, the Black Woodpecker, but that’s another story.

Best wishes
Ian

**************************************************
Ian Montgomery, Birdway Pty Ltd,
454 Forestry Road, Bluewater, Qld 4818
Tel 0411 602 737 ian@birdway.com.au
Check the latest website updates:
http://www.birdway.com.au/#updates
**************************************************

Lee’s Addition:

What a group of “show offs.” I find these birds amazing. Never thought of this family as having leks like the pheasants and those in that order. Just goes to show you that the birds are doing what they are suppose to and that is reproducing. What a show for the females to get to watch.

Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
(Genesis 8:17 NKJV)

The Ruff is in the Scolopacidae – Sandpipers, Snipes Family in the Charadriiformes Order.

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Chinese Pond Heron

June 12, 2012 by Ian

Chinese Pond Heron (Ardeola bacchus) by Ian 1

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Chinese Pond Heron ~ by Ian Montgomery

Newsletter ~ 6-11-12

I’m stopping over for a few days in Hong Kong. It’s not the best time of the year for birding here – the northern spring and autumn/fall are good for migrants and the northern winter is good for waders and waterbirds – but we did go out to the Hong Kong Wetland Park near Mai Po reserve in the New Territories on Saturday. One of the species I was keen to see was the Chinese Pond Heron and this one in breeding plumage landed on a post near the hide/blind we were in.

This was of interest to me as it’s on the Australian list as a rare vagrant and I’d seen only non-breeding birds before (in Malaysia). The non-breeding plumage is streaky brown and white and not very distinguished, but when breeding the birds acquire striking black, white and chestnut plumage with a multi-coloured bill. This bird fluffed out its feathers, preened itself a bit and settled down for a few seconds, second photo.

Chinese Pond Heron (Ardeola bacchus) by Ian 2

These are stocky, mid-sized (47cm/19in in length) herons that feed on fish and invertebrates. Their breeding range includes China and northern Japan. In the northern winter some migrate south to Malaysia and Indonesia, including Java, and sometimes they overshoot and end up in the Australian territories of Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands and on the Australian mainland. This particular one hung around for thirty seconds and then took off, third photo, showing how high they can jump when taking off – they need to be able to do this to take off from reed beds.

Chinese Pond Heron (Ardeola bacchus) by Ian 3

In flight, fourth photo, the bird displays the striking white wing characteristic of all six species of Pond Herons (genus Ardeola). These are mainly Asian and African species, though the Squacco Heron occurs in southern Europe. The Chinese Pond Heron is closely related to the rather similar Indian Pond Heron (this one was photographed behind the Taj Mahal.

Chinese Pond Heron (Ardeola bacchus) by Ian 4

Only 30 seconds elapsed between the first and last photos, so we were lucky to have this encounter and it was the only one we saw. The Hong Kong Government is making admirable efforts, through Mai Po Reserved and the restored Hong Kong Wetland Park, to conserve wildlife, but the area is very close to the densely populated and heavily industrialised areas of southern China and the local population of Chinese Pond Herons is suffering from the effects of water pollution on their prey (mud skippers and crustaceans).

Best wishes
Ian

Lee’s Addition:

Ian, you sure get around. What a beautiful bird all decked out to “woo” its mate.

Ian has a photo of Chinese Pond Herons on his Birdway website that are in normal plumage. Not as impressive as the one above, but more normal. These herons belong to the Ardeidae – Herons and Allies Family. See a list and photos of the whole 72 species of Herons, Bitterns and Egrets.

The stork, the heron of any variety, the hoopoe, … (Deuteronomy 14:18 AMP)

See all of Ian’s Birds of the Week articles.

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Grey Goshawk

May 25, 2012 by Ian

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Grey Goshawk ~ by Ian Montgomery

Newsletter ~ 5-24-12

*
Here is an uncommon and beautiful raptor, the Grey or Variable Goshawk. It is usually called the Grey Goshawk in Australia but the moniker Variable is more accurate as it occurs in both grey and white morphs. The first photo shows a white morph bird perched in a dead tree near mangroves at Bushland Beach near Townsville, photographed in 2002.

It is the only completely white raptor worldwide, though white morph birds may show some grey on the tail – as this one does – and on the head. These are large hawks, with the females being 50-55cm/20-22in in length with a wingspan to 1.1m/43in. The smaller males are 38-42/15-16.5in. By way of comparison – the choice is deliberate – the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo is 44-51cm with a comparable wingspan of about 1m. Despite their size, they are difficult to see (and to photograph) as they inhabit mainly dense forest, or forest edges and are shy, so it would be another ten years before I got an even vaguely respectable photo of a grey morph bird, second photo.

Here you can see how broad and rounded the wings are. This shape is ideal for short glides and rapid braking and is an adaptation for the preferred hunting strategy of this species, called ‘still hunting’ – perching on a well-hidden perch and making short, devastating swoops on unsuspecting prey feeding on the ground or in trees. Prey includes birds, mammals and reptiles and a female can take prey up to the size of herons, rabbits and possums. Goshawks are subject to mobbing by small birds, and the when the individual in the second photo landed on a tree stump several seconds later (12 to be exact) it immediately attracted the attention of a Willie-wagtail visible in flight near the goshawk in the third photo.

You might recall that pied plumage is often the hallmark of aggressiveness – the reverse of camouflage – and this Willie-wagtail actually landed on the tree stump as in the third photo. The Goshawk gives the appearance of having lost interest in the Willie-wagtail, but I suspect that it was more concerned with preparing to take flight as I approached it trying to get a closer shot, which it did very shortly afterwards.

I mentioned Sulphur-crested Cockatoos before as it has been suggested that the white morph has evolved to mimic Cockatoos to escape detection, but this theory has never been proven. It is thought that genetically the white morph is simply a single recessive gene, like Mendel’s sweet peas, as white-white mating produces white offspring, while white-grey and grey-grey can produce either. There is supposed to be geographical variation in the proportion of the morphs, with the white one being predominant in northern Australia, Tasmania and western Victoria and the grey morph being predominant in eastern Australia. Despite the specific name novaehollandiae, it isn’t an Australian endemic and also occurs in New Guinea and neighbouring islands, though the island races are sometimes treated as separate species.

Best wishes

Ian

Lee’s Addition:

Wow! Another beautiful bird! I really enjoy Ian’s Newsletters. They tell about birds that many of us never see or even hear about. Then again, we tell about American birds and to others, those are probably just as fantastic to hear about. Ian has managed to travel around the world in search of birds to photograph. Check out his website, Birdway, to enjoy his photos.

The Goshawk is one of the Birds of the Bible and was not to be eaten, but this one is such a beauty, I wouldn’t dream of eating it or hurting it anyway.

the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after its kind; (Leviticus 11:16 NKJV)

The Goshawks are part of the Accipitridae – Hawks & Allies Family. Check out Ian’s 47 members of the Hawks, Eagles & Allies and then the whole list of 255 species in the family listed here.

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Black-winged Petrel

May 14, 2012 by Ian

Black-winged Petrel (Pterodroma nigripennis) by Ian Montgomery 1

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Black-winged Petrel ~ by Ian Montgomery

Newsletter – 5/14/12

Three weeks ago we had the Cape Petrel. Here is the Black-winged Petrel, another species, like the White Tern and Grey Ternlet, that I had seen twenty years ago on Lord Howe Island and was keen to photograph on Norfolk Island. With a length of 28-30cm/11-12in and a wingspan of 67cm/26in, this is quite a small species with elegant black, grey and white markings and a stubby, hooked bill, visible in the first photo.

It nests on both the main island and Phillip Island – where it was quite abundant – and was easy to find as, unlike most petrels and shearwaters, it is active around the breeding colonies in daylight. Most petrels and shearwaters come ashore under cover of darkness to reduce the risk of avian predators such as raptors and gulls, but the Black-winged has historically nested on predator-free islands. ‘Historically’ here means before human settlers introduced predators such as feral cats.

Black-winged Petrel (Pterodroma nigripennis) by Ian Montgomery 2

Black-winged Petrels are accomplished fliers and spent much time in aerial acrobatics around and over cliffs. The generic name Pterodroma means ‘winged runner’ and refers to their aerial agility. The one in the second photo is coming in to land near its nesting burrow and passing some Norfolk Island Pines. All petrels and shearwater, except the Giant Petrels, have very weak legs and once on the ground are barely mobile using their wings to drag themselves along on their bellies.

Black-winged Petrel (Pterodroma nigripennis) by Ian Montgomery 3

Like many island birds, they seemed unafraid and didn’t appear agitated when approached closely to have their photos taken. The fourth photo shows the tubular nostrils characteristic of this family of birds and their close relatives the albatrosses and storm-petrels. All these ‘tube-nosed’ birds are thought to have a strong sense of smell – very unusual for birds – that helps them find both marine prey and their nesting burrows on dark nights, and the birds themselves apparently have a strong musty odour during the breeding season.

Black-winged Petrel (Pterodroma nigripennis) by Ian Montgomery 4

The hooked bill helps the birds grasp slippery prey – mainly squid and small fish – and the bills have sharp cutting edges. The Black-winged is one of about 36 global species of Pterodroma petrels collectively and, I think unfairly, called Gadfly Petrels, in reference to their erratic flight. As I’m sure you know, Gadflies are nasty blood-sucking insects such as Horse and March Flies, and there must be other more congenial erratic fliers after which they could been named. Anyway, Gadfly Petrels feed on the wing by snatching prey from the surface of the water and rarely alight on the water or dive.

The Black-winged Petrel breeds on islands in the south Pacific including Lord Howe, Norfolk, various islands around New Zealand and on several in French Polynesia. Helped by protection and the removal of predators such as feral cats, its population is increasing and it has bred on Lord Howe only since the 1960s. There are unproven recent reports of it breeding on some islands on the east coast of Australia, where it is generally rare. Outside the breeding season, it is highly pelagic and ranges widely over the Pacific as far as southern Japan and Mexico.

Best wishes
Ian
**************************************************

Ian Montgomery, Birdway Pty Ltd,
454 Forestry Road, Bluewater, Qld 4818
Tel 0411 602 737 ian@birdway.com.au
Check the latest website updates:
http://www.birdway.com.au/#updates
**************************************************

Lee’s Addition:

Thanks, Ian, for another interesting Newsletter. Trust you all are enjoying Ian’s Bird of the Week newsletters as well as I do. They are so informative and he introduces us to such a variety of birds. His photograph is outstanding.

The Black-winged Petrel is a member of the Procellariidae – Petrels, Shearwaters Family which has 87 species. They are in the Procellariiformes Order. The order has 3 other families, the Storm Petrels, Diving Petrels and the Albatrosses.

And God said, “…and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” (Genesis 1:20 ESV)

See Bird of the Week for more articles by Ian.

Ian’s Bird of the Week – (Norfolk Island) Golden Whistler

May 4, 2012 by Ian

Ian’s Bird of the Week – (Norfolk Island) Golden Whistler ~ by Ian Montgomery

Newsletter: 5-4-12

My apologies for a belated bird of the week. When I was in Eungella recently chasing the so-named Honeyeater, I encountered a very obliging male Golden Whistler, below, so I’ve chosen it to introduce this week’s subject.

Australian Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis) by Ian

It’s one of the most gorgeous of the woodland birds of eastern and southern Australia and one of those unusual birds that, unlike Rainbow Lorikeets for example, both look and sound strikingly beautiful. It featured as bird of the week in January 2005, but I don’t suppose you’ll mind me repeating it and I want to share with you the interestingly different Norfolk Island equivalent.

Australian Golden Whistler (Norfolk Island) (Pachycephala pectoralis xanthoprocta) by Ian

The bird in the second photo, one of a pair we encountered, is, or could be, an adult male Norfolk Island Golden Whistler. I say ‘could be’ because there, the adult males do not develop the striking yellow and black plumage of the mainland races and remain ‘hen-plumaged’, to quote Schodde and Mason. This was recognised early on in the settlement of the island and it was original described as a separate species, the Norfolk Island Thickhead (Pachycephala means ‘thick-head’) P. xanthoprocta, where xanthoprocta refers to the yellow vent. Here is a painting of a pair by John Gould.

Australian Golden Whistler (Norfolk Island) (Pachycephala pectoralis xanthoprocta) by Ian Drawing

He has labelled the bird in the foreground as a male, and the one in the background as a female. There are subtle differences in plumage, with the female being more lemon-yellow underneath and the male being more buffish yellow and. having darker dark lores. I haven’t been able to find whether these differences are consistent, but it seemed to me that the bird in photo above (141464) looks more like the Gouldian male than its partner below (141440).

Australian Golden Whistler (Norfolk Island) (Pachycephala pectoralis xanthoprocta) by Ian

Mainland juvenile Golden Whistlers have rusty margins on the wing feathers and this is the case with the Norfolk Island birds, as shown in the next photo taken on a different occasion when we were hanging around waiting for the Norfolk Island Parakeets to show up.

Australian Golden Whistler (Norfolk Island) (Pachycephala pectoralis xanthoprocta) Juv by Ian

To this day, the taxonomic status of the Golden Whistler ‘complex’ remains unresolved. There are different races on the mainland and in neighbouring locations such as New Guinea, New Britain and Fiji. The mangrove-inhabiting Golden Whistler of northern and western Australia has been elevated to specific status but the others have remained in the too-hard basket and are still lumped together as a single species. It seems to me unusual for avian taxonomists to be stumped by a problem like this, but maybe they’ve met their match.

Best wishes

Ian

Lee’s Addition:

Very interesting and a beautiful bird. I couldn’t resist finding out what this “whistler” sounds like. It is very pretty sounding. Take a listen.

Sound of Golden Whistler

In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. (Isaiah 7:18 ESV)

The Whistlers are found in the Pachycephalidae – Whistlers and Allies. There are 58 members of the family. This Australian Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis xanthoprocta) is one of those subspecies; there are at least 7 subspecies. The “Norfolks” are found on the Norfolk Island, as Ian mentioned.

The Norfolk Golden Whistler (P. p. xanthoprocta) declined for many years due to habitat loss and fragmentation and possible due to introduced predators such as the Black Rat. Most of the population is now restricted to the Norfolk Island National Park. This has resulted in it being listed as vulnerable by the Australian Government.

Links:

Check out Ian’s other Whistlers

Australian Golden Whistler – Wikipedia

Pachycephalidae – Whistlers and Allies

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Eungella Honeyeater

April 22, 2012 by Ian

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Eungella Honeyeater ~ by Ian Montgomery

Newsletter – 4/22/12

Well, team, many thanks, your moral and spiritual support have done it again: here is the Eungella Honeyeater, photographed last Friday after some diligent searching. The field guides say: ‘noisy, wary, elusive’ and that I would agree is a good description. I heard several at the first location (Chelmans Road, Upper Dalrymple) but got only a brief glimpse of one in the rather dense rainforest regrowth. The second location, Digging’s Road near Eungella, proved more productive and, as I walked back to the car, I eventually encountered a flock of ten or so crossing the road and got photos of a couple of them.

Were it not for its distinctive song, rather scratchy like a very loud gerygone I thought, it would be easy to overlook, given its rainforest habitat, and, dare one say, rather drab colours even if tastefully highlighted by blue eyes.

And overlooked it was until 1976. Or more accurately, any earlier records, such as one collected in 1959, of this bird from the little studied Eungella/Clarke Range area were mistakenly assumed to be the closely related wet-tropics endemic, the Bridled Honeyeater, see the third photo.

The Bridled Honeyeater is much larger – 20-22cm/8-8.7in versus 16-18cm/6.3-7.1in – has a yellow base to the bill and rather different head markings. Their songs are quite different, sufficiently so for someone rather deaf like me to distinguish them easily. Early field guides, such as the 1974 Slater’s, shows the range of the Bridled Honeyeater extending the 300km or so from the wet tropics down to the Clarke Range west of Mackay.

In 1975, during a survey by the Australian and Queensland Museums, another specimen was collected and labelled as a Bridled Honeyeater. The following year, Wayne Longmore was working on the Honeyeater collection at the Australian Museum and realised that not only was this bird not a Bridled Honeyeater – based on the colour of the bill – but that it didn’t correspond to any known species. He organised further field trips to the Clarke Range in 1978 and 1980 in search of the mystery bird and found that the species was relatively common in a restricted area of upland rainforest. It was described in 1983 by him and Walter Boles and named Meliphaga hindwoodi (now Lichenstomus hindwoodi) in honour of Keith Hindwood, ornithologist and Wayne’s mentor. You can read the full story here. The fourth image shows the records from the BirdLife Australia Atlas Project.

So you don’t have to go to the wilds of Irian Jaya to discover new species of birds! What would you like next week?

Best wishes

Ian

Lee’s Addition:

I decided to produce this addition of Ian’s Bird of the Week in the exact format that I receive it. I am also happy that our collective prayers were answered for Ian’s latest adventure. The two Honeyeaters do look similar, but there is a difference. Thanks again, Ian, for letting us share in your birdwatching trips.

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:12-13 NKJV)

See Ian’s other Birds of the Week

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Cape Petrel

April 17, 2012 by Ian

Cape Petrel (Daption capense) by Ian 1

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Cape Petrel ~ by Ian Montgomery

My records show that no Petrel and only one Shearwater (Buller’s) has ever featured as bird of the week. That’s partly because, until recently, I didn’t have many photos of members of this family of seabirds (Procellaridae) but that has been largely corrected by recent trips to the Sub-Antarctic and Norfolk Island. Petrels and Shearwaters are often challenging birds to identify, so I’m going to start with an easy and attractive one that featured prominently on the Sub-Antarctic Islands trip last November.

The striking chequered black and white pattern on the back and wings is unique. The white patches on the primary and secondary flight feathers are translucent and appears as ‘windows’ when seen from below in bright light, as in the second photo. We encountered Cape Petrels soon after leaving Dunedin, and as they follow ships, they were almost constant companions for most of the voyage.

Cape Petrel (Daption capense) by Ian 2

With a length of 35-40cm/14-16in, they’re comparable in size to a domestic pigeon, though with much longer wings, and are often called Cape Pigeons. They feed on krill, small fish, etc., either by swimming buoyantly on the surface and pecking in a rather pigeon-like fashion or by snatching morsels in flight. They’ll readily feed on marine scraps left by others and often follow whales.

Cape Petrel (Daption capense) by Ian 3

As you can guess from the name, the species was originally named from a specimen collected at the Cape of Good Hope and described by the father of taxonomy, Linnaeus, in 1758. Cape Petrels are very characteristic bird of the southern oceans right around the planet and range from the coast of Antarctica to the Tropic of Capricorn, and even reach the equator in the cold Humboldt current on the western side of South America. They occur around Australia in the southern winter but are mainly an offshore bird, unless beach-wrecked by storms. The global population is in the millions, and they can occur in large flocks, though we encountered them mainly in small numbers.

Cape Petrel (Daption capense) by Ian 4

The nest on most of the sub-Antartic Islands around the world and on islands along the coast of Antarctica itself. There is a small colony on Macquarie Island and larger colonies on the Southern Islands of New Zealand (Snares, Auckland, Campbell, Bounty, Antipodes and Chatham). These belong to a separate race, australe, smaller than the nominate race.

Cape Petrel (Daption capense) by Ian 5

I loved watching them soaring and wheeling around the ship, and they looked as if they enjoyed it too. I got very used to their attendance and found their familiar presence reassuring in the vast and sometimes alien and stormy remoteness of the Southern Ocean.

I have another request for moral and spiritual support (and so far you’ve never failed me :-})! I’m planning to go to Eungella National Park west of Mackay next weekend in search of the Eungella Honeyeater. I’ve never seen it before, and we need photos for the Pizzey and Knight digital project.

Best wishes

Ian

*************************************************
Ian Montgomery, Birdway Pty Ltd,
454 Forestry Road, Bluewater, Qld 4818B
Tel 0411 602 737 ian@birdway.com.au
Check the latest website updates:
http://www.birdway.com.au/#updates
**************************************************

Lee’s Addition:

And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. (Matthew 25:15 KJV)

Looks like the Petrel flew under some dropping white paint. I am sure that it helped in IDing it. Ian is correct about that unique pattern. I am amazed at how unique all the birds were created. Each has its own patterns, food requirements and places to live. Just like all of us. We each have a unique niche to find and enjoy. Thankfully, Ian has found one of his niches. He is an adventurous and fantastic photographer.

Yes, Ian, we will be praying for you as you take this next adventure to find the Eungella Honeyeater and whatever else pops up in front of your lens. Also for your safe journey.

Check out Ian’s Procellaridae family and the article about the Buller’s Shearwater.

The Procellariidae – Petrels, Shearwaters Family here.

Ian’s Bird of the Week

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Grey Ternlet (Noddy)

April 11, 2012 by Ian

Bird of the Week – Grey Ternlet ~ by Ian Montgomery

Newsletter ~ 4/10/12

Last week we had the (Common) White Tern or White Noddy. Here is its counterpart the Grey Ternlet, often called the Grey Noddy. It is also an island species but is restricted in range to the Western and South Pacific. In the Australian regions it, like the White Tern, occurs on both Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. Unlike the White Tern, it nests mainly on inaccessible rock cliffs and I had had only distant views of it on Lord Howe 20 years ago. The situation was similar on Norfolk Island, and the first photo, taken at Captain Cook’s Lookout, was our first view of any. This photo, I might add, was taken with a 500mm telephoto lens, so we were nowhere near them.

Grey Noddy (Procelsterna albivitta) by Ian 1

So we hoped that our planned boat trip to nearby Phillip Island would provide better views and photo opportunities. It was late in the nesting season, though, and when we returned to the rocky cove to be picked up by the boat, we still hadn’t seen any, even in the distance. Getting on and off the boat was an interesting exercise as there is no wharf, just a north-facing cove, sheltered in southerly winds and swell, with a slippery rock shelf, best negotiated in stockinged feet for better traction, second photo (that’s Norfolk Island in the background).

Grey Noddy (Procelsterna albivitta) by Ian 2

We were just getting ready to board the approaching boat, when two Grey Ternlets landed on a rocky cliff nearby, and the boat was forgotten while I dug the camera out of my backpack. The two birds were an adult and a juvenile, the adult standing over the juvenile, which has dark markings on the head, in the third photo.

Grey Noddy (Procelsterna albivitta) by Ian 3

I moved closer to them, but the adult flew off, leaving the youngster to its fate, fourth photo.

Grey Noddy (Procelsterna albivitta) by Ian 4

The adult had landed almost out of sight behind a rocky outcrop, but I got a photo of it when it took off a little later, fifth photo.

Grey Noddy (Procelsterna albivitta) by Ian 5

Anyway, it was time to leave the Ternlets to their own devices and get on the boat. We were to see more Grey Ternlets on the cliffs of Norfolk Island, including a flock of about 15, but we never got close to them again. It was a great ending to a very successful trip to Phillip Island and we didn’t mind too much getting rather wet from the spray on the way back to Norfolk Island, the cameras being safety stowed in a dry spot.

Best wishes

Ian

Lee’s Addition:

What scenery and what a beautiful Noddy. These Noddies or Ternlets like to nest on protected cliffs it appears.

The place where you live is safe. Your nest is on a high cliff. (Numbers 24:21a NIrV)

The Grey Noddy or Grey Ternlet (Procelsterna albivitta) is a seabird belonging to the tern family Laridae. It was once regarded as a pale morph of the Blue Noddy (Procelsterna cerulea) but is now often considered to be a separate species. It occurs in subtropical and warm temperate waters of the south Pacific Ocean.

It is 25–30 cm (9.8–12 in) long with a wingspan of 46–61 cm (18–24 in) and a weight of about 75 grams (2.6 oz). The tail is fairly long and notched. The plumage is pale grey, almost white on the head and underparts but darker on the back, tail and wings. The wings have dark tips and a white hind edge and are mainly white underneath. The eye is black and appears large due to the black patch in front of it. There is a white patch behind the eye. The thin, pointed bill is black and the legs and feet are also black apart from pale yellow webs.

It feeds in shallow water, not moving far from the breeding colonies. It gathers in large feeding flocks which can contain thousands of individuals. They feed by hovering over the water and dropping down to pick food from the surface. Plankton forms the bulk of the diet and small fish are also eaten.

Breeding takes place in colonies on rocky islands. The nest site is a sheltered rocky surface or underneath a boulder or clump of vegetation. A single egg is laid. Juvenile birds are browner than the adults and have darker, more contrasting flight feathers.

The Grey Noddy is usually silent but has a soft, purring call.

(The verse is out of context, but the nest on the cliff fit with these birds. Wikipedia cited.)

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Common White Tern

April 2, 2012 by Ian

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Common White Tern ~ by Ian Montgomery

Newsletter – 4/2/12

Another species on my photo list on Norfolk Island was the (Common) White Tern. I’d admired on Lord Howe Island more than twenty years ago, before I got seriously into bird photography. They’re only Common if you’re on a remote coral or rocky island in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans, but the label really means ‘standard’ and reflects a split of the species, not universally recognised, into ‘Standard’ and Little White Tern. It used to have the attractive name ‘White Noddy’, until some prosaic purist decided that only terns belong the genus Anous were real Noddies.

They are unusually looking terns, with a pointy, slightly upturned bill and very white, actually translucent, feathers, usually described as ‘ethereal’. Seen against the sunlight, the effect is something like looking at an X-ray as in the second photo. In this one, you can see the bill is very thin laterally so it is shaped more like a pair of scissors.

White Terns are numerous on Norfolk Island and as they nest on the branches of Norfolk Island Pines, you see them all over the island. If you’re used to seeing terns near water, it’s initially slightly disconcerting to see them flying around in forest. Many of these are parents feeding young, but do also see pairs or small groups of birds, as in the third photo, and very pretty they are too.

In March, the breeding season is nearly over, but there are still some hungry and very bored looking chicks in the pines waiting for a feed. The single egg is laid precariously in a concavity on a branch or palm frond. Norfolk Island pines, with their horizontal limbs, are ideal for this and the recent establishment of breeding White Terns on Lord Howe Island can probably be attributed to the introduction of Norfolk Island Pines.

The fourth photo shows a nearly fledged juvenile. At this age they look like furry toys, but the slightly younger ones, that were just losing the last traces of their down, often looked quite comical. The bird in the fifth photo shows one that looks for all the world like an aged goddess of the silver screen who doesn’t believe in growing old gracefully, with faux eye-lashes, smudged mascara, thinning hair, an ancient fur coat and a grumpy expression.

Hopefully, though, it has a bright future ahead.

Best wishes
Ian<

Lee’s Addition:

What a description of the that last photos. Puts a chuckle in you. What is so amazing is that it fits.

Anyway, Terns are in the Laridae – Gulls, Terns and Skimmers Family and see Ian’s Laridae Family of photos at his Birdway site. More of his photos of the Common White Tern can be Here.

“The White Tern (Gygis alba) is a small seabird found across the tropical oceans of the world. It is sometimes known as the Fairy Tern although this name is potentially confusing as it is the common name of the Fairy Tern Sternula nereis. Other names for the species include Angel Tern and White Noddy.

Wow! Look at this from ARKive:

http://www.arkive.org/common-white-tern/gygis-alba/image-G88261.html

The White Tern is a small, all white tern with a long black bill, related to the noddies. It ranges widely across the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and also nests in some Atlantic islands. It nests on coral islands, usually on trees with thin branches but also on rocky ledges and on man-made structures. The White Tern feeds on small fish which it catches by plunge diving.

…there are costs associated with tree nesting, as the eggs and chicks are vulnerable to becoming dislodged by heavy winds. For this reason the White Tern is also quick to relay should it lose the egg. The newly hatched chicks have well developed feet with which to hang on to their precarious nesting site. It is a long-lived bird, having been recorded living for 17 years.” (Wikipedia)

Looks like the Lord, in his creation of these chicks, provided feet that can help them hold on.

All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs; under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth to their young, and under its shadow lived all great nations. (Ezekiel 31:6 ESV)

Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus

Birdwatching from a Christian Perspective

Author Archives: Ian

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Little Grebe

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Bohemian Waxwing

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Black Woodpecker

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Ruff

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Chinese Pond Heron

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Grey Goshawk

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Black-winged Petrel

Ian’s Bird of the Week – (Norfolk Island) Golden Whistler

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Eungella Honeyeater

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Cape Petrel

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Grey Ternlet (Noddy)

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Common White Tern

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