pied_currawongs - Synonyms for pied_currawongs

Examples of "pied_currawongs"
Brown thornbills are skilled mimics and also respond to humans imitating their calls. The calls have been described as "rich, musical warble". Adult brown thornbills are able to mimic the alarm calls of other birds such as the New Holland honeyeater that warn of a raptor approaching, which deters other predators such as pied currawongs from attacking their nests.
Population decline was unsustainable and intervention was required. In 1993 birdlime trees in the nesting colony were removed and pied currawongs were culled. Rabbits were eradicated from the island in 1997. Fledging success increased from fewer than 50 to more than 450 per annum and the number of breeding adults increased to over 1,000 pairs.
Birds that may be spotted in the park include: Australian magpies ("Cracticus tibicen"), golden whistlers ("Pachycephala pectoralis"), green winged pigeons, grey fantails ("Rhipidura"), kookaburras (genus "Dacelo"), large-billed scrubwrens ("Sericornis magnirostris"), spotted pardalotes ("Pardalotus punctatus"), pied currawongs ("Strepera graculina"), striated thornbills ("Acanthiza lineata") and white-browed scrubwrens ("Sericornis frontalis").
During the breeding season, pied currawongs will pair up and become territorial, defending both nesting and feeding areas. A 1994 study in Sydney's leafy northern suburbs measured an average distance of between nests, while another in Canberra in 1990 had three pairs in a segment of pine-tree lined street. Territories have been measured around 0.5–0.7 ha in Sydney and Wollongong, although these were restricted to nesting areas and did not include a larger feeding territory, and 7.9 ha in Canberra. Pied currawongs vigorously drive off threats such as ravens, and engage in bill-snapping, dive-bombing and aerial pursuit. They adopt a specific threat display against other currawongs by lowering the head so the head and body are parallel to the ground and pointing the beak out forward, often directly at the intruder. The male predominates in threat displays and territorial defence, and guards the female closely as she builds the nest.
The channel-billed cuckoo ("Scythrops novaehollandiae") parasitizes pied currawong nests, laying eggs which are then raised by the unsuspecting foster parents. The eggs closely resemble those of the currawong hosts. Pied currawongs have been known to desert nests once cuckoos have visited, abandoning the existing currawong young, which die, and a channel-billed cuckoo has been recorded decapitating a currawong nestling. The brown goshawk ("Accipiter fasciatus") and lace monitor ("Varanus varius") have also been recorded taking nestlings.
Pied currawongs are vocal birds, calling when in flight and at all times of the day. They are more noisy early in the morning and in the evening before roosting, as well as before rain. The loud distinctive call has been translated as "Kadow-Kadang" or "Curra-wong". Birds also have a loud, high-pitched whistle, transcribed as "Wheeo". The endemic Lord Howe Island subspecies has a distinct, more melodious call.
Data on nesting success rates is limited; one study of 35 nests found 28 (80%) resulted in the fledging of at least one young currawong. Causes of failure included nest collapse by gale-force winds and rain, and harassment and nest raiding by pied currawongs. The incidence of brood parasitism is uncertain. A pair of grey currawongs have been observed feeding a channel-billed cuckoo ("Scythrops novaehollandiae") chick on one occasion.
Pied currawongs are generally tree-dwelling, hunting and foraging some metres above the ground, and thus able to share territory with the ground-foraging Australian magpie. Birds roost in forested areas or large trees at night, disperse to forage in the early morning and return in the late afternoon. Although often solitary or encountered in small groups, the species may form larger flocks of fifty or more birds in autumn and winter. On the ground, a pied currawong hops or struts.
Research revealed that the major problems threatening processes were (a) sticky fruit of the birdlime tree ("Pisonia umbellifera") which immobilised birds; (b) predation by pied currawongs ("Strepera graculina") and (c) habitat degradation caused by grazing of European rabbits ("Oryctolagus cuniculus"). Rabbits had eaten the undergrowth allowing sticky birdlime fruit to fall to the ground, so birds, both adults and chicks, were exposed to fruit which would otherwise have been entangled in shrubbery.
The species has been implicated in the spread of weeds by consuming and dispersing fruit and seed. In the first half of the twentieth century, pied currawongs were shot as they were considered pests of corn and strawberry crops, as well as assisting in the spread of the prickly pear. They were also shot on Lord Howe Island for attacking chickens. However, they are seen as beneficial in forestry as they consume phasmids, and also in agriculture for eating cocoons of the codling moth.
The removal of the sheltering understorey vegetation by rabbits led to increased exposure of the ground-nesting petrels and predation by pied currawongs and Australian ravens. It also led to increased mortality following entanglement of the birds with the sticky fruits of the bird-lime trees which fell to the ground rather than being caught in the understorey. By 1992 there were fewer than 250 breeding pairs of Gould’s petrel nesting on the Island, fewer than 20% of the pairs were producing fledglings, fewer than 50 young were being produced each year, and adult mortality exceeded 50 birds each year.
Removal of "Pisonia umbellifera" seedlings within the breeding colonies and culling of pied currawongs is undertaken periodically. Annual surveys estimate the size of the breeding population, breeding success and the number of fledglings produced. Because birds were monitored closely there was concern that ornithologists' intrusion could upset the birds and affect breeding success. However, this does not appear to be the case. In one study conducted in 2000/01, the breeding success of birds handled regularly during incubation was higher than for the colony as a whole.
The pied currawong is common in both wet and dry sclerophyll forests, rural and semi-urban environments throughout eastern Australia, from Cape York Peninsula to western Victoria and Lord Howe Island, where it occurs as an endemic subspecies. In general, the pied currawong is sedentary, although some populations from higher altitudes move to areas of lower elevation in winter. However, evidence for the extent of migration is conflicting, and the species' movements have been little studied to date. It has adapted well to European presence, and has become more common in many areas of eastern Australia, with surveys in Nanango, Queensland, Barham, New South Wales, Geelong, Victoria, as well as the Northern Tablelands and South West Slopes regions in New South Wales, all showing an increase in population. This increase has been most marked, however, in Sydney and Canberra since the 1940s and 1960s respectively. In both cities, the species had previously been a winter resident only, but now remains year-round and breeds there. They are a dominant species and common inhabitant of Sydney gardens. More recently still, a survey of the population of pied currawongs in southeastern Queensland between 1980 and 2000 had found the species had become more numerous there, including suburban Brisbane. One 1992 survey reported the total number of pied currawongs in Australia had doubled from 3 million birds in the 1960s to 6 million in the early 1990s.
The pied currawong is an omnivorous and opportunistic feeder, eating fruit and berries as well as preying on many invertebrates, and smaller vertebrates, mostly juvenile birds and bird eggs. Currawongs will hunt in trees, snatching birds and eggs from nests, as well as insects and berries from trees. They also hunt in the air and on the ground. Insects predominate in the diet during summer months, and fruit during the winter. They will often scavenge, eating scraps and rubbish and can be quite bold when seeking food from people, lingering around picnic areas and bird-feeding trays. Beetles and ants are the most common types of insects consumed. Pied currawongs have been recorded taking mice, as well as chickens and turkeys from farms. The pied currawong consumes fruit, including a wide variety of figs, such as the Moreton Bay ("Ficus macrophylla"), Port Jackson ("F. rubiginosa"), Banyan ("F. virens") and Strangler fig ("F. watkinsiana"), as well as lillypillies ("Syzygium" species), white cedar ("Melia azedarach"), plum pine ("Podocarpus elatus"), and geebungs ("Persoonia" species). Other fruit is also sought after, and currawongs have been known to raid orchards, eating apples, pears, strawberries, grapes, stone fruit, citrus, and corn. Pied currawongs have been responsible for the spread of the invasive ornamental "Asparagus aethiopicus" (often called "A. densiflorus") in the Sydney area, the weedy privet species "Ligustrum lucidum" and "L. sinense", and firethorn species "Pyracantha angustifolia" and "P. rogersiana" around Armidale.
The pied currawong's impact on smaller birds that are vulnerable to nest predation is controversial: several studies have suggested that the species has become a serious problem, but the truth of this widely held perception was queried in a 2001 review of the published literature on their foraging habits by Bayly and Blumstein of Macquarie University, who observed that common introduced birds were more affected than native birds. However, predation by pied currawongs has been a factor in the decline of Gould's petrel at a colony on Cabbage Tree Island, near Port Stephens in New South Wales; currawongs have been reported preying on adult seabirds. Their removal from the islands halted a decline of the threatened petrels. Furthermore, a University of New England study published in 2006 reported that the breeding success rates for the eastern yellow robin ("Eopsaltria australis") and scarlet robin ("Petroica boodang") on the New England Tablelands were improved after nests were protected and currawongs culled, and some yellow robins even re-colonised an area where they had become locally extinct. The presence of pied currawongs in Sydney gardens is negatively correlated with the presence of silvereyes ("Zosterops lateralis").
Birds forage singly or in pairs in summer, and more often in larger flocks in autumn and winter, during which time they are more likely to loiter around people and urban areas. They occasionally associate with Australian magpies ("Cracticus tibicen") or common starlings ("Sturnus vulgaris") when foraging. Birds have also been encountered with grey currawongs ("S. versicolor") and satin bowerbirds ("Ptilinorhynchus violaceus"). The species has been reported stealing food from other birds such as the Australian hobby ("Falco longipennis"), collared sparrowhawk ("Accipiter cirrocephalus"), and sulphur-crested cockatoo ("Cacatua galerita"). Pied currawongs will also harass each other. A 2007 study conducted by researchers from the Australian National University showed that white-browed scrubwren ("Sericornis frontalis") nestlings became silent when they heard the recorded sound of a pied currawong walking through leaf litter.
The mountains are part of the Bunya Mountains and Yarraman Important Bird Area which contains what is thought to be the largest population of the black-breasted button-quail. In the park, 120 species of bird have been recorded. Significant species include the wedge-tailed eagle, peregrine falcon, grey goshawk, brown cuckoo-dove, rose robin, eastern yellow robin, large-billed gerygone, and Australian golden whistler. The Bunya Mountains support the most westerly populations of many rainforest dwelling species, including green catbirds, regent bowerbirds, paradise riflebirds, eastern whipbirds, noisy pittas and the Australian logrunner. Some of the more commonly seen species include pied currawongs, laughing kookaburras, king parrots, crimson rosellas, sulphur-crested cockatoos, red-browed finches, white-browed scrubwrens, satin bowerbirds, wonga pigeons and brush turkeys.
In September 2016, it was reported by news media outlets that the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP) had issued Damage Mitigation Permits (DMP) which resulted in over 1,000 animals being culled on Hamilton Island between November 2014 and May 2016 by the Resort's operator. Over 18 months the cull resulted in the death of 599 common brushtail possums, 393 agile wallabies, 36 pied currawongs, 35 sulphur crested cockatoos, 3 torresian crows and 1 laughing kookaburra. The EHP stated the role of the permits were to allow the "ongoing management of some wildlife species to prevent unacceptable levels of damage, and to protect public safety at the airport and in the resort itself". The Resort management stated that "any culling of animals and birds is done as a last resort when all other methods have been exhausted". The RSPCA were unaware of any culling on the Island. The Resort’s management carried out the culls “to prevent damage or loss of property and to protect the health and wellbeing of staff, guests and other visitors”. Social media users were critical of the cull.
Fauna on the mountain includes swamp wallabies, deer, spotted-tailed quolls, southern brown bandicoots, grey-headed flying foxes, sugar gliders, wombats, possums, giant burrowing frogs, red-crowned toadlets, striped marsh frogs, eastern water dragons, water skinks, blue-tongued lizards, diamond pythons, red-bellied black snakes, golden-crowned snakes and broad-headed snakes, although it is not common to see snakes, as some sources state incorrectly. Common birds are lyrebirds, spotted turtle doves, kookaburras, satin bower birds, superb blue wrens, crimson rosellas, king parrots, white-headed pigeons, brown cuckoo-doves, silvereyes, eastern yellow robins, rainbow lorikeets, little wattlebirds, grey and pied butcherbirds, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, golden whistlers, topknot ("flocker") pigeons, wonga pigeons, Australian magpies, pied currawongs, Australian ravens, noisy miners, honeyeaters (Lewin's, New Holland, spinebill, yellow-faced) eastern whipbirds, white-browed scrub wrens, rufous fantails, red-browed finches, and welcome swallows. In 1804 a logrunner bird was collected on Mount Kembla, this being the first to be scientifically described, although it is not common to see logrunners, or brush turkeys as some sources incorrectly state.