Blast From the Past- Michaelmas Cay

This small island off the coast of Queensland is situated in the Great Barrier Reef. Many tropical seabirds breed on the island. Most of the birds are common noddies and sooty terns, but mixed in with them are bridled terns, brown boobies, great crested terns, lesser crested terns and silvergulls, among others. I had the fortune to visit this island in 2012 on a snorkelling cruise, and I never forgot it.

The moment I saw the small dot of sand on the horizon, I could see seabirds on the island like huge clouds. Any bit of flotsam in the turquoise blue waves immediately became a perch for seabirds. Soon I could see the birds more clearly and the island was a strip of sand instead of just a little dot. A diving cage was put out, and almost immediately a brown noddy landed on it.

Small boats were sent out to the island and I got in one. Soon I heard the dull thump of the boat hitting the sandy beach. It was like heaven. The terns were everywhere!

SOOTY TERN WITH YOUNG Onychoprion fuscatus

As I watched, a sooty tern landed and started feeding its young. A brown booby bird swooped down from the sky and landed on a sign, then flying down to a rope separating us from the nests. I looked further across the high grassy part of the island and saw a colony of swift terns, with two lesser crested terns in the background. It was amazing!

BROWN BOOBY Sula leucogaster

BROWN BOOBY Sula leucogaster

SWIFT TERNS Thalasseus bergii AND LESSER CRESTED TERNS Thalasseus bengalensis

Soon, people started being sent out for snorkelling with their guides. I got to go in as well. As I slipped into the water I saw beautiful coral swaying in the waves. A lionfish played in the rocks as a parrotfish fed. I even saw a giant clam!

YELLOWFIN PARROTFISH Scarus flavipectoralis

If I had the chance, I would gladly visit Michaelmas Cay again. 

Megafauna Birds

A long, long time ago, in the time of the Pleistocene era, the area we know as Greater Melbourne was a vast grassland, with patches of open woodland. On this grassland lived many different creatures, from giant monitor lizards to wombats 1.7 metres long. This included various different birds.
Emus shared the open woodlands with another bird, the much larger Newton's mihirung Genyornis newtoni. It weighed 275 kilograms and grew to 2.15 metres high. The Newton's mihirung was the last survivor from an ancient family of birds that dominated the landscape for over 50 million years and were related to ducks and geese. Around 8 different species have been identified. The biggest was Dromornis stilton which stood three metres tall and weighed about a tonne, but went extinct in the Pleistocene. Though some early species of mihirung such as Bullockornis planei (the demon duck) were probably carnivores, the Newton's mihirung used its thick bill to snap up shrubs. As grassland spread throughout the Pleistocene landscape, the mihirung found it harder to find a nice habitat and eventually went extinct.

AUSTRALIAN BRUSH TURKEY Alectura lathami

Currently in Australia there are only three different species of megapode. These are the Australian brush turkey, the malleefowl and the orange-footed scrubfowl. Back in the Pleistocene there was another species. The giant malleefowl, Progura gallinacea, was 1.30 metres long and weighed 5-7 kilograms, compared with the modern-day malleefowl's 60 cm length and 2.5 kilogram weight. Like modern malleefowl, the giant mallefowl probably laid its eggs in mounds. These mounds are made of soil and compost. The heat from this incubates the eggs. The giant malleefowl was not the only giant bird in the Pleistocene. Most birds had larger forms back then. The giant coucal Centropus colossus was another of them. It probably looked a lot like the modern day pheasant coucal C. phasianinus, the only Australian coucal species that survives today. Coucals are a genus of cuckoos. Most have barred chests and long tails. Unlike normal cuckoos, they make their own nests and raise their own young instead of laying their eggs in another bird's nest. They prefer running into the undergrowth rather than flying, though they are not flightless. The giant coucal was probably even more terrestrial and was not as good at flying as the modern coucal.

HORSEFIELD'S BRONZE CUCKOO Chrysococcyx basalis

Flamingoes also once flew in Australian skies. There were different species, such as Phoeniconotius eyrensis, which lived in Lake Eyre in South Australia (at that time it was a vast inland lake home to waterbirds, lungfish, crocodiles and many marsupials), alongside another species P. novaehollandiae.  It is thought that these flamingoes were slightly larger than the living great flamingo Phoenicopteris ruber. As Australia dried out and inland waterways disappeared, flamingoes started to become extinct. Now the only flamingoes in Australia are occasional vagrants to the Cocos-Keeling Islands.
Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea were all joined together, so some New Guinean birds also lived in Australia. The northern (Casuarius unappendiculatus) and dwarf cassowaries (C. bennetti) are now restricted to New Guinea, but were once found in Australia as well. The southern cassowary (C. casuarius), the only cassowary species that still lives in Australia, probably got here by coming over the land bridge.

Gulls of Australia

There are three different resident species of gull that can be found in and around Australia. One is endemic to Australia while the other two are not. Two are in the genus Larus, while one is in the genus Chroicocephalus. 

PACIFIC GULL Larus pacificus with SILVER GULLS Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae

KELP GULL Larus dominicanus

SILVER GULL Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae

The Pacific gull, Larus pacificus, is endemic to southern Australia. It has black wings, a white head, yellow legs, white underparts and a yellow beak with a red tip. Both mandibles of the beak have the red tip. Juveniles are mottled-brown with pinkish bills tipped in black. There are two subspecies. The eastern subspecies pacificus prefers sheltered beaches for its home, while the western georgii doesn't mind exposed shores. Both subspecies are uncommon and usually seen alone or in pairs. They eat molluscs, fish and other small marine animals. They often fly up and drop shellfish on rocks to try and break the shell. They nest in pairs or loose colonies on offshore islands. There are two types of nest. Some birds use a scrape in the ground lined with small stones or gravel, while others build small, shallow bowls made of sticks, grass, seaweed and feathers. Both parents build the nest and the female does most of the incubation, while the male guards the nest and brings the female food. One to three (usually two) eggs are laid. Altona Beach at low tide is a good place to see this bird.

The kelp gull, Larus dominicanus, can be found in southern Australia, most of the sub-Antarctic islands, New Zealand and parts of Africa and South America. It looks rather like a Pacific gull.  Indeed, the two species can be very hard to tell apart. However, two things can be used to tell them apart. The kelp gull is much smaller and less stocky than the large Pacific gull, and only one of its mandibles has a red tip. Juveniles look similar, coloured mottled brown. Like the Pacific gull it prefers sheltered parts of the coast. It mostly eats fish and crustaceans, but it doesn't mind scavenging when it gets to. Also like the Pacific gull, it drops shellfish from a height to crack open their shells. It nests in loose colonies or scattered pairs. The nest is either a loose pile of material on the ground near rocks, or a bowl of stems, grasses and seaweeds. Both adults build the nest, incubate the 2 to 3 eggs and feed the young.

The silver gull, Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae, is found throughout Australia and also in New Caledonia. It was once considered the same species as the closely related New Zealand red-billed gull and African Hartlaub's gull. It has a white head and underparts. Its wings are light grey, tipped with black. Adult birds have bright orange-red bills, eye-rings and legs. Immature and subadult birds have black where the adult birds have red. Juvenile birds have brown mottling on their wings and also have black bills, eye-rings and legs. Silver gulls can be found at pretty much any wetland and rarely fly far from land. They are successful scavengers who pester people for scraps and steal from food containers and rubbish tips. They will also eat worms, fish, insects and crustaceans. They nest in large colonies on offshore islands. Two broods are often raised in a year. The nest is a shallow scrape in the ground lined with vegetation. 3 eggs are laid. Both parents build the nest, incubate the eggs and feed the young.

Several other species have turned up in Australia as vagrants. Black-headed gulls, Sabine's gulls, laughing gulls, mew gulls, Franklin's gulls, black-tailed gulls and lesser black-backed gulls have all been seen. The laughing and Franklin's gulls are in the genus Leucophaeus. The black-headed gull is in the genus Chroicocephalus. The Sabine's gull is in the genus Xema. All the other vagrants are in the genus Larus.

Those are the gulls found in Australia.

Birding a wetland in Hawaii

I haven't been able to bird for some time now so I am going to give you a flashback of the past, when I was in Hawaii for a trip and on a birding tour on the island of Oahu. I had passed a blowhole and seen white-tailed tropicbirds, zebra doves, Java sparrows and a mongoose. Now I was going to go to one of the few remaining wetlands on Oahu, where endemic Hawaiian waterbirds could be found. I think the moment I knew we were there was when I spotted an endangered Hawaiian stilt on the sidewalk . . .

HAWAIIAN STILT Himantopus mexicanus knudseni

We stopped and everyone started taking photos of the stilt before it flew off into the wetland on the other side of the road. Immediately I spotted a distant Hawaiian duck, though it was probably a Hawaiian X mallard hybrid. Hawaiian ducks are now found only on Oahu, the Big Island and Kaua'i. In Oahu, mallards have hybridised with them and now only a few birds in the far north of the island are purebred. I took a few photos then looked a bit further for a Hawaiian coot. I spotted two non-endemic wetland birds that are common wherever there is water or a lot of grass in Oahu - a black-crowned night heron and a Pacific golden plover. The birds were coming right up to us! A normally secretive Hawaiian moorhen was slowly coming out of the grass and giving us great views! Even more Hawaiian stilts were feeding in the water and I thought I saw a Hawaiian duck nesting!

HAWAIIAN X MALLARD DUCK Anas wyvilliana X platyrhynchos

HAWAIIAN COOT Fulica alai (can you see it?)

HAWAIIAN MOORHEN Gallinula chloropus sandvicensis

BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON Nycticorax nycticorax hoactli

PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER Pluvialis fulva

All too soon, it was time to go, but I shall always remember that wetland for the easiest and most productive birding I have ever done. 

MYSTERY RAPTOR

On the O'Reilly's Retreat Bird Week, I managed to see this raptor from the balcony of our room. I first thought it was a whistling kite, but I am not so sure now. I do not think it is a square-tailed kite. Could it be a whistling kite with sun shining on its head so much that the camera made the head look white? I don't know. Do you? If you can tell me what this raptor is, please do by commenting on this post.

A photo of the bird 

A cropped version of the above photo

Pigeons and Doves from around Australia (in no real taxonomic order)

GENUS COLUMBA

Three species of pigeon in the genus Columba can be found in Australia. One, the white-throated pigeon of Lord Howe Island, is now extinct. The other, the rock pigeon, is an introduced species. Finally, there is the only native Columba species left- the white-headed pigeon.

WHITE-HEADED PIGEON Columba leucomela

ROCK PIGEON Columba livia

TURTLEDOVES

A turtledove is any bird in the genus Streptopelia. There are three species of turtledove in mainland Australia, all introduced. A fourth, the red-collared dove, has been introduced to Christmas Island. The barbary dove, laughing dove and spotted dove are the three species of turtledove on the mainland. By far the commonest and most widespread is the spotted dove. The laughing dove can only be found in south-western Western Australia, while the barbary dove is very rare and the main population is in Alice Springs.

SPOTTED DOVE Streptopelia chinensis

CUCKOO-DOVES
There are three genera of pigeons known as cuckoo-doves. Only one species of cuckoo-dove can be found in Australia- the brown cuckoo-dove from the genus Macropygia. 

BROWN CUCKOO-DOVE Macropygia amboinensis

EMERALD DOVE
There are two species of emerald dove- the common emerald dove and the Stephen's emerald dove. Only the common emerald dove is found in Australia. It has a brown head and brown underparts, as well as emerald green wings. Males have a grey crown. Both species of emerald dove are in the genus Chalcophaps. The common emerald dove can be found all the way from Australia to Sri Lanka, but the Stephen's emerald dove is only found in New Guinea, Indonesia and the Solomon Islands.

BRONZEWING PIGEONS
There are three species of bronzewing pigeon in Australia, all in the genus Phaps. The commonest of these is the common bronzewing. The brush bronzewing is commonest in dry forests and is only found in southern Australia. The rarer flock bronzewing is found in inland Australia and is very nomadic, travelling around the desert in huge flocks.

COMMON BRONZEWING Phaps chalcoptera

CRESTED PIGEON
The crested pigeon is the only bird in the genus Ocyphaps. It has an erect crest and it is very common in its range- it is in fact one of the commonest birds at the school I go to, Essendon North Primary.

CRESTED PIGEON Ocyphaps lophotes

SPINIFEX, SQUATTER AND PARTRIDGE PIGEONS
These three pigeons inhabit northern and inland Australia and are all in the genus Geophaps. 

ROCK-PIGEONS
There are two species of rock-pigeon. The chestnut-quilled rock-pigeon is endemic to Kakadu National Park, while the white-quilled is found in the Kimberly area.

NATIVE DOVES
These three birds are all in the genus Geopelia. The diamond dove is a bird of inland Australia, inhabiting lightly arid areas near water. The bar-shouldered dove is the largest of the three doves and can be found in northern and eastern Australia. The peaceful dove can be found throughout Australia, except for in southern Victoria, Tasmania and south-western Australia. It is closely related to the Indonesian zebra dove.

PEACEFUL DOVE Geopelia placida

WONGA PIGEON
The wonga pigeon is the only bird in the genus Leucosarcia. In most places it is a shy bird that will take flight rather easily. However, at O'Reilly's there are very tame wonga pigeons that will come very close to you. The wonga pigeon is generally found in rainforests and wet eucalypt forests.

WONGA PIGEON Leucosarcia melanoleuca

FRUIT-DOVES

A fruit-dove is any bird in the genus Ptilinopus. These colourful, fruit-eating doves can be found in forests and woodlands in Southeast Asia, Australasia and Oceania. There are about 50 species of fruit-dove- some are threatened and some are already extinct. 3 of these can be found in mainland Australia- the superb, wompoo and rose-crowned fruit-dove.

WOMPOO FRUIT-DOVE Ptilinopus magnificus

GROUND-DOVES
Only one species of ground-dove could be found in Australia- the Norfolk Island Ground-Dove. That bird is now extinct.

IMPERIAL-PIGEONS
One species of imperial-pigeon can be found in mainland Australia regularly- the pied imperial-pigeon. On the Torres Strait Islands, the collared imperial-pigeon can also be seen, and the elegant imperial-pigeon is a rare vagrant to Darwin. The pied imperial pigeon is rather common near the coast in northern Australia, especially in Cairns.

PIED IMPERIAL-PIGEON Ducula bicolor

TOPKNOT PIGEON
The topknot pigeon is the only bird in the genus Lopholaimus. It has grey wings, light greyish underparts, a red bill and a reddish-brown crest. It eats fruit.

NEW ZEALAND PIGEON
Though once found on Norfolk Island, this bird is now extinct on the island, though it is still quite common in New Zealand.

A visit to Phillip Island

Yesterday my family and I all went to Phillip Island, to spend the day at a holiday home some friends of ours owned. I managed to fit some birding into the trip.
When we got to the holiday home, I saw a common blackbird on top of a fence. I told my mother and father where I would like to go. We had a bit of a talk about it and decided that we would all go to the Nobbies Visitor Centre.
For those of you who don't know Phillip Island, the Nobbies are a series of rocky islands and cliffs about 1.5 kilometres away from the Seal Rocks (home to a colony of Australian fur seals). Underneath these cliffs are some rocks where terns and gulls nest along with the occasional black-faced cormorant and sooty oystercatcher. In bad weather the Nobbies can be a good place to watch for sea-going birds. Shy albatrosses, black-browed albatrosses, short-tailed shearwaters and Australian gannets are the most common seabirds.
When we got to the Nobbies the weather was fine (generally a bad sign). We decided we would try our luck anyway. We looked around a bit and saw some silver gulls. Then we walked to the cliff. There is a boardwalk that goes down the cliff. At the top of the cliff, there are two telescopes that provide views of the rocks. Right under the boardwalk, I managed to spot a little penguin.

The penguin

After spotting the penguin, I looked around again. Underneath us were some rocks, and on these rocks were thousands of crested terns, along with a few silver gulls. 

 We walked further along the boardwalk, getting better looks at the birds on the rocks. Eventually, we came to the end of the boardwalk. I spotted several kelp gulls, including two brown juvenile birds, as well as a sooty oystercatcher. I carefully scanned the ocean, but I couldn't see anything.

A kelp gull

We walked back to a spot where the boardwalk split into two boardwalks. My father, my friend Dylan and I went along here and spotted 8 black-faced cormorants with some crested terns.

After eating some barbecued sausages and garlic bread for lunch, we drove down to the Cowes Jetty for a seal-watching cruise. We passed the Nobbies and saw all the birds mentioned before, including one great cormorant. In the stretch of water between Seal Rocks and the Nobbies, I saw some medium-sized, black birds flying around the waves. Short-tailed shearwaters were flying around the boat. Eventually, we got to the Seal Rocks. There were fur seals everywhere- lying on the ground, swimming in the water. We saw crested terns, silver gulls, black-faced cormorants and kelp gulls on the island as well- apparently kelp gulls breed on the rocks. 

Lots and lots of seals

A crested tern with a fish in its mouth

A seal swimming near the boat

A male and female seal

Soon, we had to head back to the holiday home. We quickly got ready and went to a beach nearby. There were huge, red rocks on the beach which I quickly climbed. I didn't see many birds- just 1 silver gull. We got back, got out of our bathers, got in our pyjamas and drove home, happy and satisfied with the great day we had.