Bird Banding in Cape York, Australia

Although many people elsewhere in the world have been in some form of lock-down or another due to Covid, I have been busy in the field most of the past year as Canberra has been relatively free of the nasty bug - so far. In consequence, I am only now catching up on cataloging last year's photographs. This set is from a bird-banding trip to Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) National Park in Cape York, north Queensland, that was organised by Jon Coleman, back in late November - early December. This was all done as part of a long-term study by various people over the years of the birds in rainforest in the area, so it was good to be able to fulfill this year's effort and maintain the continuity of the study. The first survey in this study was done in 1990, and a total of 5988 birds have been banded, including 712 birds in 2020. And 54 birds were re-trapped in 2020 from earlier capture in previous years. 618 birds have been re-trapped in the whole study. I do not aim to detail all the species banded/ringed in this post, merely portray a selection of species that we caught, some of which are only found in that part of Australia.

Frill-necked Monarch Arses lorealis, a flycatcher which in Australia is restricted to the wet forests in Cape York. Like many of the species caught in this study, this species' range is between far north-east Australia and New Guinea.

This is an adult male, females have pale lores and do not have a black chin.

White-faced Robin Tegellasia leucops. One of the more commonly seen rainforest birds in the study area. Mostly because they hunt in typical robin style of perching on low branches then pouncing on prey on the ground. It might be commonly seen, but only locally, as in Australia it is restricted to the Cape York peninsula.

White-faced Robin. Yes it has white face.

White-streaked Honeyeater Trichodere cockerelli. A true Cape York bird as it endemic to the area. We watched these birds feeding on nectar from flowers in the high canopy of the forest.

White-streaked Honeyeater. As with so many birds, the details that can be discerned when in the hand give a different impression of the bird seen in the canopy. Here the elaborate spiky white feathers on the throat show how the streaked effect is formed. And those subtle yellow tufts are exquisite. 

Tawny-breasted Honeyeater Xanthotis flaviventer. This is another trans Cape York - New Guinea species, although it isn't restricted to rainforest as it can be found in other wooded habitats. The wavy white line below the eye is a diagnostic feature on this otherwise generally brown coloured bird.

Grey Whistler Pachycephala simplex. This is another species whose range extends over northern Australia and New Guinea. Small green-grey birds are easily overlooked in a forest.

Magnificent Riflebird Ptiloris magnificus, adult female. There are three species of Riflebird (members of the BIrds of Paradise family) in Australia, all separate in their ranges and this is the most northern one, which ranges between Cape York and New Guinea.

Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo Cacomantis castaneiventris. A cuckoo of dense rainforest, hence in Australia mostly confined to the Cape York peninsula, close to its main range throughout New Guinea.

Little Bronze-Cuckoo Chalcites minutillus. This of the minutillus sub-species as recognised by the wide black and white markings on the outer tail feathers. This sub-species ranges across northern Australia, the archipelago of Indonesia and New Guinea, and south east Asia.

Little Bronze-Cuckoo. The tail pattern is diagnostic between the various species of Bronze-Cuckoos. The metallic lustre on the bird's back and coverts show why they are named Bronze-Cuckoos. 

Lovely Fairy-wren Malurus amabilis. Adult male on the left, female on the right. These birds inhabit the edges of the forest, sticking to the scrub along the edges of clearings. They are known hosts of the Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo, above.

Yellow-breasted Boatbill Machaerirhynchus flaviventer, adult male. 

Yellow-breasted Boatbill, adult female. 

Yellow-breasted Boatbill - this shows why they are named boatbill. This is a flycatcher and I have watched them catch insects in the air, but I do not know the advantage of the unusual bill shape.

Noisy Pitta Pitta versicolor. This is a common species of rainforest or wet forest gullies all along the eastern fringe of Australia, but that does not detract anything from the privilege to see them up close. They are predominantly green, yellow, brown and black so easily missed when foraging on the forest floor. Although the lustrous blue on their wings and rump shine must shine when they flash them.

Shining Flycatcher Myiagra alecto, adult female. 

Shining Flycatcher, adult male. 

Shining Flycatcher, adult male. The blue plumage shines in the dappled light of the forest, especially that on the crown and throat.

Shining Flycatcher, adult male. The bright orange of the inside of the bird's bill is so vibrant in contrast to the shining blue of its plumage that it must be an important component of their display.

I find the colours and forms of all birds fascinating, when considering their purpose, and in the dark understorey of rainforest, little details help the birds shine and be seen by their con-specifics. 

I always see something new when I visit rainforests, and on this trip I saw rather a lot. My thanks to Jon for organising the trip.

Ringing Golden Eagle chicks

Golden Eagle habitat in ancient pinewood of the eastern Highlands

As it is now the second week of June, the Golden Eagles chicks in Scotland are well grown, between three and five weeks old. So it is time to ring them while they can be handled easily and safely, for the birds' sake, more than ours.

I was out helping Ewan Weston ring the chicks in some of the nests which he monitors and in three that we checked, all had twins. This is a sign of plenty food and fair weather, and now that they have reached this age, they should all fledge. His study area is in the eastern Highlands and all three nests were in Scots Pines, magnificent old trees

An eyrie set on the upper branches of one of the pines

The adult birds gave a silent fly-past as we approached the nest tree, then they slinked off to watch us from a distant perch. Meanwhile the chicks remained silent too, lying flat and inconspicuous in the eyrie until Ewan came within reach and showed his head over the edge of the nest. He then gently placed them into a bag and lowered them down to be ringed and measured on the ground.

One eaglet sits up on the nest while the other lies low on the far side

In each of the three nests, there was one male and one female chick - the females recognisable by their larger size, especially that of their feet, legs and head. The flight feathers on Golden Eaglets begin to show dark against the white down when the chicks are about four weeks old, and the birds generally lie quietly when laid in the heather below the eyrie while they are ringed. When older, some will strike out with their talons, and hiss, but they seldom snap with their bills.

The chicks were lowered down the tree in a bag for safe processing on the ground

Simon Cherriman from Perth, Australia, who is visiting Scotland with me at the moment came along to learn how we ringed eagles and Jenny Lennon, Ewan's partner, helped guide him through the process. Although the chicks were docile, the rings need to be extra-strong, so that the birds cannot open them and take them off once fully grown. And so, the rings are especially tough to fit and close securely.

Ringing one of the chicks

Each bird was fitted with a standard ring issued by the British Trust for Ornithology, and a colour-ring on the other leg which can be more easily read if the birds venture into the line of view of many of the remote cameras which are being set up throughout the Highlands. This will help to inform us on how much interaction there might be between Golden Eagle home-ranges. Anyone visiting eagle eyries or ringing of eagle chicks must have a licence from Scottish Natural heritage to do so and we were all covered for the work we were doing.

Each bird was fitted with an individually numbered colour ring 

It only took a few minutes to ring the chicks then they were measured to ensure that even if it looked like the larger birds were female they did in fact fit the criteria.  

Several measurements were taken to determine which sex the chicks were, here the hind claw

These young birds already had large talons and bills, but wait until they are fully grown. Then they are really impressive.

And their heads were measured

Ewan, Jenny and I have ringed lots of eaglets the years, so all was done most efficiently and the birds were passed back up the tree. Then we were gone. The chicks lay quietly in their nest and the adults would soon return - as quietly as they left.

And the birds were all set to be returned to the eyrie

Woodswallows

Adult male white-browed woodswallow

I was helping to catch and band birds on a field study run by Richard Allen last weekend at the Weddin Mountains. The weather on Sunday was a bit windy for efficient mist-netting but we caught 108 birds, mostly on the Saturday.

The main birds of the trip were woodswallows. There was a flock of about 700 flying overhead most of Saturday, and they were coming down to feed on nectar from flowering Ironbark trees, then they came in to roost in the trees at dusk. The main species was white-browed, of which we caught 40, and there were also masked (2 caught) and dusky (1 caught).

A dusky woodswallow on the left and

a white-browed woodswallow on the right

Among the other birds we caught were a male and female sacred kingfisher,

Male sacred kingfisher

and a one of those wonderful kingfishers, a kookaburra.

Kookaburra

Ringing golden eagle chicks


I spent Monday ringing golden eagle chicks with Ewan who is studying their habitat use. All three nests were in Scots pines and there was only one chick in each, which is unusual for the area they live in. They often rear three chicks as there is abundant prey in the area, mostly mountain hares, red grouse and ptarmigan.

Ewan climbing up to one nest which requires skilled rope-work to do so safely.

Me with a five-week old chick. The eyries are so large that there is plenty room to sit on the nest along with the bird.

Two plucked red grouse lie in the nest with the chick.