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U r b a n B u s h S t o n e - c u r l e w R e s e a r c h P r o j e c t
The curlew count will still be run, but I have decided to run it over two seasons, with the first season being used to test and refine methods, and show a few people how to use the equipment. I have had some health problems to overcome, and it has been temporarily necessary to cut back my workload. The good news is that this will ultimately result in a much better count.
If You Signed Up.. As I say, the count is still on. If you are keen to con-tribute to the trials this season, I will need people to help test the equip-ment, test the sound broadcast, and establish the ‘hearing distance’ un-der different field condi-tions. These trials will be run between May and late July. Since there will be
less field work this season, and we will be spending time testing methods, there will be more scope for me to work to the schedules of participants. So, I still need assistance this season, and it would be great if you could con-firm your involvement.
Just send an email to: [email protected] reminding me of your con-tact details, and telling me when you are likely to be available to assist. For those that need it, I can assist with some fuel costs.
Greater Brisbane Curlew Count
The count continues but
there is a new schedule.
This has been a long breed-
ing season!
Foxes caught gobbling cur-
lew eggs.
Looking for winter curlew
flocks.
I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :
Curlew Count 1
2014-2015 Breeding Season 1
Discoveries 2
What’s next? 2
In the papers 3
Stay in touch 3
Contact details 3
C u r l e w Tr a c k e r s
2014-2015 Breeding Season Summary
The 2014-2015 breeding season was a busy one for curlews in southeast Queen-sland’s urban areas. Breed-ing started early- in mid August, and finished late- early March for some pairs. Birds in some parts of Bris-bane were badly affected by the violent summer storm that tore out trees and
dumped golf-ball sized hail on eggs and chicks. Some of the pairs I had under ob-servation lost eggs and chicks, but within a few days, many of the affected pairs laid new clutches. Based on the pairs of birds I have been watching, it looks as if a large proportion of pairs in the Brisbane area
laid three clutches this sea-son. Only two instances of egg predation were cap-tured by cameras– both foxes. On the basis of the information I have collected so for, it seems that egg predation in urban areas does not appear to occur frequently.
Indeed!
A late nest on Macleay Island. The eggs hatched in early
March.
M a y 2 0 1 5
breeding season to compensate for the equipment failures this season. I am also very interested in hearing about winter flocking. If you know of sites where this happens, I would be very interested to hear about them. We can only speculate as to where these flocking birds come from, and where they go when the flocks disband. Are they juvenile birds? Bache-
I have a lot of data to collate from this breed-ing season, and I will post some highlights, which already look in-teresting. Apart from that, the hotlines are now open for partici-pants in the trial work for the survey methods which will be run be-tween May and late July. Don’t forget to contact me if you are interested. I will be placing a few more cam-eras out in the field next
lors? Or something else? We just don’t know.
P a g e 2
What are we discovering?
and only a couple of peo-ple have reported this. So, I am skeptical about the fox and cat claims- that’s my job as a scientist, so please, if I doubt claims of fox or cat predation, don’t take it personally! Cats and foxes could well be taking chicks, but I don’t think this is as big a factor in chick mortality as has been claimed. The truth is probably more complex.So what do I base this opinion on? The most compelling evidence comes from captive breed-ing programs in Victoria where breeding birds lose one of two chicks despite being housed in predator-proof pens. They are kept under video surveillance, which shows that one chick always seems less capable of finding food. Measurements of these chicks show that the one
that succumbs usually weighs less too. By about the tenth day after hatch-ing, the less robust chick usually succumbs. In cap-tivity, the less robust chicks can be saved with supplementary feeding and care, but in the wild, its doubtful that a ‘weakling’ would survive. This could account for many of the disappear-ances that are blamed on cats and foxes. So why would curlews produce two chicks if only one will ever survive? Perhaps we need to start searching for an answer to that question by looking at other better know birds where one chick outcompetes an-other and ends up a sole survivor. (I guess that’s a job for me.) Other birds where this occurs are Aus-tralian Pelicans.
Despite having problems with cheap cameras and being generally under-funded, the curlew re-search is living up to my expectations. Since the species is little studied, there are new findings about their natural history and ecology. Here is a sample! A lot of the citi-zen scientists keeping breeding pairs under close observation over pro-longed periods notice that one of the two chicks that hatch usually disappear, never to be seen again. The next thing I am usually told is that ‘cats would have taken them; there’s a lot around here’ or equally, ‘foxes got them, for sure’. But nobody has actually seen either of things (or at least told me of it). The only predators that have actually been seen taking chicks are Kookaburras,
“I am very keen to
find winter
flocking of
curlews. If you
know of sites
where this
happens, please
let me know!”
M a y 2 0 1 5
What’s next?
Nests only tell us part of the
curlew story. Where do they go
after breeding?
Have a look what's in its beak. At two
separate locations, I have found curlews
collecting cigarette butts and using them
in the nest.
Can you tell whether this is a nest in
bushland? Or is it in an urban area?
C u r l e w T r a c k e r s
The weekend supplement to the
Courier Mail recently carried a story
on urban wildlife, part of which was
devoted to urban curlews. The
author and the photographer spent a
full day with me looking at curlews
and discussing the research.
I also sent them off to talk to some of
the citizen scientists that participate
in the research. I was really pleased
to see that the authors did just that,
and one of the keenest volunteers,
George Chickenhawk (as you
guessed, not his real name) was able
to tell his own story and relate his
own observations of curlews. For a
tabloid newspaper not usually inter-
ested in wildlife, other than the
hackneyed cute and cuddly stories,
they did a great job.
In addition to curlews, they covered
research by Darryl Jones on Bush
Turkeys.
Its worth a read.!
P a g e 3
Project Facebook Page
Project Raises Tone of Murdocx Paper
post pictures of our cats and tell everyone who’s eating muffins.
There are a lot of observa-tions posted there, some interesting discussion, and some excellent photos with accompanying sto-ries.
In fact, a significant num-ber of project ‘leads’ have come from the facebook page.
If you have some photos or want more to follow the project work more closely, have a look at the project facebook page. If you search on the internet for “Bush Stone Curlews” you will find it. Or go to
https://www.facebook.com/BushStonecurlews
Its not your run of the mill facebook page where we
“Passers by could reach out
and touch it. Or destroy
the eggs. The nest is no
more than a bit of leaf litter
scratched together on the
ground..”
-Leisa Scott in QWEEKEND
QWEEKEND of 11-12 April 2015 featured an article on urban wildlife. A
large part of the article looked at urban curlew research .
Contact the project:
Mob: 0457328442
E-mail:
https://www.facebook.com/
BushStonecurlews
I am affiliated with:
Griffith University
Environmental Futures Centre
N55 Environment One
170 Kessels Road
Nathan Queensland 4111
The Bush Stone-curlew (Burhinus grallarius) was once common over most of Australia. It has recently declined in most of
southern Australia, where populations are now much reduced and fragmented. In several states, recovery programs have
been implemented to reverse the decline. In the subtropics, we are lucky. The birds are still common in many areas, includ-
ing some urban centres. To help conserve these birds and prevent further declines it makes sense to study them in places
where they are still common and seem to be doing well. We might gain some important insights that will make a difference
to the recovery programs, and help us prevent declines where we are lucky enough to have these birds.
This newsletter keeps citizen scientists informed about the Urban Curlew Ecology project. The Project is dedicated to docu-
menting the ecology of Bush Stone-curlews in urban areas, and applying science to the conservation of this bird. This is a
PhD project run by M. Scott O’Keeffe, a student at the Environmental Futures Research Institute at Griffith University.
The newsletter keeps citizen scientists who are participating in the research informed of project schedules, and provides some insights into the findings of the research. Contributions are welcome, but if you want to have them seen quickly, post them on the facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/BushStonecurlews
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