Bird vomit, the tour leader and the butcherbird 'sweet tooth'

2015·0.84 MB·English

by  John Harris

Naturalist Notes
7. Maintenance be monitored during each inspection include
In order to establish aquatic vegetation in wet¬ photo points (Fig. 3) plant health, weed inva¬
lands, it is crucial to eradicate and suppress the sion, the effects of rainfall and evaporation on
establishment of certain key weeds by means water levels, any impacts from wave action,
of a well budgeted, designed and implemented water salinity, turbidity and pH, impacts from
weed control strategy, which includes timely pedestrian traffic or dog walking, wetland bird
application of appropriate methods, monitor¬ grazing and fauna colonisation.
ing and follow up. High threat wetland weeds
References
in Victoria are ranked in DSE (2008). Ideally Butcher R (2008) Wetlands with and without water: a guide
weed control should be carried out by specialist to Wimmera wetland hydrology. Wimmera Catchment
Management Authority, Horsham. Victoria.
contractors or skilled volunteers with proven
Clewell A, Rieger J and Munro ) (2005) Guidelines for De¬
ability to identify indigenous and weed species. veloping ana Managing Ecological Restoration Projects.
If performed correctly, weed control will en¬ 2nd edn. Society for Ecological Restoration International.
www.ser.org
courage regeneration of indigenous species and Department of Conservation and Environment and Office of
result in successful vegetation establishment. the Environment (DCE) (1992) An Assessment of Victo¬
ria's wetlands. Department of Conservation and Environ¬
ment, Melbourne.
8. Monitoring
Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) (2008)
Regular inspections of establishing wetland Advisory List of Environmental Weeds of Aquatic Habitats
vegetation should be made over the first 12 of Victoria. Department of Sustainability and Environ¬
ment, Melbourne.
months to monitor its progress and assess if Roberts J and Marston E (2011) Water regime for wetland
adaptive management is required. The fre¬ and floodplain plants: a source book for the Murray-Dar¬
ling Basin. National Water Commission, Canberra.
quency of these inspections should be between
every two to four weeks, and additional visits
should be triggered by large rainfall events that
Received 17 April 2014; accepted 16 July 2015
may cause flooding. The checklist of things to
Bird vomit, the tour leader and the butcherbird ‘sweet tooth’
While visiting Uluru last year, Fred Bohner, lerp casings of the nymph stages of psyllid in¬
Kathy Himbeck and I decided to do the Mu- sects. It was a heavy infestation on the sapling
titjulu Waterhole walk. While we were taking gums, as can be seen in Fig. 1.
our time birdwatching and enjoying the scen¬ Being a Stickler for correcting misinformation,
ery of this sacred place, a pair of Pied Butcher¬ especially about natural history, I spoke to the
birds Cracticus nigrogularis were seen regularly guide quietly and let her know that the ‘vomit’
taking food back to their nest. After observing was in fact the sugary secretions of sap-sucking
these birds for a few minutes wc walked further insects. She was going to check with her source
and caught up to a tour group from a well- of information, a local Anangu young man,
known Australian/New Zealand bus tour com¬ who was a fellow tour leader. Whether the bird
pany. Not wanting to walk through the group, vomit relates to a traditional story, I have been
as their tour leader was talking with them, we unable to determine.
stood back and listened to her spiel. Our in¬ On our return walk from the waterhole, I ob¬
terest in what she was saying was heightened served an immature butcherbird on the ground,
when she started referring to a white coating all picking up items from the soil and eating them.
over the leaves of some small saplings as bird As the bird was distracted by what it was doing,
vomit’. On a closer inspection, after the group I was able to get close enough to take a series of
had moved on, the ‘vomit’ was found to be the photos. After the bird flew off, I walked over to
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Vol 132 (5) 2015