Insecticide blamed for the deaths of 200 native birds, including wedge-tailed eagles

Environment officials are unsure whether the poisoning of the birds in northeast Victoria was an accident

Australian Associated Press

Mon 7 Oct 2019 02.16 BSTFirst published on Mon 7 Oct 2019 02.03 BST

An insecticide is likely to be behind the deaths of almost 200 native birds in northeast Victoria, environment officials believe.

After dead wedge-tailed eagles were found near Violet Town in August the state’s environment department found more – along with hawks and falcons – on a nearby property.

They have since found up to 200 dead native birds in the area, including 25 wedge-tailed eagles.

Tests on six eagles have detected an insecticide used to control mites.

The same agricultural chemical has been found in the carcasses of animals suspected of being used as bait. The department believes it may have caused all the bird deaths. But it is not sure whether the poisoning was accidental.

“It remains unclear if these birds were deliberately poisoned, however given the large number of birds found nearby, it’s a possibility,” the environment department compliance manager, Andrew Dean, said.

Raids have also taken place in recent weeks at properties in Shepparton East and Goomalibee.

“All evidence collected will be forensically analysed, including the carcasses and chemicals seized, which may take some time,” Dean said.

Native birds are protected under the Wildlife Act and deliberately killing them can result in a fine of up to $39,652 or up to two years in prison.

Rare, 'Dalmatian-like' spotted magpie photographed beside Victorian road

By Emma Siossian

Updated 13 Sep 2019, 8:07am

Sandy Goddard was travelling from work this week, on a road she uses most days, when an unusual sight caught her eye.

Key points:

A rare spotted magpie with a beak full of worms has been seen outside Geelong, Victoria

The bird's unusual colouring is caused by a condition called leucism

Local residents say they suspect it is feeding young

"I spotted him on the side of the road just outside of Geelong, in Victoria," Ms Goddard said.

"I thought it was a weird looking rock at first. Then he moved!"

Ms Goddard enjoys bird photography and said she was lucky to capture some clear images, after stopping on the side of the road.

"I really hope he doesn't get hit by a car, it's a bloody busy road," she said.

"He was right out the front of a house and they probably see him everyday and don't even realise how special it is."

Magpie a rare bird

Birdlife Australia's Mick Roderick said the bird's unusual spots were caused by a rare condition called leucism, a genetic variation in the cells responsible for producing black pigment.

"Birders would probably describe [it] as being 'piebald', but its plumage is explained by a condition called 'leucism'," he said.

"It's very uncommon.

"This bird has a good mix of dark (normal) and leucistic feathers, which is what makes it look piebald."

Last year, a rare white leucistic magpie was found in Adelaide Parklands.

'Dalmatian magpie'

While most Australians are familiar with magpies and their distinctive, warbling song which resonates through both bush and city, many keen twitchers report they have never seen a magpie quite like this before.

Ms Goddard's photos were shared on a bird photography page on social media, where they have generated a lot of interest.

Continued

More than 100 wedge-tailed eagles found dead on Victorian farm

The eagles – and four other protected species – are alleged to have been poisoned

Calla Wahlquist

Thu 7 Jun 2018 04.27 BSTLast modified on Thu 7 Jun 2018 04.28 BST

More than 100 wedge-tailed eagles have been found on a farm in eastern Victoria, prompting a criminal investigation.

Officers from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) found the carcasses on a property at Tubbut, which is on the edge of the Snowy River national park near the New South Wales border in East Gippsland.

Guardian Australia understands that the eagles are alleged to have been poisoned.

The penalty for deliberately killing the animals, which are a protected species under the Victorian Wildlife Act, is a fine of up to $7,928.50 or six months’ imprisonment. An additional penalty of $792.85 is applicable for each additional bird killed, which could push the maximum fine in this case to more than $90,000.

A spokesman from DELWP said the matter was still under investigation and that charges had not yet been laid.

“DELWP is taking this matter very seriously,” he said.

Continued

Many birds

WATCH: Victoria’s hummingbird live cam a big hit with online audiences

By Yuliya Talmazan Global News

A live stream of a hummingbird nest in Victoria is attracting hundreds of bird watchers, and the man behind it is now being courted by BBC to help produce a documentary about the tiny birds in Alaska.

Bird photographer Eric Pittman has been observing hummingbirds in his Victoria backyard for years.

A bird that Pittman and his wife affectionately named Sweetiebird was the first one he photographed.

Sweetiebird went on to raise six generations of chicks in his backyard.

“She just kept on making nests, so she stayed in my yard, and I kept photographing the birds,” says Pittman.

Sweetiebird has since passed away, and has been replaced by Flower, who has had two chicks in Pittman’s backyard that have fledged just 10 days ago and are now the stars of the live stream that broadcasts their daily life to hundreds of people.

Pittman says when he first set up his live cam four years ago, he got half-a-million views.

In all, Pittman filmed about 60 hummingbird nests from egg to flight.

“The nest is the size of a golf ball, and the egg is the size of a coffee bean. When the chicks hatch, they are like a raisin. It is really difficult to photograph, but that is the challenge and that is what I like about it.”

Continued

Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeaters released into the wild in Australia

40 captive bred Regent Honeyeaters to be released in Victoria

April 2013. Victoria Department of Environment (DEPI) Senior Biodiversity Officer, Glen Johnson said: "These birds were bred at Taronga Zoo in Sydney and will provide another boost to the Regent Honeyeater population. We'll be attaching radio transmitters to about 25 of the birds that are being released, and all are fitted with unique colour leg band combinations to assist individual identification," Mr Johnson said.

Will breed with wild birds
"We know from re-sightings of previously released birds that the captive bred Regent Honeyeaters can successfully breed with and recruit new fledglings into the wild population. Each time we find another captive-bred bird in the wild we learn a bit more about how they are adapting and behaving."

"The transmitters have been specially adapted for Regent Honeyeaters by Dean Ingwersen, BirdLife Australia's National Regent Honeyeater Recovery Co-ordinator and the team at Taronga Zoo. We will be working with skilled volunteers to track these transmitters and identify individuals based on the unique colour band combinations."

Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeaters released into the

 wild in Australia. Photo courtesy of Birdlife Australia

Nomadic birds
Dean Ingwersen said: "Regent Honeyeaters, like other species of honeyeaters, rely on flowering events in our forests for their food, so they are relatively nomadic and can travel large distances. This makes them a difficult species to study particularly when there are so few of them. Once again though, this project highlights the value of releasing captive-bred birds and of colour banding as a research and monitoring tool," Mr Ingwersen said.

"There's so much we are still learning about Regent Honeyeater movements and habitat requirements and each detailed sighting report adds to our knowledge about individual birds and the species."

For more information about Regent Honeyeaters click here.

Bird plague no myna matter

Photo:  Wikipedia

JULIA Gibson never gave Indian mynas much thought until about 2000, when they began a slow invasion of her Arthurs Creek property. ''I came to notice these jolly birds as such a nuisance, mainly pooing everywhere, eating the cat food, horribly noisy. There's a pole near my clothesline and they'd sit up there and poop on my washing,'' she says.

Later she heard how mynas dispossessed native species, taking over their nests in tree hollows and tossing out their eggs and chicks. She realised many of the small birds that had been on the property when she arrived in 1998 had disappeared.

In 2009, she began fighting back. Now mynas venturing on to her 40 hectares are lured into a purpose-built wire trap with bits of dry cat food, imprisoned and humanely and legally euthanased.

She has eradicated 570 of the birds, voted in the ABC Wildwatch Australia Survey in 2005 as the nation's most significant pest and the one most needing control. She has seen native birds, from fairy wrens to rosellas and king parrots, return. She has also inspired almost 300 other like-minded environmentalists.

Mynas were introduced to Melbourne in the 1860s to combat insects in market gardens. Now, it is estimated their numbers have swelled to the millions.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/bird-plague-no-myna-matter-20120922-26dvl.html#ixzz27IxSok4c

more information on the Indian myna (common myna) (Acridotheres tristis):
http://www.indianmyna.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Myna