Pigeons and Doves of Mallacoota
This follows on from my posts about Cockatoos and Parrots of Mallacoota. To some extent the catalyst for this extension was reading "Birds of Mallacoota" (2nd edition 1979) which listed a few species that are not common in the area, but also found a few that are now common to be unusual (or in two cases not reported).
As a consequence of reading that book, and the research I did to support my review I now have a few more tools to refer to thanwhen I first did the cockie and parrot posts. It will make life simpler if I list them now, together with some shorthand in some cases to save my typing:
The only record is in the book, citing a record listed in The Emu from "the old Lakeview Hotel many years ago.". From the volume of The Emu cited I suspect this was in 1917! (For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the history of the area this was on the Eastern side of the Inlet opposite the Goodwin Sands. It is described in this post by the Bunker Museum, which also indicates the reporter of this bird passed away in 1927!)
Since this post was first published a report has been made of a deceased juvenile Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove from "Lakeside Drive near the old fisho's jetty" to be collected by DELWP.
The area around Lakeside has several patches of rainforest with food resources which might attract this species. Plans are in hand to investigate the area in the coming months.
The book cites the same source as the previous species. However unlike that species eBird has 49 records of the species with a few observations from most recent years, mainly between October and February.
The clear hotspot is Gipsy Point which was the locality given for 24 (49%) of the eBird records. Other records are spread through the area, with Michael Barnett's recent image above taken on the Pittosporum Walk near the Reconciliation Memorial. This species could also be hoped-for in the rainforest on the 'other' side of the Inlet. A map extracted from Birdata shows a similar pattern.
The observation cited in the book was at Marshmead (in the vicinity of rainforest on the Eastern side of the Inlet). The photograph above by Ingrid Steffen shows that they can turn up in town! There are 6 records in eBird from a range of localities, including one on the Pittosporum Walk (see Topknot Pigeon above), which suggests there is some attractive fruit in that area.
The Australian Bird Guide rates the species as the commonest pigeon in Eastern Australian rainforests but difficult to see. The distinctive call might make observation easier. The bird is long and slender (unlike most of the pigeons in the area which are somewhat chubby) with a long tail. If a good view is obtained the uniformly brown plumage is a give-away.
The book comments "Quite a number of birds around the area ...". " ... appear to be residents there (the old soccer ground) and in several other localities around the town." That isn't supported by the few observations submitted to eBird, spread across many years mainly in Spring-Summer.
I suspect the localities shown are more a reflection of where birders go than indicating true hotspots (although as most of the localities cited are the generic ones for Mallacoota or Gipsy Point it is hard to tell). The following map comes from eBird as the orange pins show recent sightings: a similar pattern is shown on Birdata.
The species is usually found in quite open habitat (noting the book description, sportsfields are explicitly mentioned in the Australian Bird Guide) and feeds on seeds. Again the call is very useful in identifying this species.
The book notes that "The only record I have for this appeared in the "Emu" (volume 61)." This equates to approximately 1961 and a reference to a sighting at Genoa in that year is cited in HANZAB - as is a reference to "early 1940s"! The only record on eBird is one by this author, of a bird seen walking on the Lakeside path near Mullet Creek in June 2016. A bird was also reported to Birdline Victoria in 2017, seen on Betka Rd, near the roundabout. It wasn't reported to eBird nor the Victorian Ornithological Records Appraisal Committee. I have also been told by locals of an undocumented bird of this species in Karbeethong at some (unspecified) time in the past.
As shown by the following maps a sighting in Victoria is a range extension, but not ridiculously so. I conclude that this is a rare species but not merely an aspiration.
The combination of the small size, purpleish brown body and (in adult birds) green wings makes the species hard to mis-identify and I am quite sure of my observation. They are stated to be mainly a seed-eater but with fruits taken when available on the ground. The Australian Bird Guide mentions Melaleuca thickets as favoured habitat - we have plenty of that!
The call is not mentioned as a particular aid to location or identification, but I include the link for completeness.
The photographs are far from 'sharp' but hopefully show the main features of the species! The bronze wing is very spectacular when caught in the sunlight!
The book comments that the birds "... are quite often seen in suitable habitat." I regard them as very common birds in the town area, especially where (and when) there is wattle seed for them to eat. With 343 observations on eBird they are the second commonest Columbid species in the area. They are also widely reported with 57 locations, spread through the area, in eBird.
The call is quite useful in alerting one to the presence of the bird (if not obvious, walking around on the ground). It has some similarity to the call of a Tawny Frogmouth but is much slower.
Not listed in the book. This bird has an interesting history in Mallacoota. When we first started visiting Mallacoota in 2011 I was surprised to find the species and was told by a resident that they had only just arrived in the area. In later on-line discussion on birding-aus regarding the spread of the species towards Melbourne it emerged there were some records from Mallacoota "many years ago". Ebird currently shows records beginning in 1992.
As a consequence of reading that book, and the research I did to support my review I now have a few more tools to refer to thanwhen I first did the cockie and parrot posts. It will make life simpler if I list them now, together with some shorthand in some cases to save my typing:
- Birds of Mallacoota 1979 (the book)
- eBird
- Birdlife Australia, East Gippsland Branch Checklist of Bush Birds (the checklist)
- Birdlife Australia Birdata database (Birdata)
- Handbook of Australian New Zealand and Antarctic Birds (HANZAB)
- The New Atlas of Australian Birds (the Atlas).
- The Australian Bird Guide (Menkhorst et al) - The Guide
- Avibase (as a source of photographs and calls - the latter are very useful for locating and identifying members of this family.)
I will list the birds in the order they appear in the book but use the names currently shown in eBird where there are any differences. I think, for this group, these are largely the same names used in the other current references. I will use my photographs where they are of reasonable quality and identify the source of any others I show,
As far as I am concerned there is no consistent definitional difference between doves and pigeons, with a faint view that doves are the smaller members of the family.. They are all members of the family Columbidae. The Birdlife Working List of Australian Birds has 37 species (and a whole lotta subspecies) classified to this family. I will consider 12 of them in this post.
Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove
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| David Cook photography via Avibase |
Since this post was first published a report has been made of a deceased juvenile Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove from "Lakeside Drive near the old fisho's jetty" to be collected by DELWP.
The area around Lakeside has several patches of rainforest with food resources which might attract this species. Plans are in hand to investigate the area in the coming months.
Topknot Pigeon
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| David Cook photography via Avibase |
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| Photo posted by Michael Barnett to Mallacoota Birds FB group (October 2018) |
The clear hotspot is Gipsy Point which was the locality given for 24 (49%) of the eBird records. Other records are spread through the area, with Michael Barnett's recent image above taken on the Pittosporum Walk near the Reconciliation Memorial. This species could also be hoped-for in the rainforest on the 'other' side of the Inlet. A map extracted from Birdata shows a similar pattern.
Domestic Pigeon, Feral Pigeon, Rock Dove
An introduced species or escapee.
The book notes that "A few birds fly around Mallacoota township ..." The species is not recorded in eBird, does not appear in the checklist and the Birdata map gives no information about the sightings plotted on the map. I suspect/hope it has been extirpated from the area, Good!
Spotted Dove
Another introduced species, seen in many areas as an invasive pest. (It used to be called - and is listed in HANZAB as - Spotted Turtle Dove which many considered to have a very appropriate acronym.)
The book reports a single record from 1976 but eBird has 119 records - with several records prior to 2000 - so the species seems to have established itself in the area. The spread of the records across eBird years appears to show a large proportion of the records in recent (since 2015) years but this is probably more a reflection of the take-up of eBird than indicating anything definitive about the spread of the species
Both eBird and Birdata show a concentration of sightings around the residential areas of Mallacoota and Gipsy Point. This may reflect the food of the species, with HANZAB noting that bread and food scraps/handouts are a large proportion of the species diet.
The obvious spotted collar is an easy identifier of adult birds, but is lacking in juveniles. The call is also quite distinctive.
Brown Cuckoo-dove
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| Posted to Mallacoota Birds FB by Ingrid Steffen |
The Australian Bird Guide rates the species as the commonest pigeon in Eastern Australian rainforests but difficult to see. The distinctive call might make observation easier. The bird is long and slender (unlike most of the pigeons in the area which are somewhat chubby) with a long tail. If a good view is obtained the uniformly brown plumage is a give-away.
Peaceful Dove
I suspect the localities shown are more a reflection of where birders go than indicating true hotspots (although as most of the localities cited are the generic ones for Mallacoota or Gipsy Point it is hard to tell). The following map comes from eBird as the orange pins show recent sightings: a similar pattern is shown on Birdata.
Pacific Emerald-Dove
I have refrained (at least in this post) from whingeing about name changes etc. However in this case the name used by Birdlife Australia "Brown-capped Emerald-Dove" is extremely hard to find on the birdata website so I give their taxonomists a nomination for the Hall of Shame at this point.
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| Image from Atherton Tablelands |
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| Image from Atherton tablelands |
As shown by the following maps a sighting in Victoria is a range extension, but not ridiculously so. I conclude that this is a rare species but not merely an aspiration.
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| eBird |
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| Birdata |
The call is not mentioned as a particular aid to location or identification, but I include the link for completeness.
Common Bronzewing
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| Female |
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| Male |
The book comments that the birds "... are quite often seen in suitable habitat." I regard them as very common birds in the town area, especially where (and when) there is wattle seed for them to eat. With 343 observations on eBird they are the second commonest Columbid species in the area. They are also widely reported with 57 locations, spread through the area, in eBird.
The call is quite useful in alerting one to the presence of the bird (if not obvious, walking around on the ground). It has some similarity to the call of a Tawny Frogmouth but is much slower.
Brush Bronzewing
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| Image by Dave 2X via Avibase |
A less common species than the Common Bronzewing, but not rare, with 69 records from 19 locations. The hotspot appears to be Shipwreck Creek with 21 observations ,but the species appears to frequent anywhere with reasonably dense vegetation.
At first glance it appears a much darker bird, and significantly smaller, than the Common Bronzewing. The call is described as less mournful than that of the Common Bronzewing and repeated more quickly (but, at about every 2 seconds, not as quick as the Frogmouth which ooms about once per second).
Wonga Pigeon
The second photo is included as it shows the barring under the tail. This can be very obvious (and rather strange looking when the bird is bobbing in courtship display). A large grey pigeon with a very clear white V up the sides of the breast.
This is the commonest pigeon in the area with 1086 records on eBird. It appears to be reported widely in the coastal area (map from eBird, but the Birdata map is broadly similar).
They are certainly common in the more urban areas of the village centre and Karbeethong,I suspect this reflects where birders report from, rather than where the pigeons hang out. By way of contrast, in Canberra the birds are very rare (?unknown?) in the City but fairly frequently reported in the damp gullies of the Brindabellas.
I regard the 'wong wong wong' call of this species as the classic bird sound of Mallacoota.
White-headed Pigeon
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| adult left,immature bird on right |
Karbeethong is clearly the hotspot for the species, with ~50% of the eBird records in the Mallacoota area. When we used to stay in Karbeethong it was not unusual to see up to 12 birds (of various ages perched on a powerline. There are very few records out of the built up areas which is surprising, considering the birds mainly feed on rainforest fruits.
The appearance of the birds is very distinctive withe the dark body contrasting with the white head even when in flight. As shown in the image above the immature birds are much greyer than the adults.
The call is quite distinctive.
In these posts I have refrained from commenting greatly on current trends in observations since the wide adoption of eBird has been so recent. However I have noted that the numbers of White-headed Pigeons around Mallacoota seems considerably less in 2019 than has been the case for the previous few years. I am not sure if this reflects
- my current focus on Angophora Drive rather than Karbeethong Avenue;
- some effect of the reduced rainfall in the last couple of years;
- some other negative impact on the supply of fruit in the area;
- something else - suggestions welcome; or (most likely)
- all of the above.
Crested Pigeon
Not listed in the book but with 282 eBird records should now be considered a common bird. The species has shown a massive increase in range since the 1980s. I can best illustrate that by some data showing abundance rates from the Canberra Garden Bird Survey.
Although I don't have all later years to hand the value of the index appears to have settled down to about 3.8 in recent years, probably reflecting a long term carrying caoacity for the species.
As with the previous species (and in fact all species) it is difficult to demonstrate longer term trends using eBird.
The appearance of the bird is quite distinctive with the obvious crest which is usually carried erect. It is unfortunate that in some cases the species is also called "Topknot Pigeon" which should only be used for the Boris Johnson look-alike rainforest columbid described above.
In terms of sound the call of the bird is not remarkable. However at about 12 seconds into the linked recording the bird flies away with the very distinctive metallic whistle generated by the wings.
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