Shorebirds Report

June 2007

Winter Bird Watching

Sometimes the winter weather makes it hard to be enthusiastic about bird watching. However, it may only be necessary to look out a window to see interesting birds.

I have an empty block next door. The other week I looked out there and saw a whole flock of Wood Ducks busily hunting their food across the grass. There were about 14 birds – some adults as well as juveniles.

Australian wood ducks

The Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata) used to be called the Maned Goose. Birding books still say that this duck has a rather “goose-like stance” and a sound that is also goose-like. It is more often found on land or perched up in a tree rather than on water. Its food is young green grass and other small plants. Sometimes the birds are a problem to farmers as they also like young shoots of many crops such as wheat, rice, and lucerne.

The colour of this duck is mainly greyish, but the male has a dark brown head and the female a paler head with a white line above and below the eye. Both birds have black marks on the back. The female is more heavily patterned on the front.

The Wood Duck nests in a hollow in a tree. There are 7-10 or more eggs and they are covered with down. Both birds care for the young. The young jump from the nest while they are still covered with down and then follow the parents around until some time after they are fledged.

This month we counted 29 species and 455 birds.