APPENDIX 4
Lanark bird list (1956–96)
Compiled by Murray Gunn from his observations and records over this period and including additional sightings by John and Cicely Fenton.
The Lanark bird list follows the order published as the definitive taxonomic list of Australian birds by Christidis and Boles in 1994, and updated in 2008.
1956
| Woodland species | |
|---|---|
| Whistling Kite | Red Wattlebird |
| Brown Falcon | Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike |
| Peregrine Falcon | Australian Magpie |
| Red-rumped Parrot | Willie Wagtail |
| Blue-winged Parrot | Australian Raven |
| Barn Owl | Little Raven |
| Yellow-rumped Thornbill | Welcome Swallow |
| Wet grassland species | |
|---|---|
| Black Swan | Straw-necked Ibis |
| Australian Shelduck | Brolga (disappeared until 1996) |
| Grey Teal | Masked Lapwing |
| Pacific Black Duck | Latham’s Snipe |
| White-necked Heron | White-fronted Chat |
| White-faced Heron | Magpie-lark |
| Australian White Ibis | Fairy Martin |
| Grassland species | |
|---|---|
| Stubble Quail | Wedge-tailed Eagle |
| Black-shouldered Kite | Nankeen Kestrel |
| Black Falcon | Brown Songlark |
| Banded Lapwing | Richard’s Pipit |
| Flame Robin | Australasian Pipit |
| Aerial species | |
|---|---|
| White-throated Needletail | Fork-tailed Swift |
1956-76 arrivals
| Woodland species | |
|---|---|
| Diamond Dove | Eastern Spinebill |
| Brown Goshawk | Yellow-faced Honeyeater |
| Australian Hobby | Singing Honeyeater |
| Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo | White-plumed Honeyeater |
| Galah | Little Wattlebird |
| Long-billed Corella | Tawny-crowned Honeyeater |
| Sulphur-crested Cockatoo | New Holland Honeyeater |
| Musk Lorikeet | White-naped Honeyeater |
| Purple-crowned Lorikeet | Golden Whistler |
| Crimson Rosella | Grey Shrike-thrush |
| Eastern Rosella | Olive-backed Oriole |
| Budgerigar | Masked Woodswallow |
| Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo | White-browed Woodswallow |
| Shining Bronze-Cuckoo | Dusky Woodswallow |
| Pallid Cuckoo | Grey Currawong |
| Fan-tailed Cuckoo | Grey Fantail |
| Southern Boobook | Restless Flycatcher |
| Azure Kingfisher | Jacky Winter |
| Laughing Kookaburra | Scarlet Robin |
| Superb Fairy-wren | Rufous Songlark |
| Striated Thornbill | Silvereye |
| Brown Thornbill | Tree Martin |
| Striated Pardalote | Red-browed Finch |
| Wetland species | |
|---|---|
| Musk Duck | Pink-eared Duck |
| Australian Wood Duck | Australasian Shoveler |
| Chestnut Teal | Buff-banded Rail |
| Hardhead | Baillon’s Crake |
| Blue-billed Duck | Australian Spotted Crake |
| Australasian Grebe | Black-tailed Native-hen |
| Hoary-headed Grebe | Dusky Moorhen |
| Great Crested Grebe | Eurasian Coot |
| Darter | Black-winged Stilt |
| Little Pied Cormorant | Red-capped Plover |
| Great Cormorant | Double-banded Plover |
| Little Black Cormorant | Black-fronted Dotterel |
| Australian Pelican | Red-kneed Dotterel |
| Australasian Bittern | Common Sandpiper |
| Great Egret | Common Greenshank |
| Little Egret | Red-necked Stint |
| Eastern Great Egret | Sharp-tailed Sandpiper |
| Nankeen Night Heron | Curlew Sandpiper |
| Glossy Ibis | Whiskered Tern |
| Royal Spoonbill | Silver Gull |
| Yellow-billed Spoonbill | Clamorous Reed-warbler |
| Swamp Harrier | Australian Reed-warbler |
| Purple Swamphen | Little Grassbird |
| Lewin’s Rail |
| Wet grassland species | |
|---|---|
| Cape Barren Goose | Golden-headed Cisticola |
| Grassland species | |
|---|---|
| Spotted Harrier |
1976-96 arrivals
| Woodland species | |
|---|---|
| Common Bronzewing | White-browed Scrubwren |
| Little Eagle | Spotted Pardalote |
| Gang-gang Cockatoo | White-eared Honeye |
| Rainbow Bee-eater | Varied Sittella |
| White-winged Triller | Pink Robin |
| Rufous Whistler | Eastern Yellow Robin |
| Rufous Fantail | Bassian Thrush |
| White-winged Chough |
| Wetland species | |
|---|---|
| Magpie Goose | Spotless Crake |
| Plumed Whistling-Duck | Banded Stilt |
| Freckled Duck | Wood Sandpiper |
| Intermediate Egret |
| Wet grassland species | |
|---|---|
| Brolga (returned 1996) |
Post-1996 arrivals (by Murray Gunn)
Since 1996 my observations of the birds at Lanark have been much less frequent, and as John and Cicely also left the property during this period there has been less opportunity to record any new species that may have appeared during this time. John and Cicely’s son David lets me know of any new sightings.
It could be argued that most of the species likely to be found at Lanark had been recorded by 1996. However, there are some species that have not been recorded that would have occurred at some stage. These include Tawny Frogmouth, Pied Cormorant, Cattle Egret, Collared Sparrowhawk, Red-necked Avocet, Painted Button-quail, Sacred Kingfisher, White-throated Treecreeper, Yellow Thornbill, Brown-headed Honeyeater, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Satin Flycatcher and Mistletoebird.
In spite of the relatively little time spent on bird observation since 1996, it does appear that bird species and numbers have declined since the 1976–96 period.
Some reasons for the decline are obvious. The ten-year drought with its effect on the wetland has had a marked effect on water birds occurrences. If and when the drought breaks, as it did partially in 2009, the wetland birds will return.
The decline in woodland species is more complex. Many woodland species, particularly in southeastern Australia, appear to be in decline, and that is a major concern for those who study avifauna. Once again the drought has been responsible for conditions not conducive to optimum breeding potential, so fewer young are produced to keep the population stable.
It is also possible that the effect of European settlement, with its clearing and fragmentation of the landscape, has had a delayed effect on many bird species. This is in spite of the work put in by the Fentons and, in more recent years, many other landowners in re-creating woodland habitat and wildlife corridors.
One can only hope that with these efforts to improve the environment and the cessation of further woodland and forest clearing, the decline of many species will be halted and hopefully, even reversed.
The five graphs on the following pages chart the change in numbers of bird species (and in the relative size of their habitats) at Lanark from 1840, to 1956, when John Fenton took over the property, and in ten-year increments thereafter. These graphs were created by Elizabeth Jacka, who worked closely with Murray Gunn, with input from Graham Pizzey to estimate the bird population at Lanark at the time of white settlement.
1840
1956
1966
1976
1986
