Ever since the rare and endangered thought Gould was the centerpiece of an elementary school assignment, Kacie Austin has been pursuing what she thought would be a unique vision in life.
Key points:
- Gould’s number of finches declined rapidly a few decades ago
- The decline of its number one predator could be behind the population boom
- Greedy birds approach north of Darwin to see the bird that was once rare
She is a twicher by definition.
“I had seen Gouldians once in the wild and it took me a lot of effort,” he said.
All his long-distance journeys to spy on small, colorful birds in their usual habitat, high in the trees on Katherine’s shores, 300 miles south of Darwin, were in vain.
But in an unusual twist of fate that has the birds of Top End in a burst of excitement, hundreds of revered finches are making an appearance in a place they hadn’t seen in decades.
Kacie Austin spends almost every morning photographing flocks of finches. (Provided by: Kacie Austin)
Mrs. Austin is just one of many Darwinians who have woken up before dawn, with expensive cameras and binoculars in hand, and walking the short distance to Lee Point, where seeing herds of Gould’s finches is almost a guarantee.
“I’ve been there most days for the last few weeks to see them,” he said.
“It’s very exciting to be able to wake up and drive 20 minutes to where dozens and dozens of them are near my door.”
What’s behind the big numbers and the big move?
Decades ago, people began to notice that Gould’s finches were disappearing rapidly, mainly due to threats to their natural habitat and changes in fire patterns.
They became such rare bird watchers around the world that they visited the region to see them and often left disappointed.
Robin Leppitt says a bad wet season has pushed Gould’s rock north to Darwin. (Supplied)
But they’ve made a big comeback recently, said Robin Leppitt, BirdLife Australia’s Top End convener.
“Their numbers have risen again in their usual range and are seen farther north in the Darwin area for two main reasons,” Dr. Leppitt said.
“There are many more in the south now [around Katherine] they are pushing up.
“And we think part of the reason they’re pushing up from their usual range also has to do with the fact that the areas around Katherine and a little further south had a reasonably poor wet season this year.
“Granivorous birds like finches depend on surface water to drink and don’t get water from their food. So they really need surface water.”
Disappearing biodiversity
Graeme Sawyer of Biodiversity Watch said the population’s rise could even see Gould’s stone being removed from the endangered species list.
Dozens of people get up at dawn to see a stone from Gould at Lee Point. (Provided by: Ian Redmond and Gayle Laidlaw)
“I’ve personally seen them as far south as Borroloola … and now they’re spreading to new areas where they haven’t seen them in years, which is a good sign of population recovery,” Sawyer said.
A national recovery plan for the Gould Pebble was established in 2006, but Mr. Sawyer said the boom was most likely due to its main predator, the goanna, being thinned by cane toads.
“This has led to an increase in nesting success,” Sawyer said.
Renewed calls to save Lee Point habitat
The development of 800 defense homes in Lee Point has attracted strong opposition. (ABC News: Roxanne Fitzgerald)
Sawyer said the rock’s “high-profile” descent to Lee Point, a northern suburb of Darwin City, has drawn more attention in an effort to save one of the last natural scrub remnants of the expansion. urban.
Plans to build 800 shelters in Lee Point, a coastal reserve that houses a number of endangered animals and protected bird species, have angered residents and environmentalists over the past year.
“[The finches] We’ve really drawn a lot of attention to the fact that we now have a situation where the very habitat that keeps them around Darwin is threatened by development and is likely to be eliminated, ”Sawyer said.
“We’re seeing a classic example of how wildlife using this area will be at a disadvantage.”
The Northern Territory government’s Department of the Environment has been contacted to see if Gould’s stone will be declared non-threatened and when.