Species list for The Big Hill, Hodgsonvale

If you're chasing a list for a specific area for example, post your request here...

Moderator: Mick Atzeni

Post Reply
User avatar
Mick Atzeni
Posts: 1843
Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2005 9:08 pm

Species list for The Big Hill, Hodgsonvale

Post by Mick Atzeni »

A friend of mine commented recently how disappointed he was with the lack of birds at his new home on the Big Hill, Hodgsonvale, south of Toowoomba.

"All we seem to get around home are the miners and butcherbirds", was his comment. He was of the belief the diversity should be greater out of town than in town.

I promised him I'd compile the list of species I'd seen on the Big Hill many moons ago and send it to him (so I'm also posting it here). I was able to do so because my father used to own land on the hill and ran a few head of cattle on it. I was regularly out there and after joining the club in 1979, kept a diary of what birds I'd seen.

In recent years the whole area has been sold up and sub-divided. Nonetheless, it was always relatively poor habitat for birdwatching, as much of the vegetation on the lower slopes had already been cleared for grazing, the remaining trees - mainly narrow-leafed ironbark - were never very attractive to birds - and were it not for the lantana on the steeper slopes, a nice stand of shady trees near the cattle trough, and the small gully dam, my list would be much shorter!

The following list of 54 species was compiled between 1979-1983. Those I've asterisked I considered rare for there - no more than one or two sightings in that period.

Australian Wood Duck
White-faced Heron
White-necked Heron *
Straw-necked Ibis
Pacific Baza *
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Nankeen Kestrel
Buff-banded Rail *
Crested Pigeon
Bar-shouldered Dove
Galah
Cockatiel *
Rainbow Lorikeet
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet
Musk Lorikeet
Little Lorikeet
Eastern Rosella *
Pale-headed Rosella
Red-rumped Parrot
Fan-tailed Cuckoo *
Common Koel
Superb Fairy-wren
Variegated Fairy-wren
Striated Pardalote
White-browed Scrubwren
Speckled Warbler *
White-throated Gerygone
Brown Thornbill
Striped Honeyeater
Noisy Friarbird
Little Friarbird
Noisy Miner
Yellow-faced Honeyeater
Fuscous Honeyeater
Eastern Whipbird
Varied Sittella *
Golden Whistler *
Rufous Whistler
Restless Flycatcher *
Magpie-lark
Rufous Fantail *
Willie Wagtail
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Ground Cuckoo-shrike *
Grey Butcherbird
Pied Butcherbird
Australian Magpie
Pied Currawong
Torresian Crow
Double-barred Finch
Red-browed Finch *
White-backed Swallow *
Silvereye
Common Myna
Michael Atzeni
7 Woden St, Murphys Creek 4352
Mob: 0499 395 485
User avatar
Mick Atzeni
Posts: 1843
Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2005 9:08 pm

Response from Peter Watts

Post by Mick Atzeni »

From: Peter Watts (FSA) [mailto:peter.watts@fsaconsulting.net]
Sent: Wednesday, 11 April 2007 9:14 AM
To: Atzeni, Michael
Cc: Shelly L Grist
Subject: RE: Big Hill bird list


Mick

Many thanks - I have put a # on the ones that we have seen on or above our block (12 Rangeview Drive) since June last year. We have cleared all of the lantana so there is little ground cover at present. This is compounded by the drought but we have now build a frog pond to provide some permanent water (the pheasant coucal loves it. They live up behind us and you don't have them on your list). I am hoping that as we get new native small bushes established, we might get some small birds. However, they will have to deal with the aggressive noisy miners and grey butcherbirds who were there before we arrived.

Cheers
Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: Atzeni, Michael
Sent: Wednesday, 11 April 2007 8:59 AM
To: peter.watts@fsaconsulting.net
Subject: Big Hill bird list


Peter
List as promised. Out of curiosity I actualy had a drive around there on Monday and walked around the paddock we used to own in Thyne St (?) in the new Carroll View. The windmill's still there but not much else! Recorded about 10 species while there around 10.30am, mainly in the lantana on the higher slopes.

It was always relatively poor habitat for birds, as much of the vegetation on the lower slopes had already been cleared for grazing, the remaining trees were never very attractive to birds - except when the gums wer flowering - and were it not for the lantana on the steeper slopes, a nice stand of shady pepperinas near the cattle trough, and the small gully dam, the list would have been much shorter!

The following list of 54 species was compiled between 1979-1983. Those I've asterisked I considered rare for there - no more than one or two sightings in that period.

# Australian Wood Duck
White-faced Heron
White-necked Heron *
Straw-necked Ibis
Pacific Baza *
# Wedge-tailed Eagle
Nankeen Kestrel
Buff-banded Rail *
# Crested Pigeon
Bar-shouldered Dove
# Galah
Cockatiel *
# Rainbow Lorikeet
# Scaly-breasted Lorikeet
Musk Lorikeet
Little Lorikeet
Eastern Rosella *
# Pale-headed Rosella
Red-rumped Parrot
Fan-tailed Cuckoo *
# Common Koel
Superb Fairy-wren
Variegated Fairy-wren
Striated Pardalote
White-browed Scrubwren
Speckled Warbler *
White-throated Gerygone
Brown Thornbill
Striped Honeyeater
Noisy Friarbird
Little Friarbird
# Noisy Miner
Yellow-faced Honeyeater
Fuscous Honeyeater
# Eastern Whipbird (I can hear them behind us)
Varied Sittella *
Golden Whistler *
Rufous Whistler
Restless Flycatcher *
# Magpie-lark
Rufous Fantail *
Willie Wagtail
# Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Ground Cuckoo-shrike *
# Grey Butcherbird
Pied Butcherbird
# Australian Magpie
# Pied Currawong
# Torresian Crow
Double-barred Finch
Red-browed Finch *
White-backed Swallow *
Silvereye
Common Myna
Michael Atzeni
7 Woden St, Murphys Creek 4352
Mob: 0499 395 485
Post Reply

Return to “Requests for data”