A record number of species were recorded at Taronga Western Plains Zoo as part of the 2023 Aussie Bird Count.
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Each year zoo staff and volunteers take part in one of Australia's largest citizen science projects, contributing to a vital pool of information on how Australian bird species are faring out in the wild.
From Monday, October 16 to Sunday, October 22, a total of 39, 20-minute counts were conducted in the Zoo, recording 103 species and a total of 1965 birds.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Our usual two threatened species were sighted again this year, the Grey-crowned Babbler and Speckled Warbler.
In addition, 12 Superb Parrots were spotted on Sunday, October 15 - a day early for the count but great to have them in the Zoo once again.
A few new species were also spotted during this year's count, including:
- Channel-billed Cuckoo - a rare summer migrant to Dubbo which is on the move this time of year, flying south from New Guinea and Indonesia.
- Shining-bronze Cuckoo - a summer visitor to Dubbo flying south from New Guinea yearly.
- Not bad for a bird weighing an average of 25g!
- Spotless Crake - a rare visitor and a new species for me for the Zoo.
- Singing Honeyeater - a rare Dubbo resident in woodlands and gardens.
- A zoo guest spotted seven White-breasted Woodswallows.
- White-browed Woodswallow - roughly 100 spotted landing in the pine trees in the Taronga Sanctuary.
The Zoo provides an excellent habitat for a range of wild, native bird species and has several different habitats within its 300 hectares producing a wide variety of the feathered kind. It's a great place for staff and guests to get involved in a bit of twitching! We're very lucky to work on a site that can count over 100 species within its grounds in a week.
Thank you to all our regular and new birders who participated in this year's count. Staff, volunteers, and several zoo guests were out in the grounds this year which was great to see.
Here is to another great year of birding!
