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Bird Profiles - A Tiny Sample
Choosing which birds to describe when there are
so many species in the Wet Tropics region is perhaps an impossible
challenge! Birds occupy a wide variety of roles in the environment
so the choice could be based on their diets and how that relates
to their role in the ecosystem: or only the showiest or most unusual
could be chosen; or perhaps only the rarest or those endemic species
with the smallest ranges. However, we only have room to describe
a few showy species here.
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Riflebirds
 There
are three Riflebirds in Australia and all three are quite
spectacular. Of course, they should be - they are in the Bird
of Paradise family whose New Guinea members are arguably amongst
the world's most admired birds.
Victoria's Riflebird (Ptiloris
victoriae) is a reasonably common resident of the Wet
Tropics rainforest and its raspy, single note call (ya-a-s-s-s-)
is unmistakable. A fruit eater (and therefore, a seed disperser),
the male riflebird is beautiful and bejewelled while the females
are dull colours on the back and pale with bars below. The
males want the attention of as many females as possible and,
if their iridescent green head and neck feathers and guilt-edged,
velvet black body feathers aren't enough to do the trick,
the mesmerising dance they do from a tall tree usually seals
the deal. This is the famous bird that stretches its rounded
black wings upward and sways his body from side to side, flicking
each wing upwards in time to his swaying.
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Golden Bowerbird
Another member of the Bird of Paradise family that resides
in the Wet Tropics area is the Golden Bowerbird.
Like the attention-seeking Riflebird males, the bowerbird
males also go to great lengths to attract many females each
breeding season. Rather than glitzy feathers, these birds
use their construction and decorating skills to impress. The
Golden Bowerbird (Prionodura newtoniana) is the only
Australian member of a small group of bowerbirds, otherwise
restricted to New Guinea, that build 'maypole' bowers. The
bower is based around two tall towers that may be up to three
metres (nearly 10 feet) high and one metre (just over 3 feet)
apart with a display pole perched between them. The completed
structure is then adorned with flowers, lichen and berries.
Males are so intent on 'being the best around' that they even
go to the trouble of raiding other males' bowers to steal
their decorations. (Sounds more like human behaviour than
a bird's!) The Golden Bowerbird only occurs in upland forests
about 900 metres.
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Wompoo Pigeon
 The
Wet Tropics area has several very beautiful species of fruit
pigeons (or doves) but the largest is the Wompoo Pigeon.
All are usually difficult to see
in the canopy despite their pretty colours as most of the
body is based on green. The Wompoo, however, is often heard
(if not seen) as its call is distinctive and carries well
through the forest understorey. Listen for the occasional
"lubbuck POOOO". A
good time to catch sight of this important seed disperser
is when the Quandong fruits are falling. The blue, olive sized
fruits are a favourite and numbers of Wompoos will gather
to feed in the airy branches. As one of the larger fruit doves,
the Wompoo (Ptilinopus magnificus) can disperse a wider
range of rainforest seeds since it can include seeds too large
for the smaller fruit doves and other fleshy-fruit eaters.
The Wompoo only lays one egg.
Chowchilla or Northern Logrunner
An endemic species to the Wet Tropics is
the Chowchilla or Northern Logrunner (Orthonyx spaldingii).
The former common name comes from the bird's early morning
rucous call which sounds a little like "chow-chowchilla".
This bird is an insect eater, scratching through the leaf
litter in groups and it also lays a single egg in a stick
and debris nest on the forest floor after the wet season has
finished. A most unusual characteristic of this medium sized
upland species (usually above 450 metres (1,450 feet)) is
that the quills of its tail feathers end in a short spine.
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Metallic (or Shining) Starling
 Another
important seed disperser is the gregarious and noisy Metallic
(or Shining) Starling. These are colony nesters which create
large pendulous, globular nests incorporating the branches
of selected trees. The large, often emergent trees chosen
are fully laden with the nests of hundreds of these lorikeet
sized birds. Their high, shrieking voices and rapid, direct
flight are also very similar to the lorikeets but they lack
the bright colours, being oil-slick black with a vibrant red
eye. Juveniles resemble adults except for their white streaked
breast.
The Metallic Starling (Aplonis
metallica) prefers the coastal lowlands but can be seen
in some middle altitudes.
Brush Turkey and Orange-footed Scrubfowl
Two common birds of the northern Australian
forests are mound builders (also called megapodes for their
big feet). Rather than lay eggs in a nest and be confined
to sitting on them to incubate, these two species build huge
mounds of material from the forest floor, the composting of
which creates heat. Eggs from a few females are laid inside
the mound which is several metres in size. The Brush Turkey
(Alectura lathami) is the larger of two megapodes and
the male tends its mound in a most unusual way: he digs a
hole and sticks his head in! If it's too warm, he removes
some of the material from the outside of the mound. If it's
not warm enough, he piles more material onto the mound to
increase the temperature. The Brush Turkey can become too
humanised around some popular tourist spots and starts aggressively
demanding food handouts. The other megapode is the Orange-footed
Scrubfowl (Megapodius reinwardt), a smaller and less
easily noticed bird than the Brush Turkey. However, its maniacal
calls and screams are hard not to notice and carry some distance.
Both ground birds wander through the forest, scratching up
the litter looking for fruits, berries, seeds and shoots.
When alarmed, they will usually run off but, if necessary,
they can fly clumsily into the trees.
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Buff-breasted or Paradise Kingfisher
 One
of the migratory species to the Australian tropical lowland
forest is the Buff-breasted or Paradise Kingfisher, distinctive
for its streaming white central tail feathers. This colourful
blue and buff bird arrives locally in November for breeding.
Nests are tunnels excavated by the pair in active termite
mounds growing on the rainforest floor. The young hatchlings
develop quickly and fledge in only 24 days. The adult Paradise
Kingfishers (Tanysiptera sylvia) return to New Guinea
in March but the fledgings follow afterwards which poses the
question: how do the youngsters know where to go if there
are no adult birds to guide them?
Cassowary
One of the most important birds of the Wet
Tropics rainforest is the endangered cassowary which you can
read about in our Special
Profile.
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