Habitat loss and species loss: the birds of Sydney 50 years ago and now

23 Pages·1995·4.8 MB·English

by  Allan Keast

Habitat loss and species loss:
the birds of Sydney 50 years ago and now
Allan Keast
Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada
ABSTRACT
O-v-er the~ ~la-~st~ 5 0 v,ea-rs~ ~ma~io r, a~ -re~ a~~s o~ f b~ ird~ ha~ b~ ita~ t ha~ ve~ b~e-~e n lo~s- t fro~ m the~ Countv of Cumbe~ rland~ .
Incl,deo are the malor sallmarshes ana freshwaler swamps lrom tne western s~deo f Botany Bay; lhe
ta I forests ol tne Upper North Shore and !he wood.ands ol tne Cumberlano Plain between Parramana
and tne Nepean. Wfth thls, malor mmponents of the lormer Syaney avllabna have oecome rare and
at least eight species have been eliminated from the County as breeding species. Analyses are made
of the avifaunas of these habitats as they existed in the 1930s and 1940s. It is confirmed that
immediately a habitat goes so does the species dependent on it. Only one-third of the 108 forest and
woodland species discussed occur in multiple habitats and hence are well insulated against change.
The use of progressively degraded habitats is explored and it is found that only a very few species
can persist once the process starts.
It is strongly argued that the key to understanding ecosystems and the biology and ecology of
species is research: only when we understand how they operate, and their needs, can we minimize
the impact and predict the impact of changes.
An extensive segment of the article is devoted to painting a word picture of habitats, familiar to
the wriier in the 1930s and 1940s, that are now extinct.
INTRODUCTION gathered for some of the Benson and Howell
vegetation divisions. But why not accept
This report had its origins in a breakfast
your editor's invitation and develop my own
discussion at the International Herpetological
data within a vegetation formation-habitat
Congress in Adelaide in January 1994. I had
framework?
outlined changes in the Sydney avifauna since
my initial contacts with it in the 1930s. Your The afternoon lecturer was Alan Morris
editor suggested I commit data to paper. A from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife
few weeks later I attended the Annual Meeting Service: he documented many cases of species
of the Australian Bird Study Association at increase in later years, particularly in parrots
Macquarie University. The topic of guest and cuckoos. This is the "flip side" of the bird
lecturer Jocelyn Howell, Royal Botanic population story. Since the reasons for these
Gardens and co-author of the book "Taken cases of population increase are fairly obvious
for Granted (Benson and Howell 199Oa) and I will treat them only briefly here.
the predecessor (Benson and Howell 1990b)
In the evening the group reconvened for a
was the massive change to the vegetation of
barbecue at a home in Turramurra. The
the County of Cumberland* since European
upper reaches of the Lane Cove River
settlement. Of some eight original vegetation
National Park lay only a few yards away. The
formations, two-thirds had either been lost or
Upper North Shore from Wahroonga to
reduced to an insignificant fraction of their
Thornleigh (Fig. 1) had been one of my main
original area. There could not have been
boyhood stamping grounds. I spent much of
a more depressing message. But almost
the evening handling questions about the past
immediately, fascinating questions posed
avifauna, and extracting data from the others
themselves to me: what had been the bird
on current occurrences. The need for writing
inhabitants of the lost formations; was the loss
this article was confirmed.
of birds the direct result of this; had some
species been linked to specific habitats and
BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE
could now only occur in small numbers in
inferior secondary ones? I acknowledged that The data is developed as three interrelated
we do not know the precise biological or manuscripts. The present paper documents
habitat needs of any of our bird species. the avifauna of the County of Cumberland of
Furthermore, bird usage data had never been fifty years ago relative to today, focusing on
*"coumrifn' Australia has no rignifiranm cxccpl a? a land title unit. The Count) of Cumbrrhnd is. in cfkct. th. mgion 50 Lrn Sydney
December 1995 Australian Zoologist, Vol 30(1) 3
sc LE of llrl€s
o 5 lo .LION ISLAND
LONG R.
PENRITH
SYDNEY
tr
CAMDFN
rALEs lJIIIitTtl
(WtANAMATTAetc.) [llllllll
I
TH I RROU L (5lLTa ndC LAY)
Fig. 1. The County of Cumberland, being the region around the City of Sydney in New South
Wales. It is bounded on the west and north by a river called the Nepean near Camden
and Penrith, and the Hawkesbury in the eastward-flowing part towards Lion Island. The
City is centred around Sydney Harbour. As may be seen, the region is a geological
basin with its centre near the middle of the map. As discussed in the text, the four maior
habitat associations reflect the underlying geology. The map is taken from Hindwo'od
and McGill (1958); for a detailed vegetation map see Benson and Howell (1990).
Abbrevations on the map are: To Pt = Towra Point; Mud Cr : Muddy Creek,
representing the saltmarsh and freshwater swamp of Cooks River and Botany Bay;
Wahr : Wahroonga, representing the tall eucalypt foresr of the Upper North Shore;
Doon : Doonside, representing the woodlands of the Cumberland Plain west of Sydney;
Wat Cr : Waterfall Creek, representing the temperate rainforest of Royal National
Park. There are a large number of detailed locations mentioned in the text; a Sydney
street directory would be necessary to find all of them. As discussed in the text, the
vegetation and birdlife have been much altered in recent times. Occupied by only a small
number of Aboriginal hunter-gatherers when Captain Cook landed in Botany Bay in
1770, the population of the region now exceeds 3 000 000.
4 AustralianZ oologistV, oL30(1) December1 995
four significant regions and habitats. A discussion CLUTCH COMPLETDN DATES, MEMBERS
OF EXTINCT COOK'S RIVER BIRD CDMMUNTTY,
on how birds respond to habitat change and
19381942and 19471952
on conservation issues is incorporated. The I
RED-CAFTED
second paper reviews the activities of the
PLOVER WmnTxEL)
Sydney ornithological fraternity in the
193&1950 period, which were largely centred
around the monthly meetings of the Ornitho-
logical Section of the Royal Zoological Society.
Many of Australia's then leading ornitho-
logists were members of this group and the
period was characterized by oudtanding work.
A third paper summarizes the unpublished
data of Arnold McGill on six common
migratory waders on the Botany Bay mudflats
between 1942 and 1964. The area has now
largely been lost to airport and ship-container
port development.
This report has its origins in an unusual
background: from 1931-1936 I was a child
egg-collector, from 193%1942 photographing 6 TURTLEDOVE
birds at the nest in black-and-white, and from 4
1950 onwards a colour photographer. Develop-
2
ing a skill for nest-finding and the acquisition
of the database on nesting seasons, and 0
appreciation of breeding habitat specialization July Aug Sept On Nav Dec Jan Feb
in birds, began early. They are interests that Month
I have never lost.
As children we were only interested in one 4 - SKYLARK
egg of each species but as we sought the nests -
2
of less common species we found increasing . n=ll
, , , , I ,
numbers of nests of common ones. Anybody 0.
who has worked for a period in an area soon
learns that members of a species commonly
nest in the same site, or chose one of similar
configuration, from year to year: this facilitates
the buildup of multiple records. Throughout
my activities each nest found was recorded
according to the formula: "under construction";
"fresh eggs present"; "with heavily incubated
eggs"; "newly hatched young". In the course
of bird photography one also found an excess
of nests: this was necessary because perhaps
only one in ten was at the right height, well GOLDEN.HEADED
CISTICOLA
lit, and at the right stage of the breeding cycle.
The method of recording the status of each
nest was continued. To assemble the data in
Figures 2 and 3 all the records were recalculated
to the specific stage "date of clutch completion
and beginning of incubation" by means of
established data on incubation and nestling
periods in the different species (e.g., Marchant
1980). (In general the incubation and nestling
periods of small passerines is 12-15, and July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb
13-15 days; in shorebirds the former may be Month
31 days (Gwynne 1932). Allowing for some Fig. 2. Breeding seasons, as indicated by dates of compleeon
sloppiness in data gathering, a margin of of egg clutches and beginning of incubation, nine
common Botany Bay saltmarsh and freshwater
error in reconciling individual records of plus
swamp spedes, plus the Little Tern. Dam accumulated
or minus seven days must be allowed. during 1930s1940s.
Ausfralfan Zoologist, Vol. 30(1) 5
C-JTCH COMP-ETION DATES. SOME "Superb Fairy-wren", and "Peewee" for
TEMPERATE RAINFOREST SPECIES, WATERFALL AND
"Magpie-lark, because these remain in
BOLACREEKS. Royal Natlona Park, 1936-1942
general use by the public. Familiarity helps
the conservation cause. These species need
4 - BLACK-FACED MONARCH
names equivalent to "Willie Wagtail", "Silver-
2 - . "=s. o, , ethyaet",, alinkde "J"awcrkeyn "W ianntedr "". rTobhien "te, rmre f"ewrsa rbtole r"a
0 - , , , , , , ,
, ' ' ' I '
particular structural and ecological type of
6 - bird, is given precedence over "Gerygone".
llllFOUS
4 - FANTAIL For consistency the second word in compound
2- "=dl I I names is introduced by a small letter, e.g.,
"Cuckoo-shrike".
0.
THE SYDNEY BIRD COMMUNITIES
Related to its being the original site of settle-
ment, many of the descriptions and early
paintings of Australian birds originated in
Sydney. The first complete list of Sydney birds
was published by the then ornithologist at the
8 - Australian Museum, A. J. North (North
- BROWN WARBLER 1889): it contained 228 species. A subsequent
(GERYGONEI list (North 1898) contained 263 species, with
4- "=lo notes on status, habitat, and distribution.
2- The modern list of Hindwood and McGill
0- (1958) covers 377 species, one-third of them
being rare or chance occurrences. The
authors relate individual species occurrence to
vegetation by way of soil-type (Fig. 1). A broad
correlation between the four habitat categories
used and some of basic vegetation formation
July Aug Sept Oct Nov Der Jan Feb
categories of Benson and Howell (1990) is
Month
obvious.
My account views changes in the Sydney
Fig. 3. Breeding rimes of five common temperate rainforest
species, Waterfall and Bola Creek, Royal Narional avifauna in terms of four major habitat
Park. associations. These are:
Breeding season data is given here only i) the saltmarshes and freshwater swamps of
for the Cooks River saltmarshlfreshwater Cooks River and Botany Bay;
swamp, and Waterfall Creek rainforest bird
ii) the tall eucalypt forests of the Upper North
communities. The former is relevant because
Shore;
the community no longer exists; the latter
because, with the loss of the research Cabin in iii) woodlands of the Cumberland Plain west
the Royal National Park, little field work is of Sydney;
now carried out in rainforest. Hitherto no
iv) the temperate rainforests of Waterfall
data on breeding times in these habitats has
Creek, Royal National Park.
been published.
The first three areas have now been
The habitat data (Table 1) is the outcome
destroyed or largely alienated as bird habitats.
of extensive field work in the specific sites
They formerly had rich and diversified bird
shown and throughout the County from the
communities, as acknowledged by the frequent
1940s onwards, with considerable input from
visits to them by Sydney ornithologists in the
fellow ornithologists.
1930s and 1940s. The first two are treated in
Bird names detail because I worked closely with them.
Hawkesbury sandstone birds are not discussed:
For scientific names of the bird species
they and their habitat remain intact today.
(Christides and Boles 1994) see Appendix 1.
Species lists follow their order. Where Saltmarsh persists today as a large and
meritorious I follow English names used in viable tract on Towra Point (Fig. 1). The tall
the 1930s. Thus, "Bluewren" substitutes for forest habitat of the North Shore is represented
6 Australian Zwlogist, Vol. 30(1)
Table 1. Birds of Sydney, use of four forest and woodland habitat types, residence and breeding,
193CL1960 data. Ahundances in habitat: XXX - common; XX - moderare numbers;
X - rare; x - very rare; r - visibly rarer than before, e - effectively eliminated.
Habitat
Tall forest Temp rainforest
Upper Nonh Heathland Woodland Royal Narional
Swcies Shore sandstone Doanside Park
Black Bittern Xe
Painted Button-quail XXe XXe
Bush Stone~urlew
xx
Spatted Turtle-dove
Brown Pigeon
Emerald Dove
Wonga Pigeon
Bronzewing
Brush Bronzewing
Topknot Pigeon
White Cockatoo
Little I.orikeet
Musk Lorikeet
Crimson Rosella XXX
Eastern Rosella XXX
King Parrot
Pallid Cuckw
Brush Cuckoo
Fan-tailed Cuckw
Black-eared Cuckoo
Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo
Shining Bronze-cuckoo
Koel
Bwbook Owl
Tawny Frogmouth
Azure Kingfisher
Laughing Kookaburra
Sacred Kingfisher
Superb Lyrebird
White-throated Treecreeper XXX XX
Brown Treecreeper XXr
Bluewren XXX XXX
Variegated Wren XXX
Southern Emu-wren XX
Spotted Pardalate XXX XXX
Striated Pardalote
Pilotbird Xr
Rockwarbler Xxr
Yellow-throared Scrubwren Xxr
White-hrowed Scrubwren XXX XXX XXX
Large-billed Scrubwren X
Chestnut-rumped Heathwren XX
Speckled Warbler XXr
Weebill XXX
Brown Warbler X XXX
White-throated Warbler XXX XXX
Brown Thornbill XXX XXX XXX
Buff-rumped Thornbill X XX
Yellow-rumped Thornbill XX X
Yellow Thornbill XX XXX
StriatedThornbill XXX XXX
Southern Whiteface XXe
Red Wattlebird
Little Wattlebird XXX
Leatherhead XX
Regent Honeyeater
Bell Miner
Noisy Miner
Lewin's Honeyeater XXX
Yellow-faced Honeyearer
Yellow-tufted Honeveater XXX
XXX
Xr
December 1995 Australian Zwlogrst, Vol 30(1) 7
Habitat
Tall forest Temp rainforest
Upper North Heathland Woodland Royal National
Species Shore sandstone Doonside Park
White-naped Honeyeater XX X
Painted Honeyeater xe
Eastern Spinebill XXX XX
Scarlet Honeyeater XXX
Jacky Winrer XXXe xxxr
Red-capped Robin xxe
Rose Robin
H d e dR obin xe
Eastern Yellow Robin XXX XXX XXX
xx
Eastern Whipbird XX XX
Varied Sittclla X XX
Crested Shrike-tit X XXr
xx
Golden Whistler X XX XXX
Rufous Whistler XXX XXX XXX
Grey Shrike-thrush XXX XXX
Black-faced Monarch
Leaden Flycatcher X ..
Restles Flycatcher Xe xxr
Peewee XXX X XXX
xx
Rufous Fantail
Grey Fantail XXX XXX XXX XXX
Willie Wapil XXX xxx XXX
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike XXX X XXX
Little Cuckoo-shrike Xr
Cicadabird xe
White-wingedTriller Xr
Olive-backed Oriole XX
Masked Woodswallow
White-browed Woodswallow
Dusky Woodswallow
Grey Butcherbird
Australian Magpie
Pied Currawong
Australian Raven
xx
Spotted Catbird
Satin Bowerbird XXX
Zebra Finch XXr
Double-barred Finch xxxr
Red-hrowed Finch XXX XXX xxx
Diamond Firetail XXr
Beautiful Firetail
Silvereye XXX XXX
BassianThrush xe
Common Starling XX XXX
Common Mvna
by the remnant Cumberland State Forest at The loss of the above sites deprives us of the
Pennant Hills, and as peripheral strips along chance to provide relative species abundance
the edge of, and within, the sandstones. The figures from today to compare with 50 years
Doonside-St Marys woodlands do not have a ago. The Royal Australasian Ornithologists'
direct modern counterpart although a small Union has in recent years sponsored large
segment of it possibly survives near Prospect numbers of bird counts in a variety of
Reservoir (Jocelyn Howell, pers. comm.). The habitats: such data will be invaluable in the
former Army property at Scheyville, used by documentation of future trends.
H. F. Recher in his excellent studies, bears
COOKS RIVER AND BOTANY BAY:
resemblance but lacks major elements such as
SALTMARSHES AND FRESHWATER
the Eastern Whiteface, Hooded and Red-
SWAMPS
capped Robins and, when I last visited it, only
a single pair of Brown Treecreepers remained. Botany Bay is a drowned estuary. The
The remnant Castlereagh State Forest near terrain is sandy and is delimited to the west by
Penrith is on Tertiary alluvium and not sandstone. There are three entrant drainages:
representative of this habitat. The temperate i) a chain of ponds and swamps extending
rainforest habitat remains intact. south from Centennial Park, through the
8 Australian Zoologc;t, Vol. 30(1)
Lakes and Eastlakes golf courses, to the Tnble 2. The birds of lower Wolli Creek: Arnold McGill's
occurrence and abundance list based on 300 iuneys
old Waterworks Swamp and then the Bay;
made between 1941 and 1964. N = nesting r+ords.
ii) the small Cooks River with its two
Recorded on 100% of trips
tributaries, Muddy and Wolli Creeks,
White-faced Heron, Black Duck, Dusky Moorhen (N),
entering from the north-west and, not
Purple Swamphen (N), House Sparrow, Starling.
covered here;
iii) Georges River that drains a considerable Recorded commonly (e.g., 60-80% of rrips)
hinterland entering from the south-west. Little Pied Cormorant, Nankeen Kestrel, Silver Gull,
Spotted Turtledove (N), Laughing Kookaburra, welcome
The headwaters of the pond system were Swallow (N), Pipit (earlier trips, N), Red-whiskered Bulbul,
presumably originally covered by scrub or Reed Warbler (N), Golden-headed Cisticola (N), Bluewren
(N), Willie Wagtail (N), Silvereye (N), Yellow-faced Honey-
woodland but, judging from the discovery of
eater (winter), Goldfinch (earlier trips), Peewee (N).
an Emu sitting on eggs near modem Randwick
by a hunting party in 1798, there must have
Recorded regularly (3040% of trips)
been open terrain. Habitat change obviously
Australasian Grebe, Little Black Cormorant, Great Egret,
began early. In 1845 Mahmt, one of the last
Nankeen Night Heron, Australian Cmt, Spurwinged
survivors of the extinct Cooks River tribe, Plover, Black-fronted Dotterel (earlier trips, N), Hvfield
complained that he could then catch only one Bronze-cuckoo, Skylark (earlier trips), Black-faced Cuckoo-
or two possums a day whereas formerly he had shrike, Little Grassbird (N), Yellow Thornbill, Yellow-tailed
Thornbill (N),J acky Winter (earlier, N), Brown Honeycarer
been able to collect the 2&30 pelts necessary
(winter), Eastern, Spinebill, Common Myna (became
for a rug in a week. The ponds, draining poor progrersively more common during survey), Raven.
sandy soil, formed Sydney's water-supply
from 1827-1886 after the Tank Stream Recorded on about 10% of trips
proved no longer adequate. Initially the
White-necked Heron, Japanese (Latham's) Snipe, Sharp-
Lachlan Swamps, now in Centennial Park, railed Sandpiper, Pallid Cuckoo, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Fairy
were used, being subsequently supplemented Martin (nested early in survey).
by the Botany Swamps in today's Lakes and
Eastlakes golf courses. In 1886 the Upper Recorded on abut &7% of trips
Nepean scheme commenced uocelyn Howell, Great Cormorant, Mangrove (Striated) Heron, Straw-
pers. comm.). necked Ibis, Grey Teal, Black-shouldered Kite, Brown
Goshawk, Golden Plowr, Spine-railed Swift, Azure
The higher country along the western limits Kingfisher, Sacred Kingfisher, Dollarbird. White-backed
Swallow, White-fronted Chat (up to 1946). Restless
of the drainage originally supported fine forest.
Flycatcher, Spotted Pardalote, White-naped Honeyeater,
In 1833 the estate "Bexley" contained stands Red Waalebird, Grey Fantail, Red-browed Finch, Spice
of much sought after turpentine, ironbark, Finch. Black-backed Magpie.
stringybark, and other eucalypts, and in 1880
the hush at Arncliffe was rich in native flowers Recorded on 15%o f lrips
(Benson and Howell 1990). Wolli Creek, with its Hoary-headed Grebe, White Ibis (arrived late in period),
rich alluvial soils, must have supported Swamp Banded I~ndrailL, ittle Tern, Baillon's Crake, Marsh Tern,
Yellow Robin, Chesmut-breasted Finch (N), Tree Martin,
Mahogany, Swamp Casuarina, Melaha linarii-
Scarlet Robin, Scarlet Honeyeater.
filia, Lilli-pilli and, presumably, Livistona
Palm (Benson and Howell). Obviously these Recorded on <I% of trips
habitats formerly contained a diversified
Pelican, Brorvn bit ten^, Royal Spoonbill, Black Swan,
avifauna. Loss would have matched clearing. Chestnut Teal (late in survey), Little Falcon, Brorvn Falcon.
However, as late as 1931, as a nine-year old, Greenshank, White-headed Stilt, Common and Cresred
Terns, Shining Bronze-cuckoo, Koel, Striated 'Thornbill,
1 heard Whipbirds singing from valley floor
Brown Thornbill, Rose Robin, Leaden Flycatcher, Golden
thickets between Forest Road, Bexley, and the
Whistler, Rufous Whistler, Grey Shrike-thrush, Whire-
East Hills railway line to the west. A few plumed Honeyeater, Fuscous Honeyeater, Grey Burcher-
remnant Jacky Winters bred at Wolli Creek bird, Pied Currawong, Grey Cul-rawong, Peacehrl Dove,
Crimson and Eastern Rosellas, Red-backed Parror.
until the early 1940s (Table 2).
Regularly occurring, though not breeding,
Freshwater marsh habitats
were both species of Spoonbill, the three
These were formerly one of the east coast Egrets (Cattle Egrets had not then colonized
major systems, with a diversified birdlife. In Australia), White-eyed Duck, or Hardhead,
the 1920s A. J. North regularly visited the Shoveller, Musk Duck, Wood Duck, Grey Teal
Sydney markets seeking rare waders shot by (though not the Chestnut Teal), Black Swan,
commercial hunters there. In the 1930s and Coot, Australasian Bittern and, sometimes,
1940s they were important water-bird habitat, Little Bittern and Crakes. The main breeders
especially during times of drought inland. were the Purple Swamphen, Moorhen, Black
Australian Zoologist, Vol. 30(1) 9
Duck, Reed Warbler, and Little Grassbird. transects were walked along one or another
The lower ponds of the system were kept part of it at weekly intervals. The Creek, 3 km
open by the small tanneries and wool-scouring in length, originates as a small drainage
works that used the water. Today land-fill extending beneath the railway line between
associated with airport development has Rockdale and Kogarah. It is today a concrete
largely isolated and constricted the Water- stormwater canal.
works Swamp which is choked with vegetation:
In the 1930s it passed through open,
open water areas are proportionately reduced.
seasonally flooded, paddocks in the upper
Further south, adjacent to Muddy Creek, reaches, extensive silted flats being used as
was the extensive Moorefield Swamp. It Chinese market gardens, then finally
extended east and south from the old saltrnarsh. Midstream reedheds rang with the
racecourse for some two km to Sandringham songs of Reed Warblers and Little Grassbirds.
and Sans Sonci. Water depth was 1-2 m and Each road bridge had pairs of nesting Welcome
much of the surface was covered with the Swallows. The Chinese lived in the old stone
introduced Water Hyacinth interspersed with house known historically as the Wilson Farm-
clumps of rushes. house (that still stands): it was built on the site
of that of the original settler of the 1850s,
At any time the surface of the swamp was
John Bowman. Every pond in the market
dotted with Purple Swamphens, with up to a
gardens had good populations of the Green-
dozen active nests being found per morning,
and-Golden Bell Frog Litoria aurea, now a
Black Ducks, Swans, White-fronted Herons,
vanishing species restricted to 16 small
Egrets, Moorhens, and Baillon's Crakes.
populations from its entire range (G. Pyke,
Reeded sections supported high populations
pers. comm.). Peewees and Pipits fed in the
of Reed Warblers and Little Grassbirds.
gardens. Adjacent relictual stands of Swampoak
Moorefield swamp was virtually unstudied by
Caruarina gluuca and Swamp Mahogany
ornithologists who preferred to focus on the
Eucalyptus rohusta were the nesting places of
Botany Swamps. It was drained and converted
Peewees and Willie Wagtails, and were used
to housing in the 1960s.
by the Horsfield Bronze-cuckoo to loudly
assert its "host-parasite" rights to the nests of
Muddy Creek: saltmarsh and mangroves
the chats in the saltmarsh across the creek.
The feature of the southern side of Cooks Boxthorn and Blackberry thickets had nesting
River was the square kilometres, or more, Bluewrens and Spotted Turtle-doves.
of magnificent saltmarsh. Because of its
"obnoxious" nature, extensive flats of sticky At Bestic Street, a kilometre before its
black mud, intersected with innumerable entrance into the main river, Muddy Creek
channels water-filled at high tide, and drab broadened into a salt water expanse. The
stunted vegetation, this had been shunned by eastern bank now supported a line of tall Grey
man for a hundred years.. . until it was Mangroves with breeding Silvereyes, waste-
needed for the airport in the 1950s and 1960s. land with Lantana and Inkberry, grassbirds
". . . Samphire or Glasswort Sarcocorniu quin- and wrens, and a further expanse of Chinese
quejora, Seablite Swdua urtralis, isolepis nodosa market garden. On the western side residue
(formerly Scirpus nodosus), the Salt Couches from earlier dredging had converted former
Sporobolw virginiclrs and ZoysaQ macrantha saltmarsh into a large park (Barton Park). A
(formerly pungem) and patches of Juncus central sandy section of about 5 000 m2
kraur.~ii provided extensive vegetation cover. annually supported two or three breeding
Ringlets (White-fronted Chats) and Banded pairs of Red-capped Plovers and around the
Landrailr (Buff-Banded Rails) nested in the grassed periphery 4-5 Pipits and Skylarks
Suaeda uustrclzi, mainly in bigger plants along could be flushed from nests in a morning's
the low ridges, and Isolepis nodosa, respectively, walk.
and migratory waders fed in the channels at
Birdlife was rich and diversified along
low tide". Cisticolas were abundant in the
Muddy Creek in the 1930s, so much so that
scrubby vegetation along the edges and used
many children were egg-collectors. An index
the saltmarsh to some extent. The saltmarshes
of relative abundance is suggested by the ease
extended up the entrant creeks and formed
with which a child obtained the eggs of
the most interesting of Muddy Creek's
species: typically an egg collection would be
habitats.
built up as follows: House Sparrow, Spotted
Muddy Creek was the writer's main bird Turtle-dove, Starling, Bluewren, Silvereye,
study site in the 1930s, early and late 1940s, Welcome Swallow, "Ringlet", Pipit or Skylark
and early 1950s, and over much of this period (we failed to recognize the difference), Willie
10 Australian Zoologisf, Vo1. 30(1)
Wagtail, Reed Warbler, Red-whiskered Bulbul, The birds of lower Wolli Creek, degraded
"Futfut" ( e C isticola), Swamphen, Black woodland and swampland
Duck, Little Grassbird, Red-capped Plover
The lower section of this creek, between
and exceptionally, Buff-banded Rail and
Turrella and Bardwell Park railway stations,
"Blue Crane" (White-fronted Heron). Common
and 1.0-1.5 km upstream from its junction
Mynas, now exceedingly common, were
with the main Cooks River, was Arnold
restricted to a small population near the
McGill's main study site over the 20-year
Sydney Showground in the 1930s and 1940s,
period from 1940 to 1960, some 300 visits
and no child ever obtained their eggs. Those
being made at all seasons. Table 2, adapted
of the Little Tern that in the late 1940s had a
from the list kindly supplied me by McGill,
breeding colony on the main river were
both helps define the earlier Cooks River
unknown.
fauna and documents the avifauna at the then
The White-fronted Chat was a particularly stage of environmental degradation.
common species wherever there was
There is no comprehensive early settlement
saltmarsh, and each semi-isolated pocket of
bird list from Wolli Creek although Gifford
this had a group of breeding birds. The birds
Eardley (undated) writing in "The Early
nested in taller clumps of Suaeda australis (the
History of the Wolli Creek Valley" noted the
preferred site), and sometimes in clumps of
occurrence of numerous water-birds, the
Isolepsus and dense hanging masses of intro-
same species still present in McGill's day. A. J.
duced Pennisetum clandestinum (Kikuyu) grass
North earlier recorded the taking of eggs of
where it grew along drainage channels. By
the Grey Shrike-thrush and a Pallid Cuckoo
skirting these preferred sites at weekly intervals
egg from a nest near Wolli Creek, that White-
and flushing the sitting female it was easy both
fronted Chats nested at Canterbury and that
to get figures for breeding densities and times.
the Whipbird was common in scrubby thickets
Three circumspect tracts of saltmarsh con-
in the valley (Rankin 1989).
tained, in September-October 1939, 1940,
1950, and 1951, counts of active chat nests By the 1940s, when Arnold first introduced
averaging 10.4, 8.3,5.6, and 6.2 per 5 000 m2. me to the area, the original vegetation, as
Regularly 2625% of nests contained eggs of indicated by Benson and Howell, had been
the Horsfield Bronze-cuckoo; this compares degraded to a few remaining Red Angophora,
with the 8% found by Major (1991) for his Swamp Mahogany, and Swamp Casuarina
Melbourne study-site. In wider sections of trees, tangles of introduced Castor-oil Plant,
saltmarsh where the plants were more Lantana, Blackberry, rank grasses, and a few
stunted, breeding densities were only half to persistent native shrubs like Sydney Golden
one-third of the above figures: these areas, Wattle and Eriostemon. There were tracts of
however, were extensively used in foraging. dense reedbed centrally. Thus, to forest
species it was already severely degraded
Cisticola breeding numbers in low shrub, habitat, to the water-birds it represented the
waste-country terrain fringing the marsh were upper limits of feeding area.
estimated, from numbers of aerial displaying
males, as 211 pairs per 5 000 m2. Table 2 shows that:
Breeding season data for the common 1. One hundred and eight species of birds
Muddy Creek species based on nests found is were recorded in the 300 trips, only 39
shown in Figure 2. Regularly the chats started species were seen on 30% or more, 29 were
in late July-early August; the doves, pipits, recorded only once or twice.
swamphens, and plovers, in August; the
2. Forest birds by the 1940s had virtually
Cisticolas and Little Terns (first found nesting
ceased to use the area; at this time the last
in 1949-1960) in October. Most species
pairs of Jacky Winters stopped breeding;
were obviously double-brooded, and some
thicket-inhabiting Bluewrens bred at least
may have occasionally been triple-brooded.
into the late 1950s.
Note that the Chat is also a late-winter
breeder elsewhere in its range (Sharland 3. Forest birds continued to visit Wolli Creek
1924; Davies 1979; Major 1991), and as wanderers or nomads in autumn and
is typically double-brooded (Major 1991). winter but most only rarely and on an
Red-capped Plovers often raise three broods "accidental" basis. More regular were the
(Davis and Reid 1964). The dove is an erratic Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike and honey-
breeder and may nest at any time (Frith et al. eaters that came to feed on the flowers of
1976). the introduced Erythgna trees.
Australian Zoologist, Voi. 30(1) 11
4. Of the 23 non-waterbirds that were regularly Waterworks Swamp, and loss of the
encountered, several (e.g., Kestrel) were Moorefield Swamp, mean that the Bay is no
inhabitants of open terrain, not forest. The longer a major waterfowl breeding, or seasonal
Pipit was not recorded breeding after the refuge, area. A small area of "waste" reedbed
first years. adjacent to West Botany Street and market
garden and the St. George Soccer Stadium
5. Amongst the water-birds Swamphens and
maintains Reed Warblers and Little Grass-
Reed Warblers continued to breed along
birds (Fig. 4).
the Creek throughout; others only
occasionally visited this upstream site. A delightful innovation has been the
creation of two new, if small, areas of swamp
6. The number of species using the site
habitat on the western side adjacent to West
decreased over the 20-year period (e.g.,
Botany Street, the Spring Creek Wetlands and
Common Goldfinch). The Common Myna
Eve Street Marsh by the Rockdale Council and
became progressively more common.
Sydney Water Board respectively. Both are
7. In contrast to habitat specialists that extensively used by hirds, with Swamphens,
disappear with loss of basic conditions Moorhens, grassbirds and Reed Warblers,
several hardy and adaptable "opportunistic" migratory Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, and
species (e.g., Wagtail, Peewee, Kookaburra) foraging Stilts and Chestnut Teal making the
persisted, sometimes attempting to breed. most of the combination of open water,
reedbed and mudflat. An extensive artificial
The breeding season of birds, Cooks River pond has been secondarily created at the base
of the Kurnell Peninsula. It is understood that
Figure 2 summarizes the clutch completion
this was originally freshwater but was opened
dates for nine common species from the writer's
to the bay because of weedbed growth. The
records (data from 1938 to 1942 and 1947 to
status of this might be re-examined.
1960). Laying started in August or September
(later in Cisticola and migratory Little Tern), The saltmarsh habitat of Cooks River is
and ended usually in December with the onset totally gone save for a minuscule section
of hot, dry, weather. The Chat was an early adjacent to the soccer stadium above. This
breeder, as it is elsewhere in the range retains an almost complete set of typical
(Sharland 1924; Davies 1979; Major 1991). saltmarsh plants (Fig. 5) but is too small to be
The protracted season in the introduced used by Chats. A party of stilts fed there in
Turtle-dove can be linked to it being an January, 1995. Adjacent "waste" terrain
"erratic" breeder (Frith el al. 1976). (Appendix 2) supports Cisticolas, Pipits, and
Yellow-rumped Thornbills.
From the distribution of egg-laying most
species emerge as double-breeders. Major A square kilometre of saltmarsh remains on
(1991) found the Chat to be regularly double- Towra Point at the southeastern end of the
brooded. Davis and Reid (1964) document Bay (Fig. 6). It replicates the Cooks River
three, sometimes, four broods in the plover in saltmarsh. Along a 2 km section of tract
a season, but some of these presumably through this marsh Steve Anton-Smith and I
represent renesting after failure. counted 20 Chats in parties of 2-5 in January,
1995.
The 4-5 month long breeding season in
most species is probably partly an artifact of The strip of mangroves along the eastern
grouping data from several years: in the Chat side of the salt-water section of Muddy Creek
the season varies in length between years remains as the only part of the original
(Major 1991). habitat. Silvereyes remain abundant feeding
on Lantana berries along the adjacent waste-
The contemporary Botany Bay avifauna, land strip and there are Bluewrens in the
1993-1 995 thickets along the edge of the market gardens.
Eucalypt saplings planted by the Council
The contemporary avifauna of Botany Bay
adjacent to the fishing club support Wagtails
has been explored in the summers of 1993 to
and visiting New Holland and White-plumed
1995 by means of walked transects through
Honeyeaters. An extensive section of "aircraft
the different parts, with special attention to
flight path" to the south of Cooks River has
those studied extensively 50 years ago.
now been fenced off: it is degraded habitat of
Freshwater swamps are largely gone. A exotic weeds and shrubs but has a good
small section remains at Centennial Park but, Cisticola population, some Pipits; though
downstream, ponding, waterflow restriction Common Mynas and Starling are the main
and over-compact reedbed, breakup of the inhabitants.
12 Australlao Zoologist, Vol. 30(1)