I've been looking over the threads regarding the status' of mammals, birds and reptiles in Australian zoos for a while now but I was just wondering if there is any native birds list? I know it would be a huge undertaking but even if it was just focused on the rarer species I still think it could be a really good insight into the captive populations whilst opening up some conversations regarding captive breeding programs for threatened species with little to no representation in captivity (red goshawk, grey falcon, alberts lyrebird etc) Let me know if this has already been done
No, there isn't a native birds list for Australia. The lists for exotic animals are "relatively" easy to do because the number of species is pretty restricted and therefore straightforward to compile, and the majority of species are held largely in ZAA collections. But even in the exotic bird list for Australia, many of the groups (the parrots and "finches" in particular) are just naked lists of species because there is no way of knowing which little bird collections hold which species, or even which species are kept in any public collections (as opposed to just in private aviculture). With regards to native Australian species there are large numbers of non-ZAA private wildlife parks all around the country for which there is no good way of compiling the data. This is why the native Australian mammal list has just been done as categories (e.g. "rare" or "common") because it is basically impossible to list all the collections which hold Eastern Grey Kangaroos or whatever. There are also no lists for native Australian reptiles or amphibians for this exact reason. It wouldn't be impossible to do it, but they would be ridiculously incomplete and kind of useless. For New Zealand the situation with listing native birds is much easier because there are relatively few native species, of which an even smaller number are held in captivity, and almost all species need DOC permits to be held. This isn't the case in Australia where there are something like 700 native species (and apparently about 45% of those are endemic to Australia), and loads of native species are kept in private aviculture. The reason I never did an Australian native bird list is because it would just be a list of species - many of which would only "probably" be held somewhere - and with no usable information except for a few select species
I thought that would be the case. I think the main thing wanted to know about were the rarer species in captivity, those that are in small numbers or even just singular specimens like the grey falcon. Thanks for the reply anyways!
I can tell you Moonlit Sanctuary has a pair of grey goshawks, not falcons I grant you but rare in captivity nether less.
It might take me over a week and I’ll be missing plenty of birds from zoos. My cutoff date for data collected is 1st of Jan 2019 and I’ll be using the following ways to get information. Zoochat Gallery Zoo Facebook pages (and other social media) Personal photos and experiences (in the date of course) Input from other Australian Zoochaters.
To help you on your way here is the list of species currently at Moonlit Sanctuary: Emu Australian shelduck (eight other species of waterfowl normally present are wild) Bush stone-curlew Pied stilt Wedge-tailed eagle Grey goshawk Peregrine falcon Barn owl Barking owl Tawny frogmouth Owlet nightjar Sacred kingfisher Major Mitchell’s cockatoo Sulphur-crested cockatoo Gang-gang cockatoo Yellow-tailed black cockatoo Red-tailed black cockatoo Eclectus parrot Swift parrot Superb parrot Australian king parrot Orange-bellied parrot Rainbow lorikeet Regent honeyeater Helmeted honeyeater Satin bowerbird White-browed woodswallow Eastern whipbird Zebra finch
Thanks for your help @MRJ I had most of these species down although I was shocked to see peregrine falcons on there.
That is far for all I forgot so much more enbassesment - all correct now. Never had green catbirds, maybe you were mistaking a female satin bowerbird. Banded lapwings have all left the collection.
Also while I’m at it I’ll post a progress report on the list. Its been going well with the help of many other members it should hopefully be at a point in two weeks where have found every species in Australian zoos, although listing holders of certain species will never be complete and will have to be continually updated with more research poured in.
They do look quite similar, fair enough!, I still remember it as a green catbird but it’s probably my imagination playing up.
Would it perhaps be easier to make a list of native birds that are t kept in captivity. I feel like that would be a shorter list than native species that are kept in captivity.
If talking about parrots and finches certainly but beyond that... in any case that is mostly the avicultural community. Zoos don’t display many finches and the days of long lines of aviaries with comprehensive parrot collections has past. There are 733 or so resident species in Australia and while I imagine this list might get to 10% I wonder how much further it will go.
Hi Yoshistar888, As requested here is my list of native birds sighted at Halls Gap Zoo on my 2 visits. 26 Oct 2019 and 05 June 2020. I have based this list from Photos taken of signage / birds and exhibits. I may have missed some enclosures so can't be 100% certain I have everything. (Species name has been transcribed from photo of signage) Australian Bustard Ardeotis Kori Australian Wood Duck Chenonetta jubata Barn Owl Black Swan Cygnus atratus Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus leucocephalus Brolga Grus rubicunda Bush Stone-curlew Burhinus grallarius Cape Barren Goose Diamond Firetail Finch Stagonopleura guttata Eclectus Parrot Eclectus rerafus Emu Galah Major Mitchell's Cockatoo Nankeen (Australian) Kestrel Falco cenchroides Orange-bellied Parrot Neophema chrysogaster Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa Plumed Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna eytoni Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus haematadus Red-tailed Black Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus banksii samueli Rose-crowned Fruit-dove Southern Boobook Southern Cassowary Casuarius casuarius johnsonii Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Tawny Frogmouth Wedge-tailed Eagle Aquila audax White-browed Woodswallow Artaimus superciliosus Wild Budgerigar Melopsittacus undulates Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus The Following Native Birds were sighted at Ballarat Wildlife Park on my visit 16 June 2020 Eclectus Parrot Eclectus raratus Eastern Whipbird Psophodes olivaceus Noisy Pitta Pitta versicolour Emu Little Blue Penguin Eudyptula minor Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo Southern Cassowary Unfortunately I didn't spend any time looking at the water birds on the lake - so I can't confirm if any birds are maintained onsite or if they are just free flying wild birds. From my visit to Mogo Zoo - I can confirm that they do not keep any native birds. I can look at my Melbourne Zoo Photos for you if you would like.
What a legend, I’ve already got data from Melbourne Zoo so I don’t need anything there. Thanks a ton @kiwimuzz
