Orientalsk Braksvale – Next Stop DK?

Orientalsk Braksvale – Next Stop DK?

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Significant Bird Event by Jim Downey Birds Australia CEO

Arguably one of the most extraordinary events associated with migratory waders in Australia in recent years is occurring right now in North Western Australia.

Last Saturday and Sunday the 7 & 8 February 2004, members of Birds Australia (BA) and our special interest group the Australasian Wader Studies Group lead by Dr Clive Minton (BA Fellow) counted between 2.4 and 2.8 MILLION Oriental Pratincoles at 80 mile beach (Anna Plains station). The previous estimate of the total Australian population of this bird was 60,000 !!!

An extract of Clive's email of Monday 9 Feb advising us of this remarkable event is reproduced here:

When we arrived here on February 2nd it was immediately apparent that an unusual situation existed. For the last 100km of the journey the bush on either side of the main highway was alive with feeding Oriental Pratincoles. In the late afternoon vast clouds (smokes) of birds could be seen swirling around over many parts of the plains and these gradually descended towards dusk to roost for the night in quite dense patches all over the agricultural grasslands of the plain. Next day their daily pattern became apparent. From dawn birds fed extensively all over the grassland of the station and further inland amongst the bush at least as far back as the Great Northern Highway.

As the day heated up (the weather was relatively settled and calm and sunny throughout) the birds gradually moved down to the coast where they collected in huge aggregations on the upper mud flats and as the tide rose on the sandy beaches.

We have obviously been speculating as to why such a huge number of birds is present here now but has never previously been recorded. The previous most similar situation was in January 2000 when a minimum of 50,000 Oriental Pratincoles were observed on Anna Plains Station. However, in that year there was extensive water on the agricultural pastureland and birds were therefore not needing to adjourn to the beach during the heat of the day.

No extensive surveys or wider population estimates were attempted or possible at that time. It would appear that in 2004 conditions have been absolutely perfect to attract the maximum number of Oriental Pratincoles to feed in the area of farmland adjacent to 80 Mile Beach and that weather and habitat conditions have been the optimum to force them to use the beach during the day where they could be observed and counted.

Nevertheless it is still quite a staggering increase of previous estimates of the population of this species and one which would be difficult to believe by anyone who had not seen this phenomenal sight of beaches densely covered with pratincoles a kilometre or so wide for stretches tens of kilometres long.