Stephen. John. James. Frank. Davies

• ScD
• Curtin University

The drinking behaviour of four captive emus Dromaius novaehollandiae Latham 1790 was examined at the CSIRO Laboratory, Helena Valley, Western Australia. Considerable individual variation was found in the amount of water each emu drank daily, but for each bird the amount drunk was positively correlated with daily ambient maximum temperature. There w...

Predator odors can elicit fear responses in prey and predator odor recognition is generally associated with physiological responses. Prey species are often more likely to respond to the odor of familiar rather than alien predators. However, predator naïvety in an introduced prey species has rarely been investigated. We examined the physiological re...

Grazed quadrats were monitored on Mileura Station, Western Australia from 1967 to 2013 in order to study the population dynamics of the perennial plants in two of the land systems on the property. Counts of plants on four quadrats at each of 10 sites were made in 1967, 1976, 1990 and 2013, and individual plants were traced for the first three sampl...

Thermoregulatory strategies of small, free-living birds are poorly understood, despite being well-studied for equivalently-sized mammals. We measured body and microclimate temperature for three small, sedentary, insectivorous passerines (Western Yellow Robin Eopsaltria griseogularis 18g; Rufous Treecreeper Climacteris rufa 30g; and White-browed Bab...

Rufous Treecreepers (Climacteris rufa) are small (30 g), insectivorous, cooperatively-breeding passerines endemic to southern Australia. In semi-arid Wandoo (Eucalyptus wandoo) woodland they are ground-frequenting and despite below-freezing overnight temperatures in winter, they roost singly in tree hollows. We examine the physiological and behavio...

Predation risk influences foraging decisions and time allocation of prey species, and may result in habitat shifts from potentially dangerous to safer areas. We examined a wild population of western grey kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus) to test the efficacy of predator faecal odour in influencing time allocated to different behaviours and inducing...

White-browed Babblers (Pomatostomus superciliosus) are socially gregarious, ground-frequenting birds of central and southern Australia. Living in close-knit family groups, they construct domed nests in which they roost communally. In semi-arid Eucalyptus wandoo woodland, free-living babblers implanted with temperature-sensitive radio transmitters m...

Breeding data on the Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena) collected by Dick and Molly Brown at the Middlesex Field Study Centre, near Manjimup, Western Australia, were analysed and compared with data from Sydney, Tasmania and New Zealand. The mean clutch size in Middlesex (3.06) was considerably lower than in Sydney (3.86), Tasmania (4.03) and New Zea...

Since 1960, 22 species of individually marked, arid-zone perennial plants in the Murchison District and Gibson Desert of Western Australia have been monitored for flowering, fecundity, and survival. The age to which individual species survive was determined in terms of half-life, i.e. the time elapsed for half of the marked sample to die. The estim...

Birds live an energetically-expensive lifestyle as they are mostly small, diurnal and use flight. However they are long-lived, dominate most Australian environments and survive successfully in harsh and highly-variable conditions. Despite these contradictions little is known about the mechanisms Australian birds use to cope with these constraints,...

Basking is a behavioural adaptation that reduces thermoregulatory energy expenditure by utilising available solar energy. Basking behaviour is observed across the diversity of Columbiformes, including the naturalised Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis in Australia. This study aimed to quantify the energetic savings achieved by basking S. chinensis...

The Gekkonidae (Diplodactylinae and Gekkoninae) have traditionally been considered «sit and wait» predators. Recent literature shows that some species use a more active, or a mixed, foraging strategy. This report adds occasional observations in Australia, of cases of apparent «widely foraging» practice by individuals of Diplodactylus ciliaris, D. s...

Classic studies in fear ecology have been inconclusive regarding whether predator waste products repel herbivores and whether the deterrent effect, if any, is based on repulsion or fear. Other studies imply that the predator must have co-evolved with prey to maximize the efficacy of response. We used chemosensory cues from the urine of native and n...

Between 1980 and 2008 surveys of the birds in the vicinity of Eyre Bird Observatory (32°15'S; 126°18'E), in Western Australia have been made almost annually, using a point count method and a mapping method. The results have provided indices of the populations of seven resident, territorial species and three nomadic honeyeaters. Five of the resident...

This study uses changes in ventilatory frequency to quantify the physiological response of an Australian terrestrial herbivore, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii), to olfactory cues suggesting the presence of potential predators. Ventilatory frequency proved to be a quantifiable measure to assess the response of this macropod marsupial to olfact...

Predators cause changes in the behaviour of many prey species. This study investigated whether trappability of wild southern brown bandicoots (Isoodon obesulus) and common brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) was influenced by odour cues suggesting the presence of potential predators. Trapping success was compared between traps with predator s...

Magpie Geese Anseranas semipalmata build substantial nests of vegetation in the extensive Eleocharis/Oryza swamps of Northern Australia. Building activity begins some two months before the eggs are laid, and a large number of stages and preliminary nests are built before the true nest. It is thought that males generally initiate and take a large sh...

Part 1. Some action patterns of the Magpie Goose are clearly ritualized as signal actions, whilst others, although not so ritualized, are none the less characteristic of particular moods of the bird. It is considered that the action patterns form a simple language such that individual geese are aware and can often anticipate the actions of other ge...

The goslings of the Magpie Goose Anseranas semipalmata make co-ordinated pecks about 40 min. after hatching. The intensity of pecking is greater by day than by night and also increases with increasing age in unfed goslings. In a series of experiments goslings tended to orientate their pecks towards high, light, green and yellow objects rather than...

The results of a study of the food of emus, Dromaius novaehollandiae, in inland Western Australia show that they feed on a great variety of fruits, seeds, flowers, insects and green herbage of annual and perennial plants. Shrubs provide most of the food in spring and autumn (September to March), annuals in the autumn and winter (April to August) an...

We aimed to identify chemical properties of plant species that correlate with their palatability, quantify a common currency of forage for the western grey kangaroo, Macropus fuliginosus, and test the impact of frequency of occurrence on food selection. Of 24 plant species exposed to kangaroos, those high in salts and tannins were avoided, whereas...

Summary entry under 'Books/Monographs/Reports in Brief' within review section of journal ('Noteworthy Publications'). Author ICTN = Ian C.T. Nisbet.

Third volume of exhaustive seven-volume summary of all that is known of the birds of the Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic region. [1028 pages, colour plates]

The study shows that the use by waterbirds of those parts of Herdsman Lake used for racing model power boats remained at a level comparable with that of other parts of Herdsman Lake. We consider that the racing of model power boats, at its present levels of intensity and frequency, is not detrimental to waterbirds in the long term. On days when mod...

The social organisation and demography of White-browed Scrubwrens Sericornis frontalis were studied in arid, semi-arid and mesic environments of Western Australia over three years. The highest incidence of co-operative breeding was observed in the semi-arid environment whereas it was least common in the arid environment. Social grouping was also a...

At Mileura Station, Western Australia, the low rainfall is concentrated into the creek systems. Regular plant production takes place in the creeks so that annuals and perennials both show seasonality to which the animals' life cycles appear to be geared. In years of heavy rainfall the whole land surface is productive and animals breed abundantly. I...

A nomad is a bird that moves from place to place without regard to season or direction; a migrant makes a seasonal movement from a circumscribed breeding area to a circumscribed non-breeding area and back again each year. In arid lands, resources needed by some species may occur infrequently at one site so that the bird often has to move long dista...

1. Behaviour that reduces the heat load or evaporation experienced by birds living in arid areas is reviewed. Many species have evolved hunting behaviour that enables them to remain inactive during the hottest parts of the day and thus greatly reduce the amount of metabolic heat that they need to dissipate. Flights to water are made at low ambient...

Changes in the Australian climate during geological time as well as the activities of man in Australia have led to changes in the abundance and distribution of bird species. Serventy (1977) reviews the effect of climate and Smith (1977) the influence of man on some coastal species, whereas the present paper discusses the changes in the distribution...

Between 1960 and 1971 studies were made of samples of individually marked shrubs of twenty-four species in an arid area in Western Australia, Mileura Station c. 800 km northeast of Perth. These studies provided information about the flowering and fruiting seasons of the shrubs, and measured their production of seeds as a crop for emus, Dromaius nov...

Observations are reported on the regeneration of shrubs within grazed quadrats in inland Western Australia (26' 22's; 117' 20'~). The observations showed that in a ten year period of slightly above average rainfall, an increase in number of individual plants occurred in 24 out of 30 species of shrubs. No change occurred in four species and a decrea...

Details of observations made during a field excursion by the Western Australian Group of the RAOU to Peron Peninsula and Dirk Hartog Island are given and compared with other reports on the birds of the area, which has not been greatly disturbed, except round Denham and near sheep stations. Permanent water has been provided for stock. A few species...

The breeding season of captive barbary doves was studied near Perth, W.A., between 1966 and 1971. It was found that the birds ceased breeding in May and began again in late July. The interval from pair formation to egg-laying was long early in the breeding season, shortest in early summer, and very long in autumn.

The Coo-Call of the Barbary Dove Streptopelia risoria is associated with three distinct displays, the Nest-Call, the Bowing Display and the Perch-Coo. This interval between calls is the same in the flowing Display and Perch-Coo and is species-specific. The intervals between Nest-Calls are longer and less regular. The call itself is attractive to fe...

Continuous observations made over 40 hours at five watering points in an arid area of western Australia showed that 24 species drank, even though the weather was cool. Thirteen of these species visited the water on more than ten occasions.Maximum numbers of Emus, Zebra Finches and Spotted Bowerbirds were seen in the middle of the day. Maximum numbe...

The bowing display of Streptopelia doves was studied in captive individuals of five species at Madingley, Cambridge, England from 1961 to 1964. The five species were S. roseogrisea-(risoria) (barbary), S. decaocto (collared), S. turtur (turtle), S. chinensis (necklace) and S. senegalensis (senegal). F1 hybrids were bred between the barbary and the...

The Capel Wetlands Centre was established in 1985 when a sandmining company resolved to rehabilitate large pits at Capel as an environment for waterbirds instead of as pine plantation and pasture. The Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union was commissioned to manage the rehabilitation and instituted a research programme that aimed to identify mana...

Lectures given at a Symposium entitled "Thinking Beyond Today" and held at Moora,WA,in July 2000 were tape-recorded and are published here after minimal editing. The Symposium was designed for the benefit of the farming community of the Moore River Catchment area. Speakers from various institutions in WA and from overseas discussed the solving of a...

This paper presents a preliminary analysis of data recorded by R and M Brown on the occurrence of birds at the Middlesex Field Study Centre, Manjimup, between July 1974 and June 1999. During this period of twenty-five years daily records were kept of the presence or absence of 116 species of birds that visited the 2 hectare Home Farm and Home Dam o...

A number of the distinctive structural and behavioural features of the Magpie Goose, Anseranas semipalmata (Latham), can be more easily understood as adaptations to a particular way of life than as characters of great phylogenetic significance. It is suggested that a re-examination of other distinctive features of the goose may show them all to be...

Two inexperienced flocks of hand-reared Magpie Geese (Anseranas semipalmata) alarmed at all models drawn over their heads, irrespective of the shape of the model. It is suggested that the specific alarm response to the White-breasted Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) exhibited by wild Magpie Geese is acquired by young geese, partly by habituation...

Exchange experiments carried out between nestlings of the crested tern, Sterna bergii, on Montagu I., N.S.W., indicate that while parents do not recognize their own eggs or newly hatched chicks individually, they have learnt to recognize their own chicks by the time they are 2 days old. Comparison of these results with those obtained in other Larid...

The ecology of the magpie goose, Anseranas semipalmata Latham, in the Northern Territory has been studied with a view to determining its relationship to the developing rice industry on the subcoastal plains. The distribution of the geese since European settlement of Australia is discussed, and it is shown that the speoies was rapidly exterminated i...