Can you recognise these Australian birds by their Global Range? All maps from eBird.

Part 1. Pesky interlopers.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Part 2. Famous migrants

7.

8.

9.

Part 3. Bird of Prey

10.

11.

12.

Part 4. Birds we generally like

13.

14.

15.

Part 5. – later. if and only if you like the game, seabirds and shorebirds.

1. No.
2. No.
3. No.
4. No.
5. No.
6. No.
7. No.
8. No.
9. No.
10. No.
11. No.
12. No.
13. No.
14. No.
15. No.

sibeen said:

1. No.
2. No.
3. No.
4. No.
5. No.
6. No.
7. No.
8. No.
9. No.
10. No.
11. No.
12. No.
13. No.
14. No.
15. No.

If you chose names at random, you might do better than that.

mollwollfumble said:

sibeen said:

1. No.
2. No.
3. No.
4. No.
5. No.
6. No.
7. No.
8. No.
9. No.
10. No.
11. No.
12. No.
13. No.
14. No.
15. No.

If you chose names at random, you might do better than that.

I suspected #7 was a Great Warbling Tit, but as I wasn’t certain I went with a ‘no’.

3. Indian Mynah

Somewhere in there are swallows, common pigeons and mallard ducks, but I can’t match which is which.

3. Indian myna

Sparrow and starling will be in there as interlopers.

I thought number 2 might be a mutton bird.But it is a seabird? So I don’t know.

7 might be the godwit.

Surely one of them is an unladen African swallow?

sibeen said:

mollwollfumble said:

sibeen said:

1. No.
2. No.
3. No.
4. No.
5. No.
6. No.
7. No.
8. No.
9. No.
10. No.
11. No.
12. No.
13. No.
14. No.
15. No.

If you chose names at random, you might do better than that.

I suspected #7 was a Great Warbling Tit, but as I wasn’t certain I went with a ‘no’.

Don’t be silly. The Great Warbling Tit’s range is only as far as Indonesia.
I’d say it is a Greater Sage-Grouse, but that’s endangered, so unlikely.

> 3. Indian Mynah

Yes!

1 and 2 have to be sparrow and pigeon, but in which order?

Not swallows (I didn’t think to check swallows)

> mallard ducks

Yep, that’s in the first group. They are common in North America but rare in Australia, which pins it down to …

> Sparrow and starling will be in there as interlopers.

Yep. Among the first group is also the blackbird.

and the, and the, gotta check my notes … oh, nothing else.

> I thought number 2 might be a mutton bird.But it is a seabird? So I don’t know.

Mutton bird is one of the famous migrants. But which one?

For the other two migrants, one is famous as the migrant that travels the greatest distances (seldom seen in Australia), and the other is famous as travelling huge distances for a bird that weighs only 27 grams.

> 7 might be the godwit.

Good try. I left out godwit because the range is quite similar to the whimbrel and other shore bids. The Godwit has a bigger range than that, stretching as far as Brazil, New York and Iceland.

Anyone want to have a go at the three birds of prey? One is almost exclusively coastal in Australia, one is a really fast flier, and one is only seen at night.

Answers to quiz.

Part 1. Pesky interlopers.

Number 1 – Sparrow (you can pick it apart from Pigeon because there aren’t any in Western Australia)
Number 2 – Pigeon
Number 3 – Myna (unexpected that there are some in Florida)
Number 4 – Blackbird (obviously, because imported from England)
Number 5 – Starling
Number 6 – Mallard (you can pick it apart from Starling because Mallards are mostly eliminated from Australia)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Part 2. Famous migrants

Number 7. Muttonbird – (flies to Siberia and back each year).
Number 8. Arctic Tern – (famous as the migrant with the longest migration route, even reaches Antarctica).
Number 10. Red-necked stint – (my favourite Australian long distance migrant flies to Siberia and back each year, but even further than that).

7.

8.

9.

Part 3. Bird of Prey

10. Peregrine Falcon – (the world’s best flier. Even considered an introduced pest in some countries).
11. Osprey – (the coastal raptor of Australia, but not coastal elsewhere).
12. Barn Owl – (by far the widest range of any owl).

10.

11.

12.

Part 4. Birds we generally like – (these were the most difficult to guess of these birds).

13. Cattle Egret – (found worldwide)
14. Eurasian Coot
15. Skylark – (distribution distinguished from Coot by being relatively rare in Australia)

/quote]
13.

14.

15.

mollwollfumble said:

Answers to quiz.

Part 1. Pesky interlopers.

Number 1 – Sparrow (you can pick it apart from Pigeon because there aren’t any in Western Australia)
Number 2 – Pigeon
Number 3 – Myna (unexpected that there are some in Florida)
Number 4 – Blackbird (obviously, because imported from England)
Number 5 – Starling
Number 6 – Mallard (you can pick it apart from Starling because Mallards are mostly eliminated from Australia)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Part 2. Famous migrants

Number 7. Muttonbird – (flies to Siberia and back each year).
Number 8. Arctic Tern – (famous as the migrant with the longest migration route, even reaches Antarctica).
Number 10. Red-necked stint – (my favourite Australian long distance migrant flies to Siberia and back each year, but even further than that).

7.

8.

9.

Part 3. Bird of Prey

10. Peregrine Falcon – (the world’s best flier. Even considered an introduced pest in some countries).
11. Osprey – (the coastal raptor of Australia, but not coastal elsewhere).
12. Barn Owl – (by far the widest range of any owl).

10.

11.

12.

Part 4. Birds we generally like – (these were the most difficult to guess of these birds).

13. Cattle Egret – (found worldwide)
14. Eurasian Coot
15. Skylark – (distribution distinguished from Coot by being relatively rare in Australia)

/quote]
13.

14.

15.

Good-o. That was an interesting one, Curious why the Starlings map didn’t include America – I hear they are in plague proportions over there too.

I meant to say sparrow instead of swallow earlier. Apart from that I think I picked most of the pest species.

party_pants said:

mollwollfumble said:

Answers to quiz.

Part 1. Pesky interlopers.

Number 1 – Sparrow (you can pick it apart from Pigeon because there aren’t any in Western Australia)
Number 2 – Pigeon
Number 3 – Myna (unexpected that there are some in Florida)
Number 4 – Blackbird (obviously, because imported from England)
Number 5 – Starling
Number 6 – Mallard (you can pick it apart from Starling because Mallards are mostly eliminated from Australia)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Part 2. Famous migrants

Number 7. Muttonbird – (flies to Siberia and back each year).
Number 8. Arctic Tern – (famous as the migrant with the longest migration route, even reaches Antarctica).
Number 10. Red-necked stint – (my favourite Australian long distance migrant flies to Siberia and back each year, but even further than that).

7.

8.

9.

Part 3. Bird of Prey

10. Peregrine Falcon – (the world’s best flier. Even considered an introduced pest in some countries).
11. Osprey – (the coastal raptor of Australia, but not coastal elsewhere).
12. Barn Owl – (by far the widest range of any owl).

10.

11.

12.

Part 4. Birds we generally like – (these were the most difficult to guess of these birds).

13. Cattle Egret – (found worldwide)
14. Eurasian Coot
15. Skylark – (distribution distinguished from Coot by being relatively rare in Australia)

/quote]
13.

14.

15.

Good-o. That was an interesting one, Curious why the Starlings map didn’t include America – I hear they are in plague proportions over there too.

I meant to say sparrow instead of swallow earlier. Apart from that I think I picked most of the pest species.

This is the starling map?

roughbarked said:

party_pants said:

mollwollfumble said:

Answers to quiz.

Part 1. Pesky interlopers.

Number 1 – Sparrow (you can pick it apart from Pigeon because there aren’t any in Western Australia)
Number 2 – Pigeon
Number 3 – Myna (unexpected that there are some in Florida)
Number 4 – Blackbird (obviously, because imported from England)
Number 5 – Starling
Number 6 – Mallard (you can pick it apart from Starling because Mallards are mostly eliminated from Australia)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Part 2. Famous migrants

Number 7. Muttonbird – (flies to Siberia and back each year).
Number 8. Arctic Tern – (famous as the migrant with the longest migration route, even reaches Antarctica).
Number 10. Red-necked stint – (my favourite Australian long distance migrant flies to Siberia and back each year, but even further than that).

7.

8.

9.

Part 3. Bird of Prey

10. Peregrine Falcon – (the world’s best flier. Even considered an introduced pest in some countries).
11. Osprey – (the coastal raptor of Australia, but not coastal elsewhere).
12. Barn Owl – (by far the widest range of any owl).

10.

11.

12.

Part 4. Birds we generally like – (these were the most difficult to guess of these birds).

13. Cattle Egret – (found worldwide)
14. Eurasian Coot
15. Skylark – (distribution distinguished from Coot by being relatively rare in Australia)

/quote]
13.

14.

15.

Good-o. That was an interesting one, Curious why the Starlings map didn’t include America – I hear they are in plague proportions over there too.

I meant to say sparrow instead of swallow earlier. Apart from that I think I picked most of the pest species.

This is the starling map?

Yes. Good on you.

That’s the starling map.

There are some ocean/shore birds whose ranges I want to share with you.

1. Ruddy turnstone – (this is the bird that kicked off my interest in global ranges, I’ve only ever seen this Australian bird in Jamaica, where it’s very common).
2. Wilson’s storm petrel – (wide ranging, but seldom seen so hard to put a lower or upper limit on what the range actually is).
3. Common Noddy
4. Wandering Albatross

1.

2.

3.

4.

What the heck, a few more shore birds with big ranges.

5. Whimbrel – (a global wader)
6. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper – (From Lapland to Mongolia via Australia)
7. Common Tern
8. Common Sandpiper – (far more common than Sharp-tailed, but limited to Eurasia + Australia)
9. Bar-tailed Godwit

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

So, after all that, answer me this question.

Which bird has the widest range?