A pair of dollarbirds were surprise visitors when they turned up in the Invermay-Sulky area last week.
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The dollarbird spends our winter in the New Guinea region. It breeds in Victoria, but it is a rare visitor to the Ballarat district. Its usual summer range is from central and north-eastern Victoria, then up along Australia’s eastern side.
The recent birds were the first local report of a pair. They caused some consternation among local ravens, which did not seem to know what to make of the two strangers and their sharp “kak-kak-kak” calling.
The district’s other few dollarbird records have all been of single birds. The last local sighting was made near the White Swan Reservoir, about 10 years ago. That bird remained for a few days, but the recent birds were seen only once and were gone before the end of the day.
Early records of dollarbirds have come from Piggoreet, Ercildoun and Warrawidgee, with a more recent one from Clunes. The dollarbird is normally found in open, parklike country with large trees. It needs tree-hollows for nesting.
In its wings is a prominent white patch, supposedly resembling an early silver dollar coin, hence the bird’s name. It belongs to a group of birds known as rollers, because of their rolling and tumbling flight.
BIRD REPORTS
A cicadabird has again been seen in Wombat Forest at Spargo Creek. A pair visited there three years ago and have revisited in the last two summers. The cicadabird is normally found only east of Melbourne. Three glossy ibises at Lake Goldsmith were spotted at the end of the year. These dark brown birds are smaller than our other two ibises. They are uncommon, and unpredictable in their movements.
Other reports from Lake Goldsmith include brolga, red-capped plover and Australian hobby.
A brush cuckoo in the Wombat Forest at Spargo Creek is another recent report of interest. One was seen near Creswick a couple of months ago.
Many waterbirds left the district when the heavy spring rains came. Coots are now gradually moving back to Lake Wendouree after being scarce for a few months.
Musk lorikeets have been common for the last couple of months, but this year there were no purple-crowned lorikeets with them. This is unusual.
The purple-crowned lorikeet was once the more common local summer lorikeet here, but it has been scarce for several years. The musk lorikeet is now the common Ballarat lorikeet.
The purple-crowned lorikeet is said to be declining through most of its range.
