Northern connections—movement of birds between Australia and its near northern neighbours (2007-2009):

With Robert Heinsohn (CRES, Australian National University) and Leo Joseph (Australian National Wildlife Collection, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems)

The movements of waterbirds and other species between SE Asia and Australia are poorly understood, although it is known that species that are widespread in Australia also occur in the archipelagos to our north and that birds move between the regions. These movements include seasonal movements of whole or sub-populations, irregular but frequent movements of individuals, or infrequent movements of populations in response to events elsewhere, eg. drought on mainland Australia.  The conservation of our avian biodiversity, and the assessment of risks of avian borne diseases entering Australia from the north is dependent on understanding the connections between the two regions and the dynamics of bird populations in northern Australia. We propose to investigate the movements of birds in the Torres Strait region using satellite telemetry, the genetic structure of Austro-Indonesian waterbird populations and others, and the dynamics of migratory species at sites in northern Australia.

This research is being funded by an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant with Department of Environment & Heritage, Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry Australia and Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service

Prospective postgraduates interested in the dynamics of tropical bird populations, migration or population genetics should contact Rob or myself

Project news.......

September 2007: The field crew have spent 4 weeks on the west coast Of Cape York and 3 weeks in PNG. To date ~300  blood and feather samples have been collected from magpie geese; plumed, spotted and wandering whistling-duck; grey teal and green pygmy goose. Twenty two satellite transmitters were deployed in July/August on wandering whistling-duck at Lake Murray in the Western Province of PNG.

Rob Heinsohn about to release wandering whistling-duck with transmitter

Click here to see where the birds are now...
 

More pictures of Cape York and PNG expeditions.....