Bird Colonisation of a Remote Arid Settlement in South Australia

Abstract

Changes to the avifauna at Roxby Downs in northern South Australia since the establishment of the town and associated gardens are described. Several bird species, such as the White-plumed Honeyeater Lichenostomus penicillatus and Striated Pardalote Pardalotus striatus, which are largely restricted to eucalyptus trees, have colonised the region. Significant extralimital records of nomadic or migrating species, including the Grey-fronted Honeyeater L. plumulus, Whitethroated Gerygone Gerygone olivacea and Common Blackbird Turdus merula, and increases in range or abundance of several other native and introduced species, are documented.