In April we are looking forward to hearing about a trip to Australia with Pieter van Oudtshoorn.
“Australia is home to over 700 species of birds. When you include Australia’s offshore islands and territories the number increases to around 900 species; of these about 350 are endemic (found only in Australia). The parrot and pigeon families may have originated in Australia and are well represented today. Also dominant are the songbirds that began their worldwide conquest in Australia and now make up half of the world’s 10,000 bird species. Families such as the honeyeaters proliferated to make use of the plentiful nectar from eucalypt and paperbark trees.
Self introduced birds to Australia include swallows and raptors. These have been joined by human introduction of starlings, sparrows, the Common Myna and other species. There are migratory shorebirds that breed in northern Asia and Alaska and arrive to feed over the Australian summer before returning. Offshore over 200 of the world’s 350 species of seabird can be seen in Australian waters”.
(From: https://www.australiaswonderfulbirds.com.au/)
Thursday 3 April, 6:30pm for 7pm at the Somerset West Library Hall.
Refreshments available. Parking attendant on duty.