Durikai State
Forest (SF) is located about 90 kilometres south of Toowoomba on the Cunningham
Highway. Most of the SF is on the southern side of the Cunningham Highway and
it covers about 13,000 hectares and is located in what is often called the Trap
Rock Country. In this area, the soils are generally shallow with quite low
fertility and water holding capacity. However, despite these apparent soil
deficiencies the area has a fairly complex vegetation structure and high
species diversity of plants and birds, especially honeyeaters.
The main
vegetation type is a mixed dry sclerophyll forest dominated by Eucalyptus species, including
Tumble-down Gum (Eucalyptus dealbata),
White Box (E. albens), Yellow Box (E. melliodora),
Grey Box (E. macro-carpa),
Narrow-leafed Iron Bark (E.crebra)
and Mugga Iron Bark (E. sideroxylon). There are also areas of
Cypress Pine (Callitris spp) and
Paperbarks (Melaleuca spp) in the
moister areas. There is generally a well- developed understory of shrubs and
grasses.
One of the
most productive birding sites is a small dam, sometimes known as the Durikai
Waterhole, which is covered with rushes and reeds. This dam or waterhole
provides an excellent drinking spot for birds because in addition to the cover
provided by the rushes, the forest vegetation comes very close to the edge of
the water, thus allowing birds good additional cover from predators while
drinking.
Over the past
four years I have visited this dam 10 times over all seasons and have recorded 15
species of honeyeaters. This dam is certainly a ‘hot spot’ for honeyeaters.
Although this ‘survey’ mainly concentrated on the birds coming to drink, in
order to get photos I also noted other species, such as Brown, Striped, and
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters which were identified by their calls. The survey
method was biased because it concen-trated mainly on the area where most birds
came to drink and afforded the best spots for photography. Never-theless, these
observations might be of interest to ‘honeyeater fans’.
The number of times each species of honeyeater
was recorded (sighting or call) during the study was quite
variable, so the graphs (sighting or call) during the study was quite
variable, so the graphs below show the frequency of occurrence as a percentage (f%)
over the 10 observation periods. (See bar graphs
below.)
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| Fucous Honeyeater |
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| White-naped Honeyeaters |
The honeyeaters most frequently seen were:
Yellow-tufted (100%), Yellow-faced (100%), Noisy Friarbird (90%) and
White-naped (80%). Five species, Little Friarbird, Striped, Lewin’s,
Spiny-cheeked were only recorded once. Although no attempt was made to count
the number of each species coming in to drink, it was apparent that
Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters were the most abundant (or the thirstiest!), followed
by White-naped, Fuscous and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters. It was nice to see
several species that I rarely see up close, such as Black-chinned, Brown-headed
and White-eared Honeyeaters.
 |
| Black-chinned Honeyeater |
It was also
interesting to note that while the honeyeaters were ‘in drinking mode’ there
was no apparent aggression or chasing behaviour that is so often associated
with honeyeaters. Yellow-tufted, White-naped, and Fuscous Honeyeaters plus
Noisy Friarbirds often shared the same space at ‘the bar’.
So why
haven’t I recorded any White-throated and White-plumed Honeyeaters at this dam?
Wrong habitat or mis-identifications? White-throated and Black-chinned
Honeyeaters are very similar in appearance and so are Fuscous and White-plumed.
The later species is more often associated with rivers and creeks (riverine
habitats) in Durikai rather than dams. It is often difficult to pick the
difference between Black-chinned and White-throated Honeyeaters unless you can
see the black chin, blue crescent-shaped patch above eye and whitish nape band
that reaches the eye in the Black-chinned Honeyeater. White-throated
Honeyeaters tend to prefer the moister forest habitats and may be absent from
Durikai. It is also a good idea to ‘brush-up’ on the calls of these honeyeaters
because they are quite different and will certainly assist with your
identifications.
In addition to honeyeaters there are also other
interesting species, which included Turquoise Parrot (only seen twice), Dusky
and White-browed Woodswallow, Australian Raven, Crested Shrike-tit, to name a
few. So, for a great day’s birding head to Durikai Dam/Waterhole and sit
quietly near the water’s edge and enjoy the experi-ence. Once the birds become
accustomed to your presence they will come quite close in order to drink. Recently
White-naped Honeyeaters were dipping into the water and then perched on a
branch about one metre above my head and proceeded to ruffle their feathers
spraying water droplets on my bald pate. Marvellous!
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| Brown-headed Honeyeater |
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| Noisy Friarbird |
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| Yellow-tufted Honeyeater |
(Article and photos by Al Young)
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