This story is a little dated I’m afraid, but still worth sharing.
Late last week I was looking around the area to the east of Welshman’s Reef, along Tip Road. A mixed flock of woodswallows, White-browed with a small number of Masked, was feeding in eucalypt foliage in search of insects. While these species are often regarded as aerial feeders, they will often move into the canopy in search of nectar and insects. With so little flowering happening at the moment the woodswallows are clearly responding to what’s going on in the ecosystem.
Mixed flock of woodswallows, Welshman’s Reef, 1st February 2013.
White-browed Woodswallows (two pairs) on the perch.
These mixed feeding flocks typically assemble in late summer, prior to the birds departing on their northerly migration. Interestingly a few other species were associating with the woodswallows – Rainbow Bee-eaters, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes and even a couple of White-winged Trillers.
Adult male White-browed Woodswallow.
This male Masked Woodswallow was foliage feeding in the company of White-browed Woodswallows.
Not so dated… they have been feeding aerially over our place at Strangways for the last four days and getting more active each day (i.e. heard several times today)… but where did they disappear to in December/January when I only heard them once in each month?
Hi Kate, thanks for your note. They are very mobile and these flocks appear from nowhere it seems. I came across a small flock last night along Mia Mia Track, north of Newstead, where they haven’t really been seen over summer. They don’t appear to have bred with any real success this summer – I’ve only found a handful of nests, but perhaps have done so further south. Your recent sightings may well be different flocks from those observed early in summer? Either way they are a delight to have around – I miss them when they finally head off, leaving just their Dusky cousins behind.
All the best, geoff