Observations of birds in eastern Namadgi National Park

The bird community at seven sites within the eastern part of Namadgi National Park was surveyed each summer for 16 years (1993/4 to 2008/9) with the aim of assessing trends in the occupancy rates. The proportion of sites within a year at which a species was recorded was used as an occupancy rate. Trends in occupancy rates across years were evaluated by linear regression. A total of 92 bird species were recorded. Forty three species showed no evidence of trends, and two species, Common Bronzewing and Common Starling, had an increasing occupancy rate. Six species, Eastern Rosella, Superb Lyrebird, Welcome Swallow, Eastern Yellow Robin, Leaden Flycatcher and European Goldfinch had a declining occupancy rate. Five species of birds classified as Threatened in the ACT were recorded, namely Brown Treecreeper, Scarlet Robin, White-winged Triller, Hooded Robin and Varied Sittella, however too few data on each were recorded to assess their trends, except for Scarlet Robin which declined. Monitoring of the bird community of Namadgi National Park is recommended to assist park management.