I'm curious about the apparent lack of breeding among the native birds in my location on the south eastern slopes of the Mt Lofty Ranges in SA. At this time of the year Willie Wagtails & New Holland Honeyeaters, Magpies & Grey Shrike-thrushes, Rufous Whistlers & Yellow-rumped Thornbills etc. are usually being productive. So far, the only species I've seen breeding are Little Ravens & I'm not sure at all that they've been successful, probably due to the presence of a number of raptors. Even within a radius of 15 km from my place I've yet to see one Mapgie fledgling.
At this stage I'm attributing this to the extremely dry, cold conditions where I live, the driest in 33 years. Insects seem to be in very short supply so there's little tucker for any nestlings. It'll be interesting to see what happens should we receive a good rain before the end of the year.
Some reckon animals are good predictors of what is to come, breeding only to the level of available resources. Maybe they know something we don't. We have been reasonably wet (but warm) down here this year, and our breeding appears to be in full swing, 1st set of hatchling Masked Lapwings in July, some now going round for the second time, and the male Superb Fairy Wrens are having the annual battle with that Hanson looking character in the mirror of our cars (much to the disgust of the good wife, poop everywhere).
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
I think they are, Dale. Unlike humans who seem to breed regardless of resource availablity. Which is the smarter?