Ms Woko & I have lived on our patch on the s.e. slopes of the Mt Lofty Ranges for enough years to be able to see trends & patterns in the comings & goings of bird species.
For some years we've had annual visits from Red-browed Finches in the cooler months. In 2015, however, they appeared in April, disappeared in August & then re-appeared yesterday, quite out of season. Today it has rained most of the day.
Groups of noisy miners and butcher birds have killed or scared away any finches in my area. Yesterday I even saw a noisy minor chasing down a new holland honeyeater as it was flying overhead and the other day they were after a pair of superb fairy wrens that were hiding inside an azalea bush trying to save themselves.
For Australian birds, natives=life, exotics=death, so do them a favour and go plant some natives and save their lives.
did they sing as well?; if so they are telling you that it will rain the next today :-))
Peter
They were calling & then the rain came so it's clear calling Red-browned Finches bring rain, Peter. The Bureau of Meteorology hasn't caught up with this yet.
:))))))))
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
its been raining the last few days in Bundaberg Qld but I haven't seen the Red-browed Finches; I must be looking in the wrong places
Peter
The Red-browned Finches were gone the next day. After all, it had stopped raining! No sign of them since.
i reckon they are declining in some areas due to overly conscientious council grass-trimming operations
i suspect sparrows and goldfinches are likewise affected
urbanisation processes are replacing remaining habitat, though the sparrow may respond more favourably
Red-brows hatch between October and April. Where we are, in East Gippsland VIC, they do not migrate. I tend to agree with zosterops in that it would definitely have something to do with the grass.
BTW, they're always singing here, rain or dry, so perhaps the environment suits them? The Noisy minor's do chase them (but not always, I think it's sport for them really) and the resident Butcher has plucked a couple of them from our front garden, but they continue to return in large numbers...They are a very hardy breed of finch
Regards
TrudyC
aka RedBrowedFinch