I live 4 km north west of Woodchester in SA. Once upon a time we used to have up to 6 flame robins arrive in late April or May, departing in late July or August. Numbers declined each year and, apart from a female or juvenile male in 2009, we've had no visits for about 5 years.
Have other bird watchers noticed a decline in flame robin numbers? If so, does anyone have ideas as to why this might be?
Woko
Hi Woko, if there is going to be any year I think they'll come back it is this year. I live north of you and the bird life has exploded, mainly due to the rain and the feed around. Keep your eyes peeled and keep us posted if your Flames return. Also, are there any other birds ie yellow-throated miners or other aggressive birds that have moved into your area recently that may have forced your flames out?
I've succumbed to the birding bug!
Alice Springs, NT
Hi rjwaring
I'm hoping you're right & you could well be right about the flame robins. My eyes are well & truly peeled.
You're certainly right about the explosion in bird life around here. The above average summer & early autumn rains are a factor. I also think the maturing revegetation projects around here are providing more ecological niches for a variety of critters on which birds feed. Those 2 factors have coincided so we have this marvellous abundance of birds. That's my hypothesis, anyway.
Apart from a 1 day visit from a pied butcherbird recently, we haven't had any new aggressive birds visiting us. There are the usual red wattle birds & a family of brown goshawks which are unlikely to affect the presence of flame robins - I hope.
I'll let you & the rest of the world know if flame robins turn up!
On the other side, the rains have shooed off the Banded Lapwings in Victoria. Hasn't been a sighting for ages.