Fires in riparian zones within the tropical savannas of northern Australia affect the breeding success and survival of endangered, purple-crowned fairy-wrens. Wildfires are becoming more common and more destructive as a result of climate change. Australian land managers in the highly flammable tropical monsoonal savannas often employ fire management as a strategy for conservation and […]
Tag: Wrens
Purple-crowned fairy wrens may be at even greater risk as a result of global warming
Purple-crowned fairy wrens, a small but attractive Australian songbird, may be at even greater risk as a result of global warming, according to a study that discovered that exposure to hot and dry circumstances affects the DNA of nestlings. Unlike the more visible effects of global warming on animals, such as increased bushfire danger, habitat […]
I thank my lucky stars for the rosellas that led to my career in ornithology
A flash of colour that takes my eye at the age of 10 in 1968 and learning that it is an Adelaide rosella. Reaching the edge of a vast swamp north of Birdsville in 1982 thinking, “This is perfect habitat for grey grasswrens. They must be here.” And they are! Right at the edge of […]