With so few left to sing to, the regent honeyeater is losing its song

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Among the warbling wattlebirds hanging off a coastal banksia tree there is a lone, critically endangered regent honeyeater, distinctive in its yellow and black plumage. But its birdsong is nowhere to be heard. RegentHoneyeater SpinyCheekedHoneyeater ...

When Michael Alfa was setting up to photograph wildlife at Woolgoolga’s sewage works near the northern NSW town of Coffs Harbour last year, the avid birdwatcher could hardly believe his senses.

The species, not known for its mimicry, turns out to be picking up songs of other birds too, including the noisy friarbird, eastern rosella and the spiny-cheeked honeyeater, according to world-first research published Wednesday in the journal,The widespread loss of habitat means the regent honeyeater has been reduced to its last 200-400 individuals spread over 300,000 square kilometres ranging from Queensland to Victoria. The birds are apparently changing their birdsong.

“If it sings an unusual song or it sounds like a different bird, there’s less probability it’ll be matched [to a female],” Dr Crates said, adding the findings were “really quite alarming”.Some 18 males, or about 12 per cent of the total population, were only able to copy the songs of other bird species, Dejan Stojanovic, a co-author of the paper said.

There are just two main surviving populations in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney and the Northern Tablelands of NSW. Even here, though, the birdsong in the Blue Mountains is changing, with 20 males recorded singing a distinctive, abbreviated version. “There’s a threshold that, once crossed ... is very hard to bring a species back from,” Dr Crates said.

 

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