The diet of the Eastern Barn Owl Tyto javanica delicatula was quantified by pellet analysis from two sites in the eastern Australian arid zone: Mulyungarie Station pastoral property in north-eastern South Australia in June 2011 (n = 47 pellets and fragments), and Naree Reserve (a private conservation reserve) innorth-western New South Wales in September 2022 (n = 15 pellets and fragments). The Owl’s diet at Mulyungarie consisted, by number, of 98% mammals, 1% bird, 1% reptile and <1% insect, of which the introduced House Mouse Mus musculus formed 88% and native mammals 10% (4% dasyurids, 6% rodents) or, overall, 94% rodents. By biomass, mammals contributed 99% (House Mice 85%, native mammals 14%). The Owl’s diet at Naree consisted, by number, of 99% House Mice and 1% insect (100% mice by biomass).

Falcons are stunning and iconic birds. Australia has six falcon species, with two endemic to the continent and two others endemic to the Australasian region. They are important indicators of the health of our ecosystems, due to their position at the top of the food chain. But several species are declining, with two species threatened in some states. In Australian Falcons: Ecology, Behaviour and Conservation, Dr Stephen Debus provides a 30-year update of knowledge on these six species, as well as a falcon-like hawk, the Black-shouldered Kite. This book is based partly on the author’s field studies, as well as being a supplement to the Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds (HANZAB) and recent global treatises. It offers up-to-date information on the Australian species, including their behaviours, ecology and biology. It reviews their population status and threats, and suggests what needs to be done to ensure the future of these spectacular birds. Australian Falcons is an invaluable resource for raptor biologists, birdwatchers, wildlife rescuers and carers, raptor rehabilitators and zookeepers.

We aimed to elucidate nesting requirements and nest success of the threatened little eagle (Hieraaetus morphnoides). Nest sites (n=12 active and 2–5 recent historical nests) near Armidale, New South Wales, were measured in 2017 at three scales: the nest tree, the nest woodland (≤25m from the nest tree), and (using GIS) the landscape scale (within 200-m and 2-km radii of the nest). The eagles typically nested ≥14m above ground in the canopy of emergent (>20m tall) living eucalypts in sheltered positions (midslope, with a north-easterly to southerly aspect), in woodland patches >5ha (mean 76ha), <200m (mean 78m) from the woodland edge, though ≥11m (mean 190m) from an agricultural edge, ≥38m (mean 485m) from the nearest rural dwelling, >1km from suburbia, and farther from sealed roads (mean 832m) than gravel roads (mean 490m) than minor tracks (mean 291m). Breeding productivity in 2017–18 (n=15 and 18 territories, respectively) was 0.91 young fledged per attempt (clutch laid) and 0.67 young fledged per occupied territory per year. Nest sites were used annually for at least 3–7 years. Nest abandonments or site shifts were associated with human disturbance (e.g. clearing, earthmoving, subdivision and construction in or beside the nest patch), death of the nest tree or nest stand (‘eucalypt dieback’ or rural tree decline), pindone baiting for rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), and displacement by wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax) and ravens (Corvus sp.). As most little eagle nests were located on private land, we recommend, inter alia, greater protection of breeding habitat, nest sites and foraging habitat, woodland regeneration (especially riparian), and a buffer around established nests of ≥1km from major developments such as urbanisation.

Identify the eagles, hawks, kites and falcons flying high above you with this photographic guide. Birds of prey spend most of their time in flight and, when viewed from the ground, they are notoriously hard to identify. Australian Birds of Prey in Flight is a photographic guide to the eagles, hawks, kites and falcons flying high above you. Individual species profiles describe distinguishing features and the text is supported by detailed images showing the birds at six different angles and poses, using photographs from many of Australia’s leading bird photographers. Annotated multi-species comparison plates highlight key features that can help differentiate birds of prey in flight. This book will be of value to anyone who wants to learn more about Australia’s birds of prey, and will provide a useful reference for identifying soaring birds in the field, and also while trying to identify images from your own camera.

Raptors are popular and iconic birds, and are important ecologically, with some species listed as threatened. Yet they are among the most difficult birds to identify. This fully updated Third Edition of the popular and award-winning field guide Birds of Prey of Australia contains two sections: a field guide with distribution maps, detailed illustrations and information on identification; and a handbook which includes an overview of the current knowledge about raptors, including their biology, ecology and behaviour. An illustrated section on difficult-to-distinguish species pairs is also included, along with new photographs. Birds of Prey of Australia will appeal to a wide range of readers, including ornithologists, raptor biologists, birdwatchers, wildlife rescuers/carers, raptor rehabilitators, zookeepers, naturalists, bushwalkers, ecological consultants, fauna authorities, park rangers, state forestry personnel and students.

This application has two purposes. The first is to conserve, by neotypification under Articles 75.6 and 81.1 of the Code, usage of the species group name assimilisJardine & Selby, 1828, universally employed for the Australo-Wallacean spotted harrier in the genus Circus Lacépède, 1799 from the end of the 19th century to the present. As we show here, C. assimilis is threatened because its holotype is identifiable instead with the southwest Pacific swamp harrier, long known as C. approximansPeale, 1848. The second purpose of this application is to conserve, under Articles 81.1 and 81.2.2 of the Code, the species group name approximansPeale, 1848 for the swamp harrier itself. It is threatened by the simultaneously published, but senior by first reviser determination, C. juxtaPeale, 1848. No cases have been found of juxta being used as valid since 1956; and usages were few before then. Accordingly, its suppression is requested here because of the great disturbance its uptake would bring to the nomenclature of the widespread and familiar southwest Pacific swamp harrier.

Eagles are awe-inspiring birds that have influenced much human endeavour. Australia is home to three eagle species, and in Melanesia there are four additional endemic species. A further three large Australian hawks are eagle-like. Eagles, being at the top of the food chain, are sensitive ecological barometers of human impact on the Earth’s ecosystem services, and all of the six Australian species covered in this book are threatened in at least some states (one also nationally). Three of the four Melanesian tropical forest endemics are threatened or near-threatened. In Australasian Eagles and Eagle-like Birds, Dr Stephen Debus provides a 25-year update of knowledge on these 10 species as a supplement to the Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds (HANZAB) and recent global treatises, based partly on his own field studies. Included are the first nest or prey records for some Melanesian species. This book places the Australasian species in their regional and global context, reviews their population status and threats, provides new information on their ecology, and suggests what needs to be done in order to ensure the future of these magnificent birds. Australasian Eagles and Eagle-like Birds is an invaluable resource for raptor biologists, birdwatchers, wildlife rescuers and carers, raptor rehabilitators and zookeepers.

During a long-term study on the breeding ecology of a raptor guild in the Australian Southern Tablelands of the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales, on two occasions we observed a pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles Aquila audax killing male Eastern Grey Kangaroos Macropus giganteus . We also observed two attacks on an adult female kangaroo: one inconclusive, and one that resulted in the Eagle killing a young kangaroo expelled from the female’s pouch. These observations shed some light on the way that Eagles use this food resource.

The plumages, age criteria and moult of the Little Eagle Hieraaetus morphnoides were investigated from museum skins, captive birds and field studies in north-east New South Wales. Characteristics of juveniles, second - year birds and adults of both morphs are discussed: these relate mainly to the colour of the head and underparts (juveniles more rufous than adults of their respective morphs) ; the amount of black streaking on the crown, crest and underparts (heaviest in adults); the colour and contrast of the median upper-wing coverts and scapulars (paler and more prominent in adults); the presence of a uniform translucent trailing edge to the wings and tail in juveniles; and the colour of soft parts (irides changing from dark brown to reddish brown or orange-brown; cere, gape and feet tending to fade from cream or pale yellow to off-white). First-year birds show no wing or tail moult until c . 12 months old. Older birds show descendent, interrupted, symmetrical primary moult and convergent, symmetrical retrix moult, or jumbled and sometimes asymmetrical primary and rectrix moult . A rare, previously undescribed rufous morph in adults is a 'red' version of the dark morph but with the underwingnpattern of the light morph. The proportion of dark and light birds varies geographically, with the highest proportion of dark birds on the humid east coast of Australia. Light x light adults produce light young, and dark x light adults produce light or dark young. It is suggested that light birds are homozygous , most (moderately) dark birds are heterozygous, and the few exceptionally dark ('black ' ) birds are also homozygous.

Review(s) of: The world of birds, by Jonathan Elphick, The Natural History Museum, London (published in Australia by CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne), 2014, Hardcover, colour photographs, black-and-white diagrams, 608 pp., RRP AU$90.