Abstract
You may find it surprising that you find an article about the wild Gouldian from outback Australia making its way into your American magazine, especially when that article doesn't paint a very rosy picture of the status of that magnificent finch in its wild environs at present. Hopefully before I leave you, I can give you some confidence in its future; however, a friend from the States who is a member of the AFA, suggested that more people in the States needed to be aware of the plight of this species so as they might also be able to share in its salvation.
The finch in question is the Gouldian Finch, Erythura chelobia, scientifically described by noted naturalist John Gould in 1844, who named this most beautiful finch after his lonq-sufferinq wife. Given its vast numbers in captivity throughout the world I am sure there are those among you that would say, "endangered, surely he jests!" Unfortunately I do not, yet it was only as recently as the 1950's that these birds roamed in huge flocks:
"It is an exceptionally fine sight to see this mass of Gouldian, Masked and Longtailed finches literally covering the ground and trees around the waterhole. These three species one finds at every waterhole and always in untold numbers ... :' (Heumann, 1926)
"Early one morning Fred & Mick Lewitzka were awoken by a loud buzzing noise. Within a few moments thousands ofGouldian Finches moved into and through their camp area, all flying either to water or to a feeding ground. The flow of Gouldians continued for about an
hour " (Hutchins, pers.comm.1954 in Fidler & Evans 2005)
"Less than 2500 Gouldian finches may remain in the wild:' (Save The Gouldian Fund website 2005)
Alas, we all wish it were not so, but in reality this is the picture for one of aviculture's most iconic species. On a recent annual Gouldian count in the Kimberley region of outback Australia, the recording of a flock of around 240 birds caused much excitement and jubilation, yet the sobering thought was that only forty years prior one wouldn't have even noticed such a "small" mini-flock amongst the greater masses:
What factors have contributed to the disappearance of a bird that once abounded in such vast numbers that it had the ability to cover entire waterholes? A bird whose distribution map once shaded the entire top end of Australia now reduced to isolated, scattered, small dots? Not just way back in the time of John Gould, but as near as the 1950s and 60s. this bird was very common. A bird whose propensity to breed in captivity and produce a multitude of youngsters is well documented. A bird whose numbers in captivity in most states of America must almost treble the entire wild world population at present-va situation you can assist us to rernedyl
If you perform a web or literature search you'll find 100 different reasons for the decline of the wild Gouldian. From oveHrapping for the bird trade, parasitism from air-sac mites, road building for mining activites, and the list goes on. But it would appear that one of the major reasons is an all too familiar one these days of habitat destruction created by the overuse of firing and grazing associated with the cattle industry. As if to further exemplify this trend, we see similar downward spirals for many of the granivorous birds of the Tropical Savannahs worldwide.
A brief glance at the map of Australia will show you that the Top End area is vast, approximately the same area as the whole of the east coast states of America. So, one would imagine that there would be plenty of room for cattle and the granivorous birds, but there is one limiting factor that is critical to all of the fauna during the dry season. That is the availability of water. You do not have to be Einstein to imagine the effect of a herd of cattle when they visit a waterhole or, as many water supplies tend to be, small soaks no larger than a small footprint: As you may gather, the Australian Top End is arid and not verdant like your eastern states.
To illustrate this point, I once visited the Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary in the Kimberley District of northwest Australia and immediately noticed the large number of finches and even rarer Purple-crowned Fairy-wren (Maluruscoronatus) scattered about in the Panda nus Palms which dotted the banks of a nearby stream. When I asked the resident scientist why the birds were in such numbers here as opposed to many other areas throughout the region he simply smiled and asked me whether I'd ever seen a waterhole/soak that had been visited by cattle. To illustrate, he waved his hand at the thick Pandanus Palms which fringed the water source and were literally ringing with wren calls and replied that these would all be flattened to the ground and trampled to dust after a very few visits if it were open to cattle. He painted a very vivid picture indeed]
No Pandanus equals no wrens: Of great significance in the advances of our understanding of ecology is the fact that no species is now seen to work in isolation. Rather, we are now forced to look at the "big picture" and see how all the organisms in an ecosystem interact. This is why the Gouldian Finch is seen as a marker species for all that is wrong in the Kimberley. Simplistically, save the Gouldian and you also take large strides towards saving the entire ecosystem.
For anyone that is not familiar with the history of Mornington Sanctuary, I must point out that the entire area is fenced, and that the cattle have been removed from within its boundaries, as it was originally purchased as a ranching property. This also means it is possible to glean an insight into how the area must have looked prior to the cattle invasion, with huge areas of tall waving Sorghum grasses and masses of clumps ofSpinifex grasses providing a bounty of seed heads for the finches of the area.