Winter avifauna of Wanjarri Nature Reserve and Lake Mason Conservation Park of the Eastern Goldfields, Western Australia

Abstract

Surveys of the avifauna of Wanjarri Nature Reserve and Lake Mason Conservation Park during late July 2015 recorded 100 species, with 68 at Wanjarri and 90 at Lake Mason. The greater number of species at Lake Mason Conservation Park was attributed to the presence of 19 species of waterbirds associated with the lake. Although nearly equal numbers of terrestrial species were found at both reserves, the frequency of occurrence records from Lake Mason showed significantly greater frequencies for several species, probably because of the greater availability of surface water there. The significantly higher frequencies of Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo Chalcites basalis and Pallid Cuckoo Cacomantis pallidus at Wanjarri Nature Reserve may have been related to the many hairy caterpillars available there as a food resource. Detrended Correspondence Analysis showed that the major assemblages of bird species were associated primarily with vegetation type and secondarily with the geographic separation of the two reserves. Species associated with Mulga Acacia aneura woodlands, spinifex Triodia grasslands and saltbush Atriplex habitats on Wanjarri and Lake Mason were similar to those recorded in other arid-zone habitats of Western Australia. Species associated with Mulga woodlands included Crested Pigeon Ocyphaps lophotes, Slaty-backed Acanthiza robustirostris , Chestnut-rumped A uropygialis and Inland Thornbills A. apicalis , Singing Lichenostomus virescens and Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters Acanthagenys rufogularis , Rufous Whistler Pachycephala rufiventris and Red-capped Robin Petroica goodenovii . Species associated more often with spinifex grasslands and saltbush habitats were White-winged Malurus leucopterus and Variegated Fairy-wrens M. lamberti , Australian Magpie Cracticus tibicen , Brown Songlark Cincloramphus cruralis , and several raptors. Inclusion of these two reserves in the conservation estate of Western Australia is important as they are at the margin of the distribution ranges for several species. Data from our surveys will facilitate future assessment of populations of birds and assist in management decisions regarding future protection of the avifauna in these reserves.