It is a wildlife refuge or is it?

The number of domesticated and feral ducks and geese at our local lake seems to be ever increasing. The reason for that is that people flock to the park to feed them. Because people feed them more birds are dumped and because the birds are there people come to feed them. It is a vicious cycle. With the latest addition being a couple of chooks it now looks more like a free range poultry farm.

Some of the feral birds that can be found at the lake:

The lake is not an English village green where people go to to feed the birds. Waterhen Lake in Oxenford, like a number of other parks, has been designated as wildlife refuge in particular for migratory birds since 1973. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a wildlife refuge is an area designated for the protection of wild animals, within which hunting and fishing are either prohibited or strictly regulated.

The ever growing number of domesticated and feral birds is a fierce competition to our native birds. We have to decide whether we want to continue to keep the park as a wildlife refuge or if we rather want to establish a free range poultry farm at our door step.

Council provides two pocket bird identification guides (‘waterbirds & raptors of coastal SEQ’ and ‘shorebirds, gulls & terns of coastal SEQ’). They are handy tools to find out what resident birds there are and if you are lucky you might catch a glimpse of a rare visitor. Our native birds and the migratory visitors are wonderful to watch to go about their daily life.

A selection of native birds that can be found at the lake:

Chenonetta jubata Wood duck Mähnengans

Platalea regia Royal spoonbill Königslöffler

Anas superciliosa Pacific black duck Augenbrauenente

Anseranas semipalmata Magpie goose Spaltfußgans Porphyrio porphyrio Purple swamphen Purpurhuhn

Aythya australis Hardhead Australische Moorente

Fulica atra Eurasian Coot Blässhuhn

Ardea spp Egret Reiher

Gallinula tenebrosa Dusky moorhen Papua-Teichhuhn

Cygnus atratus Black swan Schwarzschwan

Tachybaptus novaehollandiae Australasian grebe Australische Zwergtaucher

Just a reminder: the park is a wildlife refuge and therefore people should not allow their dogs to harass the birds or any other visitor to the park. They have to be kept on the lead at all times.

Free range dog

Reference:

• Glossary of Environment Statistics, Studies in Methods, Series F, No. 67, United Nations, New York, 1997. http://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=2928 [accessed March 2015]