The citizen science project to document Gang gang nesting and feeding behaviour is now underway. A summary of some of the main point are:
* Over 300 citizen scientists have contributed 800 sightings of feeding Gang-Gangs over the platforms created for the project. An additional 1000 records have been collated from the records of three Birding groups (COG, South Coast and Blue Mountains) and facebook postings.
* 172 food items have been recorded amongst the 1800 sightings. Sightings come from across the Gang-gangs range (including Kangaroo Island). The information is being provided to Birdlife Australia and gang-gang habitat recovery projects in the Murray and Murrumbidgee catchments to guide what species are best used in both urban and bush regeneration plantings to encourage Gang-gangs. Regional information will be produced at the end of the project
* gang-gangs have a wide ranging diet from five main food groups
1. Eucalypts gum nuts and flowers (Blue gums are most preferred)
2. Wattle pods and flowers (bipinnate wattles like silver wattle seem to be preferred)
3. Cones and seed (Callitris, exotic cypress pines, liquidambar)
4. berries (Geebungs, white cedar and exotics such as Hawthorns, Cotoneaster and Chinese pistachio)
5. Insects (Lerps, Cicadas, sawflies)
* Gang-gangs seem to have local diets or food preference. Birds in Penrose are the only ones so far observed eating the flesh of domestic apples, while only birds in the Geelong area seem to eat Pinus radiata cones. The Hughes, ACT, birds are just one of two Gang-Gang groups recorded as eating Cicadas.
* It is hoped to have at least 3,000 feeding records by the end of the project (we promised 2,000 and as at mid November 2021 are nearly there already)
* Over 175 citizen scientists have made over 550 sightings of Gang-gangs around hollow (we promised 250 such sightings). 450 of these are in the Canberra area and we hope to survey at least 150 prioritised hollows in the coming weeks – to provide an indication of % of hollows in which Gang-gangs have shown an interest that are actually occupied by Gang-gangs, by other bird species, by possums, that are flooded or empty.
* the platform data collection feature should be ready in late November for entering the observed hollow checking information. Over 200 potential nest trees from the Canberra area and Cooma Golf Club have been added into the system ready for data to be entered.
* Likely nests have been identified in Western Victoria, east Melbourne, Gippsland, Tumbarumba, Cooma, Penrose, Bega and Campbelltown.