The Gang-gang survey has finished!
Bird lovers were invited to submit sightings of Gang-gang Cockatoos over the last year to a special survey using the Atlas of Living Australia. The survey finished at the end of February 2015. You can still report Gang-gang sightings for the period up to the end of February, but please don’t report any new sightings to the special survey.
A big thank you to all those who participated! Results and data will be published in a future edition of COG’s publication Canberra Bird Notes.
Archival Gang-gang Survey Information below
Purpose of Muster Count
The purpose of the Muster count is to obtain a better understanding of the presence or absence of Gang-gangs across the ACT region. For this we need people looking out for Gang-gangs from many locations across the region, all in the same week. Therefore it is just as important to know if you don’t observe any Gang-gangs in the Muster week. Please send in your form whether your see birds or not.
The Gang-Gang Muster count will be held in the following weeks:
2014
- May 21 to 27
- August 21 to 27
- November 20 to 26
2015
- February 19 to 25
February Muster
Click here for information on “Last chance to count Gang-gangs”
Muster Count Instructions
1. Choose a location where you are likely to spend some time most days during a Muster week. Most people will use their home, daily recreation or work location, but you are free to choose any site.
2. Each day during the Muster week, record the largest number of Gang-gangs you observe at one time within a 100m radius of your chosen site(s). Birds can be perched or in flight. The largest number seen is the important information, including zero (0).
Cross out any day you were not present at your chosen site at least once during the day.
Examples of ‘largest number at one time’
You see a male Gang-gang at 8 am and then a female bird at 9.00 am. Report only one (1) for ‘Largest number’, because although you saw two different birds this was not at ‘one time’, and an hour is too long to count as ‘one time’.
You see two Gang-gangs sitting in a tree. Five minutes later a Gang-gang flies overhead. The ‘Largest number’ is two (2), unless the two birds are still sitting in the tree when the third Gang-gang flies over. You can then record (3) as you saw three different birds at the ‘one time’.
Using this method will allow us to make comparisons with the COG Garden Bird Survey (GBS).
3. Submit your results. At the end of the Muster week, submit your results on the electronic form below, or fill out a paper form and submit by email /mail /at a COG meeting. If you survey more than one site, please submit a separate form for each site.
Information about feeding, the sex or age of Gang-gangs is also useful and can be noted on the back of the form or the Notes field of the electronic form.
NOTE: you will need to use an appropriately annotated paper form if reporting counts from the February Muster.