FORD, H.A., NOSKE, S. and BRIDGES, L. 1986. Foraging of birds in eucalypt woodland in north-eastern New South Wales. Emu 86: 168-179. The foraging behaviour of 40 species of birds in eucalypt woodland near Armidale is described. The foraging method, substrate, height and plant were noted for each foraging observation. Six guilds can be recognized on the basis of the substrate on which they forage. (1) Eleven species forage on the ground. This group includes two seed-eaters, and three insectivores that pounce on terrestrial invertebrates from low perches or the air. The remainder are gleaners of invertebrates.(2) Four species are bark-foragers. One is a trunk specialist, while the other three feed on upper branches, exfoliating bark and horizontal boughs respectively. (3) Foliage foragers make up the largest guild, with 13 species. Four species glean from both acacias and eucalypts. Three species mostly snatch insects from leaves whereas the rest glean from eucalypt leaves. This last group of species includes pardalotes and some honeyeaters, which feed on carbohydrate foods such as manna and honeydew as well as on arthropods. (4) There is single frugivore, specializing on mistletoe fruits. (5) The six aerial feeders include species that capture prey by hawking from a perch and others that continuously sweep through the air after insects. (6) Finally five nectarivores visit the flowers of eucalypts (three species) or mistletoe (two species) Several very similar pairs or groups of species were identified (pardalotes Pardalotus, honeyeaters Melithreptus, thornbills Acanthiza). These merit more detailed study; indeed several have already been investigated.

The dingo population on world heritage-listed K’gari-Fraser Island (K’gari) is amongst the most well-known in Australia. However, an absence of population genetic data limits capacity for informed conservation management. We used 9 microsatellite loci to compare the levels of genetic diversity and genetic structure of 175 K’gari dingo tissue samples with 264 samples from adjacent mainland regions. Our results demonstrated that the K'gari population has significantly lower genetic diversity than mainland dingoes (AR, HE, PAR; p < 0.05) with a fourfold reduction in effective population size (Ne = 25.7 vs 103.8). There is also strong evidence of genetic differentiation between the island and mainland populations. These results are in accordance with genetic theory for small, isolated, island populations, and most likely the result of low initial diversity and founder effects such as bottlenecks leading to decreased diversity and drift. As the first study to incorporate a large sample set of K’gari dingoes, this provides invaluable baseline data for future research, which should incorporate genetic and demographic monitoring to ensure long-term persistence. Given that human-associated activities will continue to result in dingo mortality, it is critical that genetic factors are considered in conservation management decisions to avoid deleterious consequences for this iconic dingo population.

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