Journal archives for December 2021

December 15, 2021

Update on Gang-gang diet research

Thanks to the 227 of you that have provided sightings of feeding Gang-gangs via INaturalist. I recently did an analysis of the 1800 records I have so far received for Birdlife Australia as part of their preparation of a program to encourage residents and schools to plant Gang-gang friendly plants in their gardens and grounds. The 1800 sightings included 181 food items and recorded 7230 feeding events. (The number of Gang-gangs recorded by a sighting, multiplied by the number of days over which the feeding occurred.).

About 30% of the feeding is on exotic plants. About 50% of the records are from the Canberra area. I hope that by the end of the study (June 2022) I will be able to do seperate regional guides. So please keep you observations coming.

As discussed previously Gang-gangs seem to feed from five main food groups. The current data provides the following information

  1. Eucalyptus and other Myrtaceae buds, fruit and flowers (56 Eucalypts, 2 Angophora, 5 corymbia, 1 leptospermum and 2 Melaleucas) - 44% of sightings, 50% of events
    The top ten species are
    Eucalyptus globulus asp bicostata
    Eucalyptus globulus spp maidenii
    Eucalyptus bridgesiana
    Eucalyptus macrorhyncha
    Eucalyptus viminalis
    Eucalyptus globulus sip globulus
    Eucalyptus pauciflora
    Eucalyptus sieberi
    Eucalyptus mannifera
    Corymbia gummifera
    Eucalyptus sideroxylon

  2. Wattles (35 species recorded) 9% of sightings or 5% of events the top 3 are all bipinnate species

    Acacia dealbata
    Acacia baileyana
    Acacia mearnsii

  3. Cones and Pods (32 species) 16% of sightings and 20% of events. the top five are
    Liquidambar styraciflua
    Cupressus sempervirens
    Callitris enlicheri
    Cupressus arizonica
    Cupressus macrocarpa

  4. Relatively small berries with relatively large seeds (31 species) 26% of sightings and 21% of events, the top six are
    Crataegus monogyna/laevigata
    Cotoneaster glaucophyllus
    Pistacia chinensis
    Melia azerderach
    Persoonia linearis
    Persoonia pinifolia

  5. There are eight Insects and Acacia Fungal galls as food items they only make up 2% of sightings and 1% of events. The majority of records are of sawfly larvae.

Thanks again for your contribution

Michael Mulvaney

Posted on December 15, 2021 07:39 AM by michaelmulvaney michaelmulvaney | 3 comments | Leave a comment