scholarly journals Surviving with a resident despot: do revegetated patches act as refuges from the effects of the noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala) in a highly fragmented landscape?

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 770-782 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessio Mortelliti ◽  
Karen Ikin ◽  
Ayesha I.T. Tulloch ◽  
Ross Cunningham ◽  
John Stein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fragmented Landscape ◽  
Noisy Miner ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala

Influence of the Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala on avian diversity and abundance in remnant Grey Box woodland

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merilyn J. Grey ◽  
Michael F. Clarke ◽  
Richard H. Loyn
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
The Other ◽  
Avian Diversity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Experimental Removal ◽  
Noisy Miner ◽  
Insect Infestations ◽  
Eucalypt Woodlands ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala ◽  
The One

The abundance of an aggressive Australian honeyeater, the Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala, was reduced at four small (<8 ha) Grey Box Eucalyptus microcarpa woodland remnants by experimental removal. The diversity and abundance of small insectivorous and nectarivorous birds increased at three of the four sites (relative to matching control sites) over the twelve months following the removal of the Noisy Miners. The one exception occurred at a pair of sites where eucalypts began flowering at one site and finished at the other during the Noisy Miner removal period. These results, taken together with those from three earlier experiments where the abundance of Noisy Miners was reduced in Mugga Ironbark E. Sideroxylon woodland remnants, demonstrate that Noisy Miners affect avian diversity and abundance by aggressive exclusion of other species. In five out of seven experiments, Noisy Miners did not reinvade the small woodland remnants during the ensuing twelve months. When Noisy Miner abundance was reduced, increased populations of small insectivorous and nectarivorous birds used small degraded woodland remnants. Colonizing populations of small birds have the potential to reduce insect infestations and may assist in the recovery of dieback-affected woodland remnants. Research is continuing to test this hypothesis. Reducing the abundance of Noisy Miners in remnant eucalypt woodlands may also be a useful, short-term measure, which could assist in the recovery of threatened or endangered bird species.

Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Higgins ◽  
Les Christidis ◽  
Hugh Ford
Keyword(s):  
Noisy Miner ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala

scholarly journals Do the Calls of a Bird, the Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala), Need Adjustment for Efficient Communication in Urban Anthropogenic Noise?

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hélène Lowry ◽  
Alan Lill ◽  
Bob Wong
Keyword(s):  
Dominant Frequency ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Anthropogenic Noise ◽  
Frequency Range ◽  
Urban Noise ◽  
Minimum Frequency ◽  
Main Frequency ◽  
Noisy Miner ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala ◽  
The Impact

Urban environments are characteristically noisy and this can pose a challenge for animals that communicate acoustically. Although evidence suggests that some birds can make acoustic adjustments that preclude masking of their signals in high-disturbance environments such as cities, studies to date have tended to focus on acoustic signals important in mate attraction (e.g., songs). Far less attention has been given to the impact of urban noise on other kinds of calls. To redress this, we compared a range of different vocalizations (encompassing alarm calls, begging calls and parent response calls) among urban and rural individuals of a successful Australian ‘urban adapter’, the Noisy miner, Manorina melanocephala. We found that urban miners had significantly higher minimum sound frequencies for calls with low base-frequencies (<2 kHz); however, calls with base-frequencies ‘naturally’ above the main frequency range of urban noise (>2 kHz) had the same minimum frequency in urban and rural birds. Dominant frequency and call duration did not differ between urban and rural individuals. Although urban Noisy miners exhibited differences from rural individuals in the minimum frequency of calls, this shift was not large enough to avoid masking from low-frequency, anthropogenic noise. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that the calls of Noisy miners may be naturally well suited to being heard in noisy urban environments by having (a) dominant frequencies higher than low-level, anthropogenic noise and (b) several important call-types with frequencies above the main frequency range associated with urban noise.

Behavioural correlates of monogamy in the noisy miner,Manorina melanocephala

1997 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 571-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
TARMO PÕLDMAA ◽  
KAREN HOLDER
Keyword(s):  
Noisy Miner ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala

scholarly journals Food-specific spatial memory biases in an omnivorous bird

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Sulikowski ◽  
Darren Burke
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Memory ◽  
Memory Biases ◽  
Noisy Miner ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala

The tendency of nectarivorous birds to perform better on tasks requiring them to avoid previously rewarding locations (to win–shift) than to return to them (win–stay) has been explained as an adaptation to the depleting nature of nectar. This interpretation relies on the previously untested assumption that the win–shift tendency is not associated with food types possessing a different distribution. To test this assumption, we examined the specificity of this bias to different food types in an omnivorous honeyeater, the noisy miner ( Manorina melanocephala ). As predicted, we found that the win–shift bias was sensitive to foraging context, manifesting only in association with foraging for nectar, not with foraging for invertebrates.

Initial Changes in the Avian Communities of Remnant Eucalypt Woodlands following a Reduction in the Abundance of Noisy Miners, Manorina melanocephala

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merilyn J. Grey ◽  
Michael F. Clarke ◽  
Richard H. Loyn
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
Avian Diversity ◽  
Insectivorous Birds ◽  
Noisy Miner ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Eucalypt Woodlands ◽  
Paired Control ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
A Site

It has been postulated that aggressive honeyeaters like the noisy miner, Manorina melanocephala, may contribute to rural tree decline by excluding small insectivorous birds from remnant patches of woodland, thereby reducing the level of predation upon defoliating insects. Previous studies provide correlational evidence that avian diversity and abundance is lower in remnant patches of woodland occupied by noisy miners than in those without noisy miners. Noisy miners were removed from three small remnant patches of woodland in north-eastern Victoria. The removal of the majority of noisy miners from a site, or even the removal of only part of a noisy miner colony from a site, resulted in a major influx of honeyeaters and other insectivorous birds to these sites in the following three months. Such major invasions were not observed on matching control sites. At two of the three removal sites, this led to an increase in both the abundance and diversity of birds on the site. At the third site, there was an increase in the diversity, but not the abundance of birds. These experiments are the first to demonstrate that noisy miners affect avian diversity and abundance by aggressive exclusion of small birds. They also showed that if domination by noisy miners is reduced, small, degraded woodland remnants can support significant populations of some small insectivorous birds and honeyeaters. Noisy miners did not reinvade the experimental sites during the following 16 months and avian diversity and abundance remained higher at the experimental sites than at the paired control sites. Long-term monitoring is needed to determine whether the small invading bird species have a lasting effect upon insect populations and tree health.

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