Surveys of the Red Goshawk ('Erythrotriorchis radiatus') and Other Raptors on the Weipa Plateau, Cape York Peninsula

Abstract

Surveys for diurnal and nocturnal raptors were conducted in the Weipa area, Cape York Peninsula, in July-August 2012 and July 2013. Diurnal raptors were surveyed by means of vehicle-based road or track transects (some through forest areas) and foot searches in forest (2012: 630 km and 30 hrs of driving, 10 hrs of searching on foot; 2013: 540 km and 10 hrs of road driving, 50 hrs of searching, mostly on foot, within forest). Owls were surveyed by listening, call playback and spotlighting (2012: four evenings, 13 sites; 2013: four evenings, 24 sites). In 2012, 15 diurnal raptor species and one owl species, the Southern Boobook ('Ninox novaeseelandiae'), were recorded in the survey area. The Red Goshawk ('Erythrotriorchis radiatus') and Square-tailed Kite ('Lophoictinia isura') were also recorded by a colleague during the 2012 survey period. In 2013, 19 diurnal raptor species, including a Red Goshawk and a Square-tailed Kite, and one owl, the Southern Boobook, were recorded in the survey area. Further observations of Red Goshawks were obtained from the survey area in April and August 2013 and March 2014, and of a pair of Rufous Owls ('Ninox rufa') in April 2014. We conclude that the area of Darwin stringybark ('Eucalyptus tetrodonta') tall open forest surveyed is an important foraging habitat for between two and five pairs of Red Goshawks, and that the Weipa Plateau contains habitats suitable for Red Goshawk breeding.