Ian Beale from Mungallala, SW Queensland, emailed me this picture with the headline:
Save the poor bustard – stop tree thickening.
He also wrote,
Our area has the widespread problem of thickening of woody species, but we have an increasing number of these birds in areas where timber has been controlled. One of our older district residents on a return visit noted (in the presence of our numerous plains turkeys) that the last time he’d seen one in the area was 1935.
The picture is from Readers Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1993.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.