The following is a series of photo galleries of birds of Cowra Shire taken during weekend surveys for the Cowra Woodland Bird Program (CWBP). Since early 2002, Volunteers for the Program have surveyed around 70 sites in Cowra region. The surveys are conducted 4 times a year, spring, summer, autumn and winter. They take place on a variety of sites, most of them remnant woodland sites on farms. To date, 164 bird species have been observed in Cowra area. The surveyors come from both the local area and from Sydney, Wollongong, Canberra, Bathurst, the Central Coast and the Blue Mountains. The weekend is a great weekend of birding and socialising. The project began with an honours student, Cressida Wilson, looking at the value of remnants sites to woodland birds. She investigated the influence of certain site attributes on bird species richness and community composition. She found that remnant size, tree association and the presence of mid storey, leaf litter, logs and rockiness all had a positive significant influence on woodland bird species richness and/or community composition. So increasing the heterogeneity of remnants is a positive step that landholders can take to manage their remnant woodland sites for conservation. John Rankin is the Convenor of the Cowra Woodland Birds Program Steering Committee. To participate in surveys or for more information, please contact Malcolm Fyfe at the following email address: mfyfe@tpg.com.au. For further reference:Wilson, C, Reid, J, Baker, J & Tidemann, C (2004). Cowra blue sky dreaming. Wingspan 14 (1): 14-15.

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