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which rely on fish and aquatic life), but also other large natives such as brolgas, magpie
geese, and bush turkeys. Chickens were present when the station was occupied, and The
seasonal presence of pelicans and their interactions with the crayfish and with lagoon water
levels is discussed further here. A specific project focused on seasonal bird life in the Oriners
area may be valuable to consider in the future. Based on his experiences of a wet season in
the early years of the station, Ezra Michael noted the primary presence of cranes, but later
remembered other smaller birds:
Marcus Barber: When it was wet, did you see any birds flying around?
Ezra Michael: They were all gone. They were all gone. The most is the crane, 23 [we] used
to see the crane flying around, when it was really wet.
Marcus Barber: Did you see them in the dry season too?
Ezra Michael: Yes, in the dry season, around the station waterhole.
Marcus Barber: So in the wet season everything went away but the crane was still around?
Ezra Michael: Still around. Maybe a dozen that‟s all. They stay there where the water runs
out, you know, down the runaway. They are always hanging around for the little fish in the
drain.
Marcus Barber: What about any other animals? Just the crane?
Ezra Michael: Only crane used to be there most of the time. Crane, not any other bird. But
also pigeon and all them other little birds, pigeons, you know?
Marcus Barber: They were up in the trees?
Ezra Michael: They were up in the trees in the wet. After the rain they can go down on the
ground and look for a feed for themselves.
Michael Ross, Fred Coleman and Robert Burns remembered the seasonal absence of some
bird species, and speculated about possible reasons for them - that they go away to an
„island‟ or to New Guinea:
Robert Burns: [That bird] gone when the wet comes. He goes away
Michael Ross: He laying and digging and then he take off. Him and the white pigeon the
same. White pigeon here now, after the wet, during the wet he gone.
Fred Coleman: He must go out on that island somewhere
Michael Ross: They go somewhere, maybe New Guinea or something but they all here
now. Two bird that come, white pigeon and the dollar bird I don‟t know if they here, but they
come, lay egg and everything else, their chick. Then they gone.
Drawing on more recent experiences of Oriners, Philip Yam also noted the presence of key
bird species, with fish hawks being the first to come to mind:
Marcus Barber: What about birds? Are there any birds that stay up there in the wet?
Philip Yam: Fish hawks. They stay up there. They got their nests all along there. They don‟t
go anywhere, they stay there. Crows, hawks, butcher birds. They stay around there,
they‟ve got their nests around there, close.
Marcus Barber: Cranes?
Philip Yam: Yeah, crane. Banana birds. 24 Banana birds [are] always building their homes
underneath that shed. You‟ll get a few snakes crawling around, you‟ll see them. Especially
23 Probably a reference to various kinds of egrets.
24 Blue faced honey eaters, Entomyzon cyanotis.
Working Knowledge at Oriners Station, Cape York
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