Our feathered friends

Date: Wednesday 8 February 2017
Time: 5:15pm
Location: CDU Art Gallery, Building Orange 12, Casuarina Campus

CDU Art Gallery invites you to attend a public floor-talk by Dr Andrew Miller as he discusses his collection of The Birds of Australia, 1840-1848 prints created by John Gould, H.C. Richter and Elizabeth Gould.

Learn more about the history of the magnificent John Gould prints at the CDU Art Gallery through the eyes of Dr Andrew Miller, an avid collector and bird enthusiast.

Dr Miller had kindly lent 19 of his original lithographic and hand-coloured prints, part of the The Birds of Australia, 1840-1848, for display in Our feathered friends… the art of birds, an exhibition at the CDU Art Gallery that presents artists’ depictions of birds. The exhibition continues until 25 February 2017.

John Gould (b.1804–d.1881) was an eminent English naturalist, ornithologist and taxidermist who researched and wrote extensively on Australian wildlife. His major work, The Birds of Australia Vols.1-VII, was published in seven volumes, 1840–1848. The Birds of Australia consisted of 681 lithographic plates, which were meticulously hand-coloured. Only 250 sets were produced. Later Gould published Birds of Australia Supplement 1869 that documented 81 rarer Australian birds. The publications were issued to subscribers unbound.

The Birds of Australia drew on Gould’s expedition to Australia from 1838 to 1840 where, together with his wife Elizabeth Gould (b.1804–d.1841), he undertook to document the continent’s wildlife. They based themselves in Hobart, Tasmania and Scone, New South Wales, from where they travelled, drafted field sketches, shot birds and prepared bird skins for shipment to England. John Gilbert (b. 1810?–d.1845) also worked for John Gould as his Chief Collector. Gilbert travelled from England to Australia and traversed the continent documenting Australian birds and mammals from 1839 until his death. H.C. Richter travelled twice to Port Essington and the Coburg Peninsular, 1840 and 1841, to document birds.

Although Gould is recognised widely and attributed as the artist of The Birds of Australia, the prints were actually the work of artists Elizabeth Gould, H.C. Richter, William Hart, and Joseph Wolf. John Gould researched and wrote the text.

Date: Wednesday 19 October 2016
Time: 4:30pm

Presentations and a discussion will consider public art initiatives in Darwin. Artist Richard Koolpinyah Barnes will share his experiences of the public art commission Chinute Chinute, which was installed in Smith Street in 2010.

Creative Producer Johanna Bell will reveal the process of creating Locals who love birds, a HD video featured in the CDU Art Gallery’s exhibition Our feathered friends… the art of birds. This work was created as a public art installation with support from the City of Darwin.

The Coordinator of Arts and Cultural Development, Community and Cultural Services, City of Darwin, Sahn Cramer, will consider how artists can engage with local public art initiatives.

Date: Wednesday 9 November 2016
Time: 8pm

Join Professor Garnett as he leads a tour of Our feathered friends… the art of birds and shares his knowledge of the abundant birdlife of Northern Australia and nearby regions.

Professor Garnett is Professor of Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods in the Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods at CDU. He is recognised nationally and internationally for research on conservation management, especially for his work on Australia’s threatened birds, for which he has received several awards.

The talk will be co-hosted by NT Field Naturalists Club Inc.

Date: Wednesday 16 November 2016
Time: 5pm-7pm

CDU PhD candidates reveal aspects of their current research projects into bird species, at 5.00pm in the CDU Art Gallery. Talks will be presented as part of the current exhibition Our feathered friends … the art of birds.

Speaker: Amanda Lilleyman
Topic: Migratory shorebirds

Amanda has been researching migratory shorebirds in Darwin for the past five years and is in the final stages of her PhD. Her Honours research explored how shorebirds respond to different types of disturbances and how much energy a disturbance flight costs. This has led to some positive management outcomes for shorebirds that use Darwin’s northern beaches. Her PhD documents habitat use and foraging ecology of shorebirds in Darwin. Shorebirds use a network of sites in the region and protecting these foraging and roosting sites is essential for the future conservation of these birds in Darwin. Amanda collected more than 2,000 samples by digging up sand cores and counted in excess of 20,000 invertebrates. Shorebirds feed on these tiny animals and understanding how many and what species there are will help to protect the ecosystem and the birds that survive on them.

Amanda’s PhD has given her opportunities to work with community engagement and science communication,both of which are vital to conservation biology and the survival of these incredible migratory birds.

Speaker: Robert van Zalinge
Topic: Conservation of the Sarus Crane in Cambodia: The Yin and the Yang

The species has been the subject of conservation action for more than a decade, yet despite this work, including nest protection and creation of three new protected areas in Cambodia encompassing the most important dry season foraging sites, the population of Sarus Cranes (Grus antigone) has not increased.

This talk will provide information on the ecology of the Sarus Crane in Cambodia, status and main threats.

Speaker: Robin Leppitt
Topic: Yellow Chat

Robin’s ornithological career began by succumbing to her father’s insistence that they go bird watching during family holidays. Robin undertook environmental science studies at RMIT and his Honours at Victoria University. He recently began his PhD on the ecology of the endangered East Alligator River’s Yellow Chat (Epthianura crocea tunneyi). Very little is known about this sub-species except that their numbers are dwindling – down to 27 at last survey. Through his research, Robin hopes to contribute to the recovery of the species for the long term.

Speaker: Tim Nevard
Topic: Sarus cranes and Brolgas

Tim Nevard was a co-founder and deputy managing director of one of Europe and Australia’s largest environmental consultancies, the RPS Group PLC (www.rpsgroup.com) and was responsible for establishing the ‘Fair to Nature’ Conservation Grade farming initiative (www.conservationgrade.org). Since 1996 he has been committed, in a pro bono capacity, to establishing the multi-award-winning Mareeba Tropical Savanna and Wetland Reserve (www.mareebawetlands.org).   

The key objective of his doctoral research is to investigate how evolutionary processes have affected the status of Australian Sarus cranes (Antigone antigone gillae) and how their morphological, behavioural and genetic characteristics relate to those of the Indian Sarus crane (Antigone antigone Antigone), Eastern Sarus crane (Antigone antigone sharpie), extinct Philippine Sarus crane (Antigone antigone luzionica) and Brolga (Antigone rubicunda). This work includes identification of the extent of any inter-specific hybridisation and the propensity for it to occur; and to identify key genetic, morphological and behavioural differences between Sarus cranes subspecies and Brolgas.

Intructional handouts for this activity will be available at the CDU Art Gallery. This activity has been designed by Birdlife Australia to encourage us to care for birds.