MELBOCA is the Melbourne branch of
Bird Observation & Conservation Australia

All BOCA members with a postal address that has a postcode within 50 km of Melbourne GPO (excluding the Bellarine Peninsula) are considered to be MELBOCA members

Join MELBOCA by joining BOCA. Click here to find out more about how to join BOCA.  There is no additional membership fee for BOCA members to join MELBOCA

Note: All bird photographs on this website are of species that have been seen within 150 km of Melbourne

Taxonomy

English names for species and taxonomic order used on this website are now in accordance with Christidis & Boles 2008. If you spot any errors in names or order, please let us know.

What's new?

• Don't miss the MELBOCA Monthly Meeting to be held at the Evergreen Citizens Centre, 45 Talbot Avenue, Balwyn, 8:00 pm Tuesday 24 August 2010. John Barkla, BOCA President and Member of BOCA/BA Working Group investigating the Proposal for a Possible Amalagamation of BOCA and BA will speak on this subject after the Guest Speaker. This is your opportunity to hear the latest developments, which are of importance to every BOCA Member.
  
  
• On behalf of BOCA, MELBOCA will be hosting a New Members' Day at National Office, commencing 10:00am on Saturday 14 August 2010. This is a special event for new members living in Melbourne and its environs. Invitations will be mailed out soon. If you have joined BOCA in the last year and wish to attend, please contact MELBOCA at info@melboca.org.au
  

  Topics to be covered include Outings (Weekdays, Beginners’, Yellingbo, Wednesday Wanderings & Coach Tours), BOCA Camps, facilities available to members at National Office (Blue Wren Gift Shop, Library, Slide Library, Video Library & Skins Collection), Education & Conservation Activities, BOCA & Branch Websites, Special Interest Groups such as the Photography Group, The Bird Observer & The Melbirdian, and a presentation on Binoculars & Telescopes to assist new members in getting the best out of their existing equipment and what to consider when buying new equipment.

  Morning Tea will be served after the meeting. This is an opportunity for new members to chat with MELBOCA Committee Members and follow up with questions arising from the presentations.

• The MELBOCA AGM AGM was held at 8:00 pm on 22 June 2010 prior to the normal Monthly Meeting at Balwyn. The agenda, relevant reports and request for nominations for Committee Members were included in the May issue of The Melbirdian.
  
  
• Unfortunately the Coach Tour planned for May has been cancelled, but hopefully a Coach Tour to Phillip Island will take place in early Spring.
  Would you like to attend a Coach Tour mid-week at about two thirds the cost of a Saturday Coach Tour? If you are interested in Weekday Coach Tours and for all your Coach Tour queries, contact MELBOCA's Coach Tours Co-ordinator, John Young Tel: 9844 2842 or info@melboca.org.au
  
  
• MELBOCA is seeking volunteers to assist with Education Activities. Do any of these roles sound like you?

- Bird Guides to assist children and adults identify local birds.
- Presenters to give talks and PowerPoint presentations to adults and children.
- Display Assistants to set up displays in libraries and other venues.
- PowerPoint Presenatation Designers to put together PowerPoint presentations or teaching aids for others to present. There is no public speaking required in this role!
- Stickybeak Assistants to help with presentations and activities designed for BOCA's Stickybeaks (5 to 14 years old).
Hopefully Janet Hand, MELBOCA's Education Co-ordinator will receive sufficient responses that she will be able to prepare a database of volunteers and the workload can be spread. Janet has detailed descriptions of the tasks required for each role. To volunteer, or find out more, contact Janet Hand at Tel: 9842 4177 or info@melboca.org.au

• Volunteers are also required for the following scheduled Education Activities:

- Stickybeaks' Day at Blackburn Lake 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Sunday 29 August 2010
- Australian Plants Society (Yarra Yarra Group) at Eltham Community Centre, 10 to 12 September 2010. Help needed to assist with MELBOCA's presentation table. Help needed for 2 hour or longer sessions during this period.
- Australian Bird Fair, Leeton, NSW 16 to 19 September 2010. BOCA runs a schools' Education Activies Day on the Friday and an Information Tent on Saturday and Sunday. Help needed from anybody in the area during this period for 2 hour or longer sessions.
- Breakfast with the Birds at Banyule 7:30 am on Sunday 24 October 2010. This activity was started in 1999 by the late John Kirton and BOCa or MELBOCA has worked with the Banyule City Council each year since. Bird Walk Leaders and Telescope Educators required, prior to joining the group for breakfasr provided by Banyule City Council.
To volunteer, or find out more, about any of the above events contact Janet Hand at Tel: 9842 4177 or info@melboca.org.au

• Melbourne Water has extended BOCA's contract to survey their Wetlands Sites for a further three years and added one more site. For more details click here
  
  
• Bird species links from the Outing Sites accessed from the Recent Outings Page have been revised and upgraded. Of the 243 species seen on outings to date, there are now links to photographs of 210 of these species.
  
  
• A new page, MELBOCA Photography Group has been created. Sonja Ross is managing this page. Check out this page and its links for some great photos and more information about the MELBOCA Photography Group and its activities.
  
  
• Have you kept records of birds seen in your garden or a local park? If so, and you are prepared to share this information, go to the Backyard Birds section on the MELBOCA News Page.
  
  

Members' photographs on this website

All photos displayed on this website have been taken by MELBOCA Members.  We are gradually building up a library of photos to supplement the information on the website and assist with bird identification.  However, we ask all photographers who have good quality digital photos of any of bird species listed below, to please make them available for display on the MELBOCA Website.  Please contact Damian Kelly or Bill Ramsay, info@melboca.org.au if you would like to assist.

Photos are required for the following species, all of which have been seen on Recent MELBOCA Outings: Brown Quail, Fork-tailed Swift, Southern Fulmar, Short-tailed Shearwater, Square-tailed Kite, Little Eagle, Banded Stilt, Grey-tailed Tattler, Caspian Tern, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Little Lorikeet, Purple-crowned Lorikeet, Swift Parrot, Blue-winged Parrot, Pilotbird, Large-billed Scrubwren, Striated Fieldwren, Speckled Warbler, Weebill, Western Gerygone, White-throated Gerygone, Fuscous Honeyeater, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Noisy Friarbird, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Crested Bellbird, Black-faced Woodswallow, Leaden Flycatcher, Satin Flycatcher, Black-faced Monarch, Rufous Songlark, Brown Songlark & Common Greenfinch.

We only need another 33 species to have all species seen on outings to date covered.

The MELBOCA Committee thanks the following photographers who have generously made photos available:

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