Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes are smart-looking birds, with a neat covering of smooth grey feathers and a dark face. I was delighted when I noticed a nesting couple on one of my regular walks, and have been watching their progress with pleasure.

Here’s a photo of one of the parent birds, taken on 17 October:

Common name: Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, also called a shufflewing
Scientific name: Coracina novaehollandiae
Approximate length: 35 cm
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’35.5″S 151°14’51.2″E

Here’s a parent sitting on the nest (photo taken on 11 November):

And a side view, taken on 17 October:

This is the nest, taken while both parents were briefly out of view (4 November):

This video shows the first time, and alas the last time, that I caught a glimpse of the chicks. The images are in silhouette, because it was early in the morning with the bright sky behind the birds. Even so, you can see the beak of a young chick. It’s also interesting to see how the parent cleans the nest after feeding its young:

I shot the above video on Wednesday 11 November, just a few days ago. On Thursday and Friday, I walked past the tree and saw the birds sitting on the nest as usual. Today, Sunday, I went back to the area and the nest has completely disappeared.

It’s likely that the birds had a visit from a monitor lizard, or a possum, or even a human. (The nearby picnic area had been significantly vandalised too.)

It’s so sad to see all that effort by the parent birds go to waste, and to think what may have been the fate of the chicks. I do hope the parents survived to have another family next year.