Category Archives: Birds
Longest nest-sitting ever: Black Swans abandon nest after 8 months (part 2 of story)
Over the past 8 months, two Black Swans have been diligently tending a nest in Manly Dam Park, in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. In the early days (August 2024), spring was in the air. Nature was blooming and the swans were devoted and diligent. As spring turned to summer, the heat bore down. Cicadas shrieked, reeds grew up and died down again. Still, the pair tended the nest, rebuilding regularly, looking after each other, and clearing the water around their nest. (Story of two nesting Black Swans: Part 1)
Yesterday (9 April 2025), for the first time, the nest was empty when I walked past. The nest is the large circle of brown reeds lying horizontal behind the green reeds:
A hundred metres away, one of the swans was drifting on the water, hooting quietly and persistently:
Once or twice I heard the other swan replying from deep in the reeds, but I didn’t see it.
At my previous visit a week ago, the swans had moved their nest to a slightly different location, just ten metres or so away from the original location. I wondered if this meant that at last, there was hope for an egg or two. Who knows, perhaps the pair will proudly emerge with a train of cygnets to show. Alas, though, I doubt that there were ever any eggs in the nest. From a discussion on Reddit, it seems that the most likely explanation is that the swans are two males, practising nest-building and nest-sitting in the absence of a female to lay an egg.
Here’s a photo from October 2024, showing both swans at the nest:
Here’s one of the swans in early February 2025, off shift for a moment while its partner sits on the nest:
This is the tranquil site of the nest, now empty, but ready perhaps for a new attempt come spring:
Common name: Black Swan
Scientific name: Cygnus atratus
Approximate length: 120 cm
Date spotted: 23 August through to 9 April 2025 (late winter, through spring and summer, into autumn)
Approximate location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia
A row of cockatoos and one raven
The arrival of the raven: It’s pouring with rain. Several Sulphur-crested Cockatoos line up on the wall of Manly Dam. Clumping together for company in the dismal weather. An Australian Raven joins the line-up. The cockatoos eye the interloper up and down, but don’t make too much of a fuss. Some of them get bored and head for a nearby tree:
Off camera: A runner arrives and the rest of the cockatoos depart for the tree. The raven doesn’t budge. Another raven arrives.
The return of the cockatoos: They need to reclaim their perch! The strategy seems to be simply to pile into the line-up until it becomes too uncomfortable for the ravens. One raven departs quickly, the other sticks it out for a while, then decides to retreat to a higher roost and gaze down at the silly, squawking cockatoos:
Common name: Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Scientific name: Cacatua galerita
Approximate length: 50 cm
Common name: Australian Raven
Scientific name: Corvus coronoides
Approximate length: 50 cm
Date spotted: 28 March 2025 (autumn)
Location: Manly Dam, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’55.3″S 151°15’20.1″E
Kookaburra reflecting on a reflector
I love the muted colours of this Laughing Kookaburra. The bird stood unmoving on a post above a red reflector disc, just thinking about life and stuff.
Common name: Laughing Kookaburra
Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Approximate length: 47 cm
Date spotted: 2 April 2025 (autumn)
Location: Manly Dam near Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’36.9″S 151°14’48.8″E
More Noisy Friarbirds in Sydney’s Northern Beaches
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen and heard several Noisy Friarbirds at Manly Dam in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. The birds seem to have moved in for the long haul. It’s exciting — I’ve only seen these birds further north and west before now.
Today I managed to actually get some images of the birds in a video, as well as their weird calls:
In the video, most of the noise is made by the friarbirds, but there are Rainbow Lorikeets chirping throughout, and the occasional Little Wattlebird too.
You can see more pictures of friarbirds in my other posts, taken in other areas of Australia.
Common name: Noisy Friarbird
Scientific name: Philemon corniculatus
Approximate length: 30-35 cm
Date spotted: 2 April 2025 (autumn)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’43.4″S 151°14’52.8″E
Noisy Friarbirds at Manly Dam!
I was excited to hear Noisy Friarbirds at Manly Dam park in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. I haven’t seen these birds in the area before — they’re more common further north and west.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve heard the unforgettable sounds that these birds make. Today I managed to take some photos. In the video, you can hear the odd sounds made by the Noisy Friarbirds amongst other bird calls, but you don’t actually see the friarbirds. They’re very hard to spot.
The first bird sound in the video is the chirping of Rainbow Lorikeets. The laugh-like cackle and chatter of the Noisy Friarbirds begins soon after the start, at about 0:02. The lorikeets continue chirping throughout. In the background is the cackle of some Little Wattlebirds, which is similar to the friarbirds’ call but less varied in tone and style.
I did manage to snap a few photos of two friarbirds, though they’re quite blurry. This photo shows one of the friarbirds perched briefly out in the open:
Another friarbird was having an altercation with a Rainbow Lorikeet. The friarbird was the one to cede ground:
You can see some better pictures of friarbirds in my other posts, taken in other areas of Australia.
Common name: Noisy Friarbird
Scientific name: Philemon corniculatus
Approximate length: 30-35 cm
Date spotted: 26 March 2025 (summer)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’42.5″S 151°14’54.3″E
Call of the Whipbird
An Eastern Whipbird does his morning grooming, stopping occasionally to call to his friends. The noise that whipbirds make is strange: “eeeuuw-phwit”. It reminds people of a whip whistling and cracking, and that’s what gives the bird its name.
In the background, you can hear other whipbirds replying. Each time, a bird off-camera echoes the long drawn-out call of the on-camera bird( “eeeuuw-phwit”) then another bird also off-camera replies immediately (“phit-phit-pheeuw”). These two off-camera calls sound like a single call, but they’re actually from two birds.
Common name: Eastern Whipbird
Scientific name: Psophodes olivaceus
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 9 March 2025 (summer)
Location: Manly North Head, Sydney Harbour, NSW, Australia: 33°48’55.1″S 151°17’58.9″E
Call of the Superb Fairy-wren
Next to the Big Koala in Gundagai, this feisty little Superb Fairy-wren scampered along the ground then flew up into a tree and sang for a few seconds. At the speed at which these birds live, that’s a lengthy recital!
Tip: For best results, set the video quality to HD in the YouTube settings.
The bird’s song is rusty, squeaky trill. Perhaps if we could slow it down and lower it by several octaves, we might hear a melodic symphony.
The colours of this bird are dramatic, with the various shades of blue from bright turquoise darkening to black, the light brown wings, and the white belly. Here’s a still picture of the little fellow:
And another showing the bird’s back:
Common name: Superb Fairy-wren
Scientific name: Malurus cyaneus
Approximate length: 13-14 cm
Date spotted: 17 February 2025 (summer)
Location: Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia: 35°00’08.1″S 148°06’38.2″E
Beautiful female Crimson Rosella
In my recent travels in the Victorian High Country, I came across a gorgeous female Crimson Rosella. She was a little coy. It was great to see her looking so colourful and smart, as the females often look a little dowdy in comparison to the males.
It was interesting to see the greyish colour around her eye, where my bird book shows a continuation of the yellow-green of the head and back.
The next morning, I saw another female which might or might not have been the same bird. An early morning stretch shows off her gorgeous plumage:
Nibbling a bit of breakfast:
Common name: Crimson Rosella
Scientific name: Platycercus elegans elegans
Approximate length: 35 cm
Date spotted: 17-18 February 2025 (summer)
Location: Whitfield, Victoria, Australia: 36°45’43.2″S 146°24’53.4″E
Gang-gang Cockatoos on a river bank
I’ve been in the Victorian High Country for the last few days. This part of the state of Victoria features gorgeous countryside, steep mountain sides, deep valleys, and wide rivers.
In this lovely setting, I spotted my first Gang-gang Cockatoos. It was a great pleasure and privilege to see a group of these quiet birds feeding and chatting in the early morning. Gang-gangs are on the endangered list, considered to be at high risk of extinction in the wild.
In this video, a female Gang-gang Cockatoo stands on a rock at the edge of the Mitta Mitta River, nibbling at the water weeds. It was early morning, and the light was dim. I’d heard the odd creaky noises that this bird and her companions were making, and went to investigate. To make the video, I stood on a footbridge over the river at Taylor’s Crossing Campground.
I love the noises that these birds make. A mix of creaks and growls. It was the sound that led me to investigate, like a cross between the call of a raven and the squawk of a cockatoo. You can hear some of the bird’s soft creaks at the start of the above video.
The name “gang-gang” comes from the Wiradjuri language, and maybe from other Aboriginal Australian languages too. It’s most likely an onomatopoeic word, echoing the noises that the birds make.
It also interesting to see a cockatoo eating a water weed. She chewed through the entire long strand, consuming the whole thing with evident enjoyment.
There were four Gang-gangs at the river: two females, an adult male, and a juvenile male. My photos are a bit fuzzy, due to the early morning dimness.
Here’s the adult male, with his bright red head and crest:
The next photo shows an immature male. The red on his head and crest is just starting to come in. (Ignore the red leaf at the end of the bird’s tail):
Here’s a photo of the female down on the river bank:
Her wispy crest is a soft grey, a bit like a feather duster:
Common name: Gang-gang Cockatoo
Scientific name: Callocephalon fimbriatum
Approximate length: 33-36 cm
Date spotted: 25 February 2025 (summer)
Location: Taylors Crossing Campground, Mitta Mitta River, Victorian High Country, Australia: 36°49’33.7″S 147°39’40.6″E
If you were a baby Brush-turkey
If you were a baby Brush-turkey strolling down The Corso in Manly …
… and you could choose between a summer hat, a list of summer reads, or something that might be a worm, which would you choose?
The baby Brush-turkey is quite cute and pretty. The adults are much larger and not very pretty, though they do have a certain dinosaur dignity. Here’s an adult male from one of my other posts about Australian Brush-turkeys.
Common name: Australian Brush-turkey
Scientific name: Alectura lathami
Approximate length of adult bird: 60-70 cm
Date spotted: 11 February 2025 (summer)
Location: The Corso, Manly, New South Wales, Australia: 33°47’51.8″S 151°17’12.9″E
Sydney Birder 