Blog Archives
Song of the Currawong
Currawongs gather in a tree during a rain shower at dusk, chatting to each other. Their calls vary from bell-like chimes to whistles and peeps. For most of this video, the birds are just silhouettes flitting from branch to branch. I zoomed in on one bird at around the two-minute mark, and you can see it uttering its calls.
Here’s a still image of one of the Currawongs:
Common name: Pied Currawong
Scientific name: Strepera graculina
Approximate length: 45 cm
Date spotted: 10 January 2015
Season: Summer
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Approximate latitude/longitude: 33°46’19.2″S 151°15’25.2″E
Black Swans calling
Black swans are native to New South Wales, Australia. This morning I saw four of them swimming amongst the other water birds.
Two of them were calling to each other and raising their necks up and down in a stately dance. They make a slightly funny, bugling call, a bit like a child’s party tooter, as you can hear in this video:
Common name: Black Swan
Scientific name: Cygnus atratus
Approximate length: 120 cm
Date spotted: 27 December 2014
Season: Summer
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’58.4″S 151°15’18.6″E
Dollarbird in Sydney
Update on 25 December 2014: It’s a Dollarbird, also called a Broad-billed Roller. Thanks to Hamish Robertson for identifying this bird! They’re migratory, arriving in Australia in September/October every year and leaving again in March. They spend the winter in New Guinea and other northern islands.
Does anyone know what bird this is? I heard it making an insistent chattering noise the other day. It was high up on an electric cable, so I couldn’t see it very well. It’s dark in colour, with a red beak. I’d guess its size to be roughly that of a magpie. Here’s the best shot I got of it:
Here’s a video, useful mainly for the sound. I had the camera on high zoom without a tripod, so it’s quite shaky, but you can hear the sound very well.
Common name: Dollarbird (Thanks to Hamish Robertson for identifying this bird!)
Scientific name: Eurystomus orientalis
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 21 December 2014
Season: Summer
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’36.4″S 151°15’16.1″E
Little Wattlebird croaking
This Little Wattlebird appears quite drab when seen from afar, but from close up has a sleek coat of streaks with chestnut touches on its wings. Wattlebirds are one of the many types of honeyeaters found in Australia. As well as nectar, they eat berries and insects. And they’re noisy and argumentative.
In the video, the bird is uttering its characteristic scratchy croak.
From behind:
In full song:
Common name: Little Wattlebird
Scientific name: Anthochaera chrysoptera
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: Saturday 22 November 2014
Season: Spring
Location: Manly Dam National Park, Sydney, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’40.3″S 151°14’58.5″E
Black Cockatoos social grooming
A flight of Black Cockatoos swooped in over my head and landed in a big old gum tree, screeching their wild call. Two of them immediately started a careful and fond session of mutual grooming. As far as I can tell, both birds are female as they both have pale bills and grey (not red) rings around their eyes. You can hear their soft squawks as well as their characteristic wild shrieks on the video.
Here’s a still photo of the two social groomers:
This is one of the other birds in the group:
Common name: Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
Scientific name: Calyptorhynchus funereus
Approximate length: 65 cm
Date spotted: 6 October 2014
Season: Spring
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’05.2″S 151°14’26.5″E
A King Parrot comes to call
This Australian King Parrot dropped in for a visit this afternoon. He hung around for a while, exploring the trees around our house and making his piercing whistle, “Eeeeeep”. King Parrots are fairly large birds, bigger and more dramatic in appearance than the Rainbow Lorikeets we see more often.
This was my first view of the bird, before I zoomed in with the camera:
He moved to another tree:
Where I got a shot of his back too:
Common name: Australian King Parrot
Scientific name: Alisterus scapularis
Approximate length: 44 cm
Date spotted: 30 April 2014
Season: Autumn
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Approximate latitude/longitude: 33°44’15.2″S, 151°18’44.1″E
You silly galah
“You silly galah!” That’s what Australians say, usually affectionately, when someone makes a gaffe or does something daft. A galah is actually a beautiful bird, grey with a deep pink chest, and a funny little crest on its head. I spotted a tree full of them this morning, chirping away at each other in that funny voice of theirs.
Common name: Galah
Scientific name: Cacatua roseicapilla
Approximate length: 38 cm
Date spotted: 27 January 2014
Season: Summer
Location: Manly Vale, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: -33° 46.791′, 151° 15.744′
Here’s a still photo of them:
The call of a Koel Cuckoo
We often hear Koel Cuckoos at this time of year, but it’s unusual to spot one. This male Common Koel (sometimes called an Eastern Koel) sat in a tree at dawn, calling out to his mates. Some Australian Miner birds swooped in to pester him, as they do.
Koels are migratory, travelling from the east coast of Australia to Indonesia, south-east Asia and India. They arrive in Australia in September, and leave again around March. It’s a lovely sign of spring when we first hear their call each year.
Common name: Common Koel or Eastern Koel
Scientific name: Eudynamys scolopacea
Approximate length: 45 cm
Date spotted: 7 December 2013
Season: Summer
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Eastern Whipbird calling
Eastern Whipbirds are usually difficult to spot. They move fast, and somehow they always manage to put a bush between you and them, or to position the sun behind them to blind you. So I was delighted to catch this video of an Eastern Whipbird making his weird call. The sound is a long drawn-out whistle, followed by a mini explosion a bit like the crack of a whip. Hence the bird’s name!
Common name: Eastern Whipbird
Scientific name: Psophodes olivaceus
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 23 November 2013
Season: Early summer
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: -33.776508,151.254956
Australian Raven cawing in a gum tree
Australian Ravens are big birds, a gorgeous blue-black in colour, with feathery beards and blue-circled eyes. This one was perched high in a gum tree, calling its haunting cry: “Ah ah ah aaaaaoooow”.
Common name: Australian Raven
Scientific name: Corvus coronoides
Approximate length: 50 cm
Date spotted: Sunday 27 October 2013
Season: Spring
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: -33.782572,151.255698
Sydney Birder 