Blog Archives
Dollarbirds courting
It’s that time of year for birds on the south east coast of Australia: breeding season! I heard a cosy chattering sound high in the treetops. My superzoom camera revealed two Dollarbirds getting friendly:
Dollarbirds are migratory. They travel down to the south east coast of Australia for the summer months (roughly September to March) then fly up north to warmer climes for the winter.
They get their name from the white circular markings on the undersides of their wings. The white circles reminded people of the old silver Australian one-dollar coins. You can see the flash of white nicely when the male flies off at the end of the video.
This still photo shows the blue-green colouring of the birds. They have soft brown heads and pretty purple shading under the beak:
Common name: Dollarbird
Scientific name: Eurystomus orientalis
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 29 November 2021 (late spring)
Location: North Harbour Reserve, Balgowlah, NSW: 33°47’59.4″S 151°15’57.8″E
Channel-billed Cuckoo laying egg in Currawong nest
This little episode happened in my garden today. It was interesting and exciting to watch!
A cacophany of Noisy Miners and Currawongs drew me out into the garden to see what was up. High in a gum tree were two Channel-billed Cuckoos, being harassed as usual by the other birds. I only managed to get one of the cuckoos into my camera sights. Luckily, it turned out to be the female bird.
Here’s the Channel-billed Cuckoo on the right, with a little Noisy Miner by its side:
In this short video, you can hear the Noisy Miners peeping incessantly. The cuckoo emits a loud, harsh caw and cedes ground:
Next, the local Currawongs join the attack. The musical, bell-like tones are the Currawongs. The cuckoo flinches and utters its harsh croak. Then I noticed that there’s a Currawong nest just below where the cuckoo is sitting!
Like most cuckoos, Channel-billed Cuckoos are parasitic. They don’t build nests of their own. Instead, they look for a likely host (a Currawong does very nicely, thank you) and lay an egg in the chosen host’s nest. The Currawongs take over all parental duties, looking after the egg along with those of their own, then feeding the baby bird.
Channel-billed Cuckoo chicks don’t turf the other chicks out of the nest (many types of cuckoo chicks do) but they do eat a lot, and grow significantly bigger than the Currawong chicks.
Having decided that the neighbourhood is reasonably quiet and safe for a bit, the cuckoo eyes the nest and starts its approach:
Quick as a flash, it hops up into the nest and lays its egg:
Below is a still picture of the Currawong’s nest. I’ll keep an eye on it, in case I can spot the Currawong and cuckoo chicks when they arrive:
Channel-billed Cuckoo | Scythrops novaehollandiae | Approximate length: 58-65 cm
Noisy Miner, also called Australian Miner | Manorina melanocephala | Approximate length: 26 cm
Pied Currawong | Strepera graculina | Approximate length: 45 cm
Date spotted: 10 October 2021 (spring)
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Magpies carolling with a view of Sydney Harbour
This morning I walked along a path overlooking Sydney Harbour and the headlands that act as a gateway to the ocean. A treeful of Australian Magpies provided musical accompaniment.
Common name: Australian Magpie
Scientific name: Gymnorhina tibicen
Approximate length: 40 cm
Date spotted: 3 October 2021 (spring)
Location: Dobroyd Head, Sydney Harbour: 33°48’36.7″S 151°16’03.4″E
Call of the Grey Shrike-thrush
I’ve heard the lovely, clear calls of this bird a few times, always in the same spot on one of my favourite walks. Now at last I’ve identified the bird. It’s a Grey Shrike-thrush (I’m pretty sure) and this is only the second time I’ve managed to get some pictures of one of these birds.
In this short video, you can see glimpses of the bird and hear its call:
Evidently these birds have a variety of calls. In the next video, the same bird is singing a slightly different tune:
The next video gives a much better view of the thrush in its favourite gum tree, but the bird is taking a break from singing. In the background are the harsh calls of a wattle bird:
The bird is rounder and more fluffy than the drawings in my bird book, but the colouring and the song seem right for a Grey Shrike-thrush. I think the difference arises from the fact that there are different races of this bird in various areas of Australia.
The wing feathers have a lovely olive tinge, blending in nicely with the gum nuts and leaves:
Common name: Grey Shrike-thrush
Scientific name: Colluricincla harmonica
Approximate length: 23 cm.
Date spotted: 16 August 2021 (winter)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’07.4″S 151°14’36.8″E
Eastern Whipbird chirrups to itself
While foraging and exploring the forest floor, this Eastern Whipbird chattered companionably to itself:
It’s likely that the bird’s partner was nearby. I’ve heard whipbirds chirruping and calling to each other on other occasions too. As well as this quiet chirruping, whipbirds make a long, drawn-out whistle ending in a short explosion. That’s the sound that gives the birds their name. You can hear that call in another post of mine.
Common name: Eastern Whipbird
Scientific name: Psophodes olivaceus
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 19 May 2021 (autumn)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’48.0″S 151°14’53.6″E
Call of the Red Wattlebird
This Red Wattlebird was quite chatty in the crisp morning air.
Usually when walking in the bush I hear the more raucous croaks of this bird and its cousin, the Little Wattlebird. So it was nice to hear something a little more melodious.
Here’s a still picture of the Red Wattlebird, showing the red flap below its eye which gives the bird its name:
The feathers on its back are quite decorative, and a sun ray lights up the yellow on the bird’s belly:
Common name: Red Wattlebird
Scientific name: Anthochaera carunculata
Approximate length: 35 cm
Date spotted: 24 April 2021 (autumn)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’10.0″S 151°14’53.6″E
Song of the Golden Whistler
In competition with the raucous remarks of a nearby cockatoo, this little Golden Whistler sings his heart out.
Golden Whistlers are also known as thunder birds, because evidently they tend to sing in response to loud noises. Maybe the calls of the cockatoo were actually encouraging the little songster!
Common name: Golden Whistler
Scientific name: Pachycephala pectoralis
Approximate length: 16-18 cm
Date spotted: 9 December 2020 (early summer)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°47’02.4″S 151°15’14.9″E
Oriole singing and mimicking other birds
A little Olive-backed Oriole had me intrigued for a while. I couldn’t see the bird, but I could hear a mixture of lyrical calls that seemed to come from a variety of birds. Eventually I tracked down the singer.
This looks like a young male bird. It has the dark head of a male, but its eyes are brown rather than red. It was lively and curious, hopping from branch to branch and examining its surrounds with evident interest. Or perhaps it was hungry and looking for food!
In this video, the oriole starts with a good preening session then launches into song. You can’t see the bird very well but you can hear its song:
Common name: Olive-backed Oriole
Scientific name: Oriolus sagittatus
Approximate length: 25-28 cm
Date spotted: 10 November 2020 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’52.3″S 151°15’07.9″E
Noisy currawongs enjoying blueberry ash berries
Currawongs are intelligent, curious, and noisy birds. The Australian dawn and dusk ring with their calls. Yesterday I was walking along a bush path when I heard a tremendous ruckus up ahead in the treetops. Currawongs whistling and whooping, branches swishing, and twigs clattering to the ground.
“Uh-oh,” thought I. “What have they found? Some possum caught in the harsh light of the day, or a bird of prey that dared to venture into currawong territory?”
The sound was all round me. At first it was difficult to find a single bird to focus the camera on:
Drawing closer, I saw the source of all the fuss. The blueberry ash trees are fruiting. Here’s a closeup of the berries from one of the trees that the currawongs were feasting on. The berries are small, and a pretty blue in colour. If you look closely, you can see the characteristic tiny yellow spots on the berries:
It seems these berries are irresistible to a currawong. What’s more, from all the commotion, you’d think there weren’t enough berries to go round! In the next video, I managed to catch some pictures of the currawongs themselves. At times you can hear a butcher bird interjecting too:
Here’s a cheeky glare from one of the critters making all the noise:
Common name: Pied Currawong
Scientific name: Strepera graculina
Approximate length: 45 cm
Date spotted: 3 October 2020 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’28.2″S 151°14’58.4″E
Grey Fantail
This is only the second time I’ve managed to get a picture of a Grey Fantail. Grey Fantails are smaller than Willie Wagtails, and softer in colouring. They make a similar squeaky call, but not quite as piercing as Willie Wagtail.
I’ll try to get a good photo of a Grey Fantail, if one of them will stay still long enough! In the meantime, here’s the earlier video that I took of one of these birds, about three years ago. The bird was showing off its tail-fanning skills.
Common name: Grey Fantail
Scientific name: Rhipidura fuliginosa
Approximate length: 14-17 cm
Date spotted: 4 September 2020 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’23.8″S 151°15’05.8″E
Sydney Birder 