Australian Birds of the Bush
October 30th 2006 14:42
Blue fairy wren
No, I am not talking about the girls of rural areas!! Birds that are part of my day are the feathered varieties that frequent our area. Some are welcome, some are not!
Willy wagtails are small black and white birds that, with a variety of flycatcher cousins, are cheeky birds that dart around the yards catching food on the wing. Their favourite trick is to peck at fly screens – to get bits of fine wire plus cobwebs for their nests. They also tease our cat – and never get caught! Wattle birds and honey eaters are larger birds that also are always busy in the gardens and bush pockets keeping the cycle of plant life in good condition.
Another welcome bird is the White tailed black cockatoo, which are often associated with rain coming, but you always know when they are around because they make a racket and they like dropping gum nuts all over the road or on your head if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Their close cousin, the red tailed black cockatoo are very welcome if ever seen, as they are now very rare.
This leads me to some of the less welcome members of the bird family. I have this theory. If our cat kills birds he is in big trouble. BUT, if he makes a meal out of a “twenty eight” (Port Lincoln Ringneck Parrot) – a predominately green parrot – he is welcome to it. I live in this dream world that he wouldn’t eat anything smaller because it wouldn’t be worth his while, but I know I’m probably wrong and I am conscious of the fact that there are lots of people who hate cats. These parrots really get stuck into the crops and love rose buds too. Say no more. Up until now we have not had to put up with the white cockatoo or the pink and grey galah – both popular in city bird cages but not in flocks of hundreds in a cereal crop.
Western Australia have starlings that nest in the shed and keep the farmer busy cleaning his machinery and cement shed floors. But with much vigilence, we continue to keep swallows out of the state - you see there are some advantages in being isolated!
Crows are not very nice birds either. They are the most cunning bird there is. Given half a chance they will find a way to take all the chook eggs, sitting in a nearby tree waiting for the hen to cluck once! If the farmer even goes to the gun cabinet and turns the key, they seem to know and if he takes one step in their direction – they are off. I have yet to see a crow that has been run over on the road – they are so clever. Crows are also very cruel if there are any weak lambs or sheep in the paddock – shall we say they don’t wait until they are dead before they feed – I will leave that to your imagination. I don’t like crows, despite their shiny black coats - (extra shiny when they eat eggs!) and I wish the cat was smart enough to catch them!
Kookaburras are meant to be an integral part of the Australian Bush – but sorry NO! Not in our part of the world in Western Australia. If you think the cat kills most little birds – then you are wrong. The kookaburra is native to the Eastern states but not Western Australia, and as a result becomes a major predator on vulnerable birds. I much prefer to be woken by a magpie’s chorus than a laughing kookaburra. The calls of the good old Aussie magpie or magpie-lark are always welcome with their morning chorus. In fact I believe they have just been voted the most musical of all birds in a recent scientific investigation!!
A call rarely heard – but would be welcome if increased - is the Mopoke or Boobook Owl whose call is like its name, and can occasionally be heard at night.
As farmers and others continue to re-plant bush pockets and allow re-growth of trees, bird life will continue to be part of the life in rural areas, and hopefully more research and educating of people like me**, will ensure their future.
* Photo by M. Seyfort/Nature Focus Australian Museum Online publication
**I do not profess to be an expert by any imagination in this field. Nor am I a “true believer”- as evidenced by the fact that I own a cat!! But when I pause in a busy day and take in the life among the trees, I feel blessed to have these creatures as my neighbours. Which feathered friend wakes you in the morning?
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Comment by Ian
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I had no idea that Kookaburras weren't native to WA, there was a lot of those around too.
Down south you would see the occasional Galah or White Cockatoo, then when we moved up to Moora there were thousands and thousands of them!
Then I moved to Melbourne which is been taken over by those introduced Indian Miner birds which you see everywhere.
Everywhere you go they have different birds, except for good old Magpies, they are all over the country.
Comment by bumpkin
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Comment by Anonymous
Thanks for your word picture of the birds in your area. What a rich environment you live in!