Grey Currawongs

One of the frequent visitors we have in our garden are the local Grey Currawongs. I can’t really call them a resident species because they are not here all the time. They are only visitors. Sometimes they visit every day for a week or more, then we won’t see or hear them for several days.

When we first moved here over twenty years ago I would have to walk or drive several kilometres to the west of our home to observe this species. Over the last 4 to 5 years they have come closer and closer; we sometimes would one calling in the mallee scrub just up the road a little. Over the last year or so they began visiting our garden and the adjacent scrub lands. Only a few days ago one came to the bird bath just metres from the house; it also landed on the roof.

There are two possible explanations for this local movement of this species. The dry conditions we have experienced over the last few years may have forced them to move from the scrub to more populated areas in search for enough food. Two years ago last December the mallee scrub just up the hill from here was completely burnt out by a significant bush fire. It is only slowly recovering from that time and so there would be limited food available.

Grey Currawong