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Archive for January, 2007

A very clever crow

5 Comments »22nd January, 2007; Category: Bird Behaviour, Ravens and Crows

One of the readers of this blog recently made a comment on a previous article about clever crows. Here is what he said:

We watched a crow today land on our mailbox (faux wooden stump) and pull out a letter from amongst a pile and fly off with it. The envelope was white with a stamp and a yellow address change sticker but nothing out of the ordinary.
The crow flew next door holding the envelope and then flew to the telephone pole where it started to attempt to “open it?” rip it. It lost it’s grip and the letter fell to the ground.
Turns out it was junk mail anyway!

I wonder if we can train these birds to remove only the junk mail from our letter boxes? There could be quite a niche market for these specially trained junk interceptors.
I have written before about how clever and cunning crows and ravens can be (see the links below). The Little Ravens around our home are still trying to steal the rubber from the wiper blades on our cars. They do it when we are not looking. It is really annoying because the rubber strips are really hard to slide back into position. On several occasions they have actually taken the rubber away – presumably for nesting material. Replacing the blades is not a cheap exercise.

Related articles:

  • Clever crows – some examples of the cleverness of crows.
  • Thieving birds – more about those pesky ravens and their thieving ways.
  • Corvids – an extract from my glossary of words about birds.

I and the Bird #39 and #40

No Comments »21st January, 2007; Category: Blogs, General

I’ve been rather busy in recent weeks. I do relief driving for a friend who runs a local courier business. Just before Christmas he needed an operation which meant an enforced break for about four weeks. The job takes up most of the day, from 7am to nearly 10pm with just a short lunch and dinner break. This leaves very little time for birding and little time for blogging. Many of my recent posts were written well before Christmas.

Life is now returning to normal. A few days ago, however, I realised I’d missed the submission dates for I and the Bird Carnivals #39 AND #40. Never mind, I’ve still got a few days to submit for #41.

Here are the links for the two I missed:

  • I and the bird #39: A visit from Sandy Claws on Natural Visions Photography and Birding

Cats and Blackbirds

7 Comments »20th January, 2007; Category: Baby birds, Bird Behaviour, Garden birds

One of my readers Trisha recently made an amusing observation about an encounter between one of her cats and a baby Blackbird. Trisha has given me permission to quote her here:

I have just spent the morning watching one of the strangest sights I have ever seen.

I live at Queanbeyan, (near the racecourse) with three cats. They are happy to stalk the sparrows and mynas – and I let them – but for some reason Crested Pigeons and Blackbirds are not of great interest.

This morning there was a great cacophony of bird alarms, so I went out to check. There was a baby blackbird in a tree with the outside cat looking up at it. The baby came down to ground level (the blackbirds all like to eat the dry cat food) and of course the cat pounced.

I raced out with my trusty water pistol in time to see the cat take the baby by a leg out into the driveway where the parents were twittering and put it on the ground. As it did so it looked up as if to say “Will you all just shut up!” and then walked away back to his favourite morning sleeping spot.

Mum and Dad both came down and chivvied the baby back to the food bowl and shoved a few bits of cat food down its gob, and then back to the nest. Doing this meant that they had to walk past the cat! Yet, peace returned to the neighbourhood.

In regards to cats – I get annoyed when they are all branded as murderers and cold-hearted killers. They are basically doing what a shark in the ocean does, and what any other predator does. However, I also believe that cat-owners have a responsibility to try and create a balanced environment. My cats are collared, which includes 4 bells plus a leap alarm. They are locked in sundown in winter, and 7pm in summer. They are let out at 8.30am, and invariably come back in around 9.30, and spent most of the day on my bed. If I am not home, they are not outside.

Anyway – I enjoy my birds, blue-tongue lizards, cats and possums and there is not a lot of drama in their co-existence. Maybe I’m just lucky.

What an amazing incident!

I’d like to thank Trisha for permission to publish her comments in this article. It is good to hear of a responsible cat owner. If only all cat owners were so.

Related articles:

Common Blackbird (male)

Common Blackbird (male)

To foul one’s own nest

No Comments »19th January, 2007; Category: General, Nests
On my writing blog I have been writing about idioms. Some of these relate to birds. Here is another of these interesting expressions.

“To foul one’s own nest.”

Origins:

This expression probably comes from the fact that many birds are careful not to foul their own nests. The droppings of the young are picked up from the nest by the adult birds and dropped on to the ground below the nest. There has been a proverb in existence for over a thousand years which says, “It is a foul bird that defiles its own nest.”

Meaning:

This idiom means simply to harm one’s own interests.

Example:

“By not picking up things after their teenage son, they allowed him to foul his own nest.”

Where do honeyeaters nest?

No Comments »18th January, 2007; Category: Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Honeyeaters

One of my recent readers asked the question: “Where do honeyeaters nest?” Well – that wasn’t the exact question but I have broadened the question somewhat. Gary was after information about New Holland Honeyeaters especially. He wanted to plant species native to his home state of Western Australia to encourage the honeyeaters in his garden.

My wife and I always applaud and encourage people who want to move from exotic to Australian species. Many of our endemic plant species are well adapted to drought conditions and many parts of Australia are in severe drought at present. If we want attractive gardens we need to consider drought tolerant plants. My wife has written a series of articles on drought tolerant plants on her blog Mallee Native Plant Nursery.

Getting back to Gary’s question, the choice of plants for nesting sites for honeyeaters is really wide. Many honeyeaters, species such as the Red Wattlebirds, will use a range of eucalypt trees for nesting sites. They particularly like the mallee forms but will use smaller bushes as well. Many species enjoy the relative safety of banksia bushes and trees; the dense foliage provides a screen from the eyes of predators. Having a ready supply of nectar from the flowers is an added bonus.

Banksia flower

Banksia flower

Honeyeaters also like the dense foliage of the following species: acacias, eremophilas, callistomens, hakeas and melaleucas. Most of these produce an excellent food source for the birds while they are nesting. They also attract insects which also provide a valuable food source. This is also true of many other Australian plants so the choice for gardeners is very wide.

Callistemon flowers

Callistemon flowers

Related articles:

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