Bird Word: migration
Migration: the regular seasonal or annual movement of a species from one area to another.
Some birds are resident in an area the year round. For example, the Australian Magpies in our garden are here all the time. They have a territory of several hectares that they defend with great enthusiasm, especially during the nesting season. “Our” magpies would rarely venture more than a few hundred metres from our garden.
Australian Magpie
Other species move around over a much wider home range. The White Winged Choughs around here are not in our garden or even nearby every day. The pass through our property every day or so; some weeks we see them every day while sometimes they may not visit for three or four days. Their movements are not migration; their home range or territory is far larger than the local magpies, perhaps ten or more hectares in size.
White Winged Choughs
Some species we only see in the summer time. Rainbow Bee-eaters are a good example of this. During the cooler winter months they migrate to warmer places in northern Australia. In summer they migrate south and we have recorded them nesting on our property on a few occasions.
Rainbow Bee eater
Click on the photos to enlarge the image.
More explanations of the meanings of words to do with birds can be found in my Glossary of Birding words.
Birds in the News #95
The latest edition of Birds in the News # 95 has been posted.
It contains links to many articles about birds in the news this last week. Plenty of good links to interesting blogs and news items about birds.
This edition features a lovely photo of a male Common Nighthawk. I’ve not seen a photo of this species before but it reminds me very much of the Spotted Nightjar of Australia.
Spotted Nightjar
I think I heard a little bird
I meant to write about this yesterday but I was away all day.
Early Sunday morning when I was still a little drowsy and very cosy in a warm bed I thought I heard a Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo in the garden. I was still too sleepy and comfortable to go galloping out into the garden in my dressing gown and PJs on a frosty morning to investigate.
We have several species of cuckoos here in Murray Bridge, all of them late winter and spring visitors from the north. Many of the local species such as the honeyeaters, thornbills and other smaller bush birds will be nest building soon. The cuckoos take advantage of this to lay their eggs in a host nest.
It only called the once.
Then again, on reflection, it could have been a Common Starling; they often fool me with their good imitations of other bird calls.
Unfortunately, I don’t yet have a photo of any of the cuckoos to show you. Perhaps I’ll get lucky and get a good shot or two this breeding season.
All that is gold does not necessarily glitter
We enjoy the wonderful range of birds that frequent our garden here in Murray Bridge, South Australia. Over the last twenty years we have recorded over a hundred different species. Many of these are resident species, meaning that they are present every day all the year round.
We have many favourites. There are some species that enthrall us with their beauty. One such species is the Golden Whistler. The female is a rather plain Jane, being mostly a nondescript brown. The male is something else. To catch sight of the male in full breeding plumage sitting on an exposed dead branch in full sunlight is to see natural beauty in all its glory. Magnificent.
Golden Whistler (male)
The male Golden Whistler is not just beautiful to look at and admire. Launching into its musical call one gains a new appreciation of the richness of the call of many of our songbirds here in Australia. Again – magnificent.
We feel so privileged to have such beauty grace our garden.
Bird Word: Mandibles
- Mandibles: the two parts of a bird’s beak, namely, the upper mandible and the lower mandible.
Bird beaks come in a variety of sizes and shapes and they are used in many different ways. Some are long and pointed such as a honeyeater beak that probes flowers for the nectar. Others are flat and and wide, like a spoonbill which enables the bird to sift through the mud looking for food. Parrots have curved, sharp and powerful beaks used for cracking open food like seeds and nuts. Hawks have pointed beaks that enable them to tear open their prey.
Zebra Finch