Crested Pigeon nesting
Crested Pigeon
About three weeks ago I was walking the estate. (We live on a five acre block on the edge of town.)
As I passed a row of Hakea francisiana bushes I checked thoroughly for any bird nests. These bushes, which are about four metres high, often host pigeon or honeyeater families.
Sure enough, a Crested Pigeon was sitting on a nest. I quietly crept away, knowing how easily pigeons can be disturbed from their nests. Sadly, when I checked back last week, the nest was abandoned. Even sadder was the half grown chick hanging from a fork in a branch. It was dead.
Hakea francisiana
Something must have disturbed this young chick which then tried to escape, only to hang itself. The culprit could have been an Australian Magpie (they are feeding young at present), a Grey Currawong ( who will take young from a nest to feed its own), a Brown Falcon (which has been harassing the local birds recently) or even a Little Raven.
On another sad note, today when working in the scrub I found the wing of an adult Crested Pigeon. There was no evidence of who had taken this poor creature.
Nature in the raw can seem so cruel. But then – I could name a few humans who are not exactly innocent of cruelty.
A moral dilemma – with a bird’s nest
New Holland Honeyeater nest in boxthorn bush
Today I was faced with a moral dilemma.
I was trimming some bushes and branches with my chainsaw. This included a rather overgrown Boxthorn bush where it should not have been. I ripped into it with the saw, being careful not to get ripped into by the nasty spikes that cover boxthorn bushes. I managed to come away with only one scratch on my arm.
I had almost finished and straightened up to survey my work. A New Holland Honeyeater was going ballistic in the tree above me. Oh no, I thought. My worst fears were suddenly realised. I had partially removed a part of the boxthorn which contained a beautiful nest, complete with two eggs.
Here was my moral dilemma. The local council authorities insist I destroy all boxthorns on my property. My wife wanted the bush removed, and I wanted the nasty thing gone too. On the other hand, the wildlife authorities say that it is illegal to remove or destroy a bird nest.
In a piece of quick thinking I cut off the portion containing the nest. I then removed all of the offending bush. I placed the portion of the boxthorn containing the nest in the fork of the tree less than a metre from the original site of the nest (see photo above).
And I stood back to see to see what would happen. Within a minute the honeyeater was back on the nest. A great sigh of relief. I gave the nest a wide berth all afternoon until carefully taking the photos on this page. The shot below shows the bird still sitting on the eggs, watching me rather warily. (Click on the photo to enlarge the image – this will show the bird more clearly.)
The downside is that a little part of the garden will have to wait for the promised clean up for a few weeks. That’s not a problem – there’s plenty more to do elsewhere.
New Holland Honeyeater nest in boxthorn bush
Baby Willie Wagtails – at last
Willie Wagtail
I have been puzzled throughout the spring about the absence of a Willie Wagtail nest in our garden. The resident adults have been flitting around all through the spring with no sign of a nest anywhere. Everyone else seemed to be busy raising their families. There have been nests everywhere and more recently baby birds calling to be fed all over the garden.
Willie Wagtail
But not the Willie Wagtails. They usually nest within about twenty metres from the house for some reason. There are many suitable trees further a field but they insist on keeping close to home – our home that is. Despite thorough searches I have been unable to locate a nest this spring. Two days ago I observed both adults giving one of our Australian Magpies a very hard time, swooping and harassing the magpie until it flew away. A-ha I thought. There must be a nest somewhere nearby – but where?
Willie Wagtail (baby)
Today we discovered two lovely recently fledged baby Willie Wagtails keeping their parents busy bringing them food. Whenever we approached too close the parents would tell us off in a very noisy manner. Keep away they seemed to be saying.
Despite even more searching I still didn’t find that nest.
Related articles:
- Why do baby birds disappear – an article about baby bird deaths.
- Babies, the birds and the bees – a list of species nesting in our garden this year.
Updated Nov 2013.
Baby Magpie
We have had quite a flurry of birds breeding in our garden and nearby over the last month or so. White Winged Choughs, Little Ravens, New Holland Honeyeaters, Red Wattlebirds, House Sparrows, Common Starlings, Blackbirds and Grey Shrike-thrushes to name a few of them.
Australian Magpie
One species that I was surprised about was our resident Australian Magpies. They have been very quiet in recent weeks and I did not find a nest. Not that I looked very hard, mind you. Still, I probably expect them to nest within about 40 metres of the house as is their usual habit.
Yesterday I heard the unmistakable call of a baby magpie calling from the tall eucalypt tree next to the driveway. Sure enough, there was a newly fledged baby magpie all covered in downy feathers and constantly begging to be fed.
UPDATE: I have just written a new articles, with photos, of the latest baby magpie in our garden. To read it, click here.
Newly fledged Australian Magpie
October 2011 Update: This article has seen more visitors and comments than any other on this site. Thanks to all my readers who are so interested in sharing their stories and experiences with baby magpies. I’ve included more photos taken recently in our garden.
Book review: The fearsome flute players is a wonderful books about Australian Magpies and how to care for them. You can read my review of the book here – and there is a special offer for readers of Trevor’s Birding too.
Coffee mugs: you can now buy coffee mugs featuring one of my magpie photos – click here. Search the same site for many other items featuring my bird photos, including shirts, hats, stationery, key rings – and much more.
UPDATE October 25th 2013
Sadly I have had to close comments on this article, the most popular article I have ever written. It has had 488 comments, hundreds more than any other post on this site.
Today I received another 10 comments from someone called LEE who attempted to post some aggressive and crudely worded comments in an attempt to correct what others had written. Such language will not be approved here, nor will very long comments all in capital letters (ie shouting). Please take your inappropriate comments elsewhere – or start your own website.
UPDATE September 24th 2015: Let’s try again. I have reopened comments on this post again. Please keep comments civil.
Baby Australian Magpie just out of the nest
Baby Australian Magpie just out of the nest
Baby Australian Magpie (left) just out of the nest
Baby Australian Magpie just out of the nest
New Holland Honeyeater nest
Nest of a New Holland Honeyeater
Birds can be very sneaky at times.
We were having breakfast in our sunroom this morning. As we ate, my wife observed a New Holland Honeyeater flying to what appeared to be a nest in a nearby bush in our garden (a Meleleuca lanceolata). A closer inspection of the bush revealed a dainty nest with two eggs.
Right under our noses they had built this nest and laid the eggs without us noticing.
Amazing.
This gives us a good opportunity to observe the progress of the nest and the young as they hatch. The trick will be to keep away and not inspect the nest too often. I do not to disturb them, seeing it is so close to the house.
New Holland Honeyeater
New Holland Honeyeater