Birds (feathered ones)

[.:4:.]

Well, not so interestingly, but with the angry mother magpie. When she is foraging with the 2 juniors, if the smaller one squauks because it cannot find anything she will feed it, however the larger junior, if it squauks she will push it over. Twice ive had to break it up as the mother bird has had that junior upside down, claw on the chest and beak around its neck. Pretty voilent stuff considering theyre family and its not a turf war.

[Techno]

I love birds

[Techno]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Speaking of Maggies (or to them)

I dont like this type of magpie, i like the murray magpie, its much smaller but just as harassing. Actually I see the murray magpie bugging the **** out of the larger and more powerful, but more cumbersome larger variety

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Techno

I dont like this type of magpie, i like the murray magpie, its much smaller but just as harassing. Actually I see the murray magpie bugging the **** out of the larger and more powerful, but more cumbersome larger variety

You must be from SA, here they're known as a Pee Wee.

[Techno]

Other birds annoy the hell out of the large magpie. I am guessing it is because they prey on other birds eggs and young

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by GasoLane

You must be from SA, here they're knows as a Pee Wee.

Thanks, I was about to look that one up as I never heard of it.
Pee Wee otherwise known as Magpie Lark.

OK....The Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca) is a conspicuous Australian bird of small to medium size, also known as the Mudlark in Victoria and Western Australia, the Murray Magpie in South Australia, and as the Peewee in New South Wales and Queensland.

Never heard of it being called a Mudlark either.

[Techno]

Originally Posted by GasoLane

You must be from SA, here they're knows as a Pee Wee.

Yes I am, and believe it or not, but I have been feeding the same couple with meal worms for the last 15 years. They have 2 or three litters per year. There is always a lonely baby who finds it hard to find food, and bonds more with me than it's family. When the parents have another litter and the previous young are still around, the parents roll them over and stand on top of them to get rid of them. Every now and then I get a bird from two litters ago come and say hello. I know it's the same bird because it lands on my head

[stock1991]

Interestingly it's called the mudlark as it is only one of two species that use mud to build their nest

[.:4:.]

A couple days back, old mate the male magpie came to sit on the railing of my deck, this time he had no insects to show me. He was looking beat up. Missing most the feathers on the right side of his head and a few on his back. He was looking over his shoulder constantly being paranoid. When the noises of other magpies came closer he did something he has never done before. He popped down onto my deck and stood beside my left foot. He stood there for a good 15 minutes till i went inside for a wizz. When i came back out he was under my chair. When i sat back down he resumed standing beside my foot. He sat there for ages before finally going off to do bird things. He isnt a small magpie either, but had had the crap beaten out of him. Dunno what he did, maybe spent the night in another birds nest or something. Its just odd. I dont feed him. I will talk at him, but thats it.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by .:4:.

A couple days back, old mate the male magpie came to sit on the railing of my deck, this time he had no insects to show me. He was looking beat up. Missing most the feathers on the right side of his head and a few on his back. He was looking over his shoulder constantly being paranoid. When the noises of other magpies came closer he did something he has never done before. He popped down onto my deck and stood beside my left foot. He stood there for a good 15 minutes till i went inside for a wizz. When i came back out he was under my chair. When i sat back down he resumed standing beside my foot. He sat there for ages before finally going off to do bird things. He isnt a small magpie either, but had had the crap beaten out of him. Dunno what he did, maybe spent the night in another birds nest or something. Its just odd. I dont feed him. I will talk at him, but thats it.

Must have been disowned by the clan. Or maybe wondered into another's alpha males territory.

Just watching the young ones grow up squabbling amongst themselves when mumma will come down and pin the troublemaker to the ground until they learn.

[Late braker]

Originally Posted by .:4:.

A couple days back, old mate the male magpie came to sit on the railing of my deck, this time he had no insects to show me. He was looking beat up. Missing most the feathers on the right side of his head and a few on his back. He was looking over his shoulder constantly being paranoid. When the noises of other magpies came closer he did something he has never done before. He popped down onto my deck and stood beside my left foot. He stood there for a good 15 minutes till i went inside for a wizz. When i came back out he was under my chair. When i sat back down he resumed standing beside my foot. He sat there for ages before finally going off to do bird things. He isnt a small magpie either, but had had the crap beaten out of him. Dunno what he did, maybe spent the night in another birds nest or something. Its just odd. I dont feed him. I will talk at him, but thats it.

I think I broke up a beating recently that seems like this one did not avoid. See my earlier post. Seems similar to what I observed

[Ratmick]

Do pet parrots count?

This is Nelly my Senegal Parrot with her previous owner:



...I've had her DNA tested, the assumption she was female was done on a hunch.

Mine and my daughter's small flock of Cockatiels...



Mine are on each shoulder...

[stock1991]

Originally Posted by Late braker

I think I broke up a beating recently that seems like this one did not avoid. See my earlier post. Seems similar to what I observed

Yeah who knows exactly why birds do what they do. I agree it's something to do with the alpha thing, the so called pecking order. Either an older bird being dethroned or a younger bird being schooled. Also australian magpies aren't allowed to breed, except the alpha pair so there could always be that reason. Discipline to a rebel. Also they are very territorial so if a strange magpie strays into another flocks territory they won't allow that

[jaydee]

My daughter got up and personal with this Wedgie on NYE. She was able to get under his wings and scratch his back, he nestled into her shoulder, loved the cuddles apparently.

[Ratmick]

Originally Posted by jaydee

My daughter got up and personal with this Wedgie on NYE. She was able to get under his wings and scratch his back, he nestled into her shoulder, loved the cuddles apparently.
image

That's a LOT of bird

The back of the neck is the best place, it's where they can't reach very easy and if the bird is partnered it's where the other bird will preen.

Cockatiels get lots of pin feathers, they come out in a sheath and are apparently intensely itchy...so we preen them with wet fingers. The birds go into a near trance-like state.

Scratching a female parrot on the back will give it the wrong idea...so no scritches lower than the neck otherwise the female will bond to you and that is bad for everyone else in the family

[HIPO]

So for those who remember my rescue Magpie "Betty"..... broken bloody wing, 10 months rehab in our back deck.... calling it a success .... still with her female friend & her partner + another male now.
Went missing for 6 wks during the breeding period & then she came back alone scrawny & disheveled, asking for food.... hung around for 5 days while i pumped her full of oats, beef & vitamin mix.
The past month they are happily living down the back end of our property, without the need of me feeding them.... many, many hours put into this, including me fighting off gangs of other Magpies on & off for months..... tough , brave girl taking on several at once, when unable to fly properly to save her mate.... must be about 20 months all up now, very rewarding, but wont be doing that again in a hurry!

[.:4:.]

The beat up male magpie, he still often just sits on my railing to say hey bro. Most the feathers on his head have grown back. Often when he forages in my yard he feeds the 2 little ones, but as soon as the angry mother bird arives he puffs up and is straight back on my railing. I have seen her beat him up on numerous occasions. The mother bird also beats up the larger of the 2 little ones which i think is a female yet still feed the smaller one. So now its not unusual for the bigger little one to sit on the railing with the adult male too when the angry mother bird is around. I dont care, they arent doing anything or hurting anything, they just sit there.

[xkxlxm]

In the local park: for a while now there has been a young kookaburra in a tree hollow, only about 2 metres from the ground. If you didn't see it you would probably hear the muted cackle, or see a parent flying to and from the hollow for feeding. It wasn't there today. Hopefully no idiot decided to take it home.

[.:4:.]

So the friendly magpies still hang about and forage in my yard. Old mate the adult male still likes to chill on the railing of my back deck. The junior female does too as she often gets mauled by the angry mother bird.
Now the adult male doesnt overstep the boundry. Railing and thats it. The junior female and the junior male are often on my back deck. So the most polite way to get them to get them off the deck is to mist them with water from a pump up water sprayer. A mist of water isnt going to hurt them or scare them, it just moves them off.
Anyhow, ive noticed on hot days magpies seek shade and will stand with beaks wide open to cool down.
So today the junior male, the runt i suppose was on my back deck beak wide open seaking shade. Theres plenty of more natural places to seek shade so i hit him with the mist of water. He stood there for about 15 seconds then started preening himself, so i kept the mist going. Once done preening he sat/layed down in the mist loving it. Probably a silly move from my end as i want the bird off my deck.

[Late braker]

Still with the magpies- washed my car today. I’m drying it with the chamois, working my way around and a magpie is curious. Just standing there a respectful distance away but not doing much, just watching, looking. He/she kind of follows me around the car a bit then decides to change direction and go around the other side so I follow him/her. He/she knows I’m there but not spooked. It’s like he/she is checking my work and seeing if the wheels are clean enough. Just looking at the car and wheels. Inspecting. I wondered later if it’s that one I “rescued” from a gang bashing a few months ago about 4 km from my house. Couldn’t be but maybe?

[stock1991]

Most times I hear the birds first, meaning it's alarm calls from flock species that alerts me to scout around with my eyes and then notice a falcon or hawk darting around somewhere either close by or in the sky. In the burbs where I see parrots, and honeyeaters I see the Australian Hobby or aka the little falcon. Such an athlete, they can be flying straight then turn upside down and fly downward, instantly. Great to see

[Techno]

is it a fairlane

[HIPO]

Originally Posted by stock1991

Most times I hear the birds first, meaning it's alarm calls from flock species that alerts me to scout around with my eyes and then notice a falcon or hawk darting around somewhere either close by or in the sky. In the burbs where I see parrots, and honeyeaters I see the Australian Hobby or aka the little falcon. Such an athlete, they can be flying straight then turn upside down and fly downward, instantly. Great to see

Yep same here, even the small birds warning of a cat, fox, even rats etc.

Watched Betty the Magpie & gang verbally & physically see off a smaller bird of prey yesterday.

With the larger ones, almost every type of bird joins in to some extent.

[xkxlxm]

Yesterday, south west of Bacchus Marsh, I saw two kites in a tree; my book suggests they were black-shouldered kites; white/grey with a bit of black. I saw a falcon (?) on a power pole near Ballan. There was quite a bit of small bird activity at/near the old/closed wrecking yard south west of B. Marsh. A couple of juvenile crimson rosellas eating some apples on a tree at Mum's place.

[xkxlxm]

This morning, on a neighbour's tree, two eastern rosellas. I got the binoculars to get a really good look at them. They are quite spectacular.

Last week at Philip Island; a blue wren and on one bottle brush tree (they were more round than bottle-brush shaped) there must have been about ten New Holland honey eaters, plus wattle birds. Cape Barren geese.

[.:4:.]

So today was a bit of a warm one. My mate the male magpie came on to my back deck with one of his juniors. Uncharacteristic for him but the junior flopped like a flattened deckchair. Wings out on its belly. So i think he was asking for help. So i grabbed my spray bottle of water and sprayed down the junior as it was looking well overheated. It wasnt dead, but it layed itself out. Old mate just stood to the side and the junior didnt get skittish or anything getting sprayed down with water. So once the junior got back up i went in and i dont feed them anymore but i got my mate a scrap of pork which he broke up and fed the junior before feeding himself.

[HIPO]

Originally Posted by .:4:.

So today was a bit of a warm one. My mate the male magpie came on to my back deck with one of his juniors. Uncharacteristic for him but the junior flopped like a flattened deckchair. Wings out on its belly. So i think he was asking for help. So i grabbed my spray bottle of water and sprayed down the junior as it was looking well overheated. It wasnt dead, but it layed itself out. Old mate just stood to the side and the junior didnt get skittish or anything getting sprayed down with water. So once the junior got back up i went in and i dont feed them anymore but i got my mate a scrap of pork which he broke up and fed the junior before feeding himself.

Thats normal for Magpies.... 1st time ours did it we thought it was having a stroke!

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by HIPO

Thats normal for Magpies.... 1st time ours did it we thought it was having a stroke!

It's funny when you see several in a family all doing that together.
Looks like an air traffic control disaster.

[xkxlxm]

At this time of year, every morning, there are rainbow lorikeets and musk lorikeets on a flowering gum/eucalypt tree that hangs over the fence. It looks and sounds like a mad frenzy, but I guess that's just what they do.

[xkxlxm]

Yesterday morning in park: pardalotes, grey fantails and golden whistlers all together in the tree tops; possibly others - hard to see.