Great Birding Moments #4 Willie Wagtail
Willie Wagtail
The Willie Wagtail is a resident of our garden here in Murray Bridge. Our house is situated amongst 5 acres (2 hectares) of a mixture of garden plants, orchard, mallee scrub (mallee is a species of eucalypt) and open paddock.
Camera shy
Our resident Willie Wagtails seem to be rather camera shy. I’ve been trying for many months to get a good photo of this species here at home. Whenever I’d try to get close enough they’d be high in the foliage of the tree - or behind a bush - or they’d flit away before I could focus. Eventually I did manage to get a nice shot; the bird is good but the setting is horrible. I wish there was some way of masking out the rubbishy looking drum it has perched on. And look at all those weeds in the background!
Breeding
The Willie Wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys, a member of the flycatcher family of birds, is one of Australia’s best known and well-loved birds. They are common throughout Australia and northern Tasmania. They are easily recognised as they flit around looking for a feed, tail wagging and fanning out disturbing insects. “Our” Willie Wagtails are a resident breeding pair. They usually have at least one and sometimes two broods each year, usually in spring and summer.
The Nest
The nest is a cup-shaped bowl about 5-6cm wide and deep. It is usually made from cobwebs, fine grass, feathers, wool, bark and other soft materials. It can be situated as low as a metre from the ground to 10 or even 15 metres high up in a tree. It is often located on horizontal branch but I have seen nests made on a metal strut inside a farm shed. They most often lay 2 or 3 eggs, but occassionally lay 4. To see four almost fledged baby Willie Wagtails in a small nest all reaching out to mum or dad begging for food, one wonders how the nest survives - and how they don’t topple out! The nest seems just right for one baby - three or four is definitely overcrowded. The interesting thing about “our” WWs is that they always nest very close to the house, usually within 15 metres.
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January 20th, 2007 at 6:38 am
In our local park in Yarraville, a suburb of Melbourne, we have a nesting pair of WWs, with 3 fledglings. The nest sits on a horizontal branch quite low to the water in the creek.I am always nervous that the young will drown, but they seem to have learnt to fly very quickly and are already in the next tree with a parent very close by.Although looking precarious the nest would have been safe from dogs and children, and probably cats. Its been great to watch the progress.
January 20th, 2007 at 10:28 am
Hi there Holly. Willie Wagtails would have to be one of my favourite birds. Thier antics are fascinating as they flit around looking for something to eat.
I am pleased that you had good views of this new family growing up. It really is great to watch birds nesting close to one’s house or in a place you often visit.
November 16th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
well hi,
i like nature myself, but this is a unusual story about the willy wagtail…it started a few months back when i was woken up by a ww around three AM..it was in a tree like five metres away from our bedroom. the ww likes to wistle and wistle and wistle and wistle….literally for hours on end. since the last few months he is in the same tree every night from 11pm he starts sometimes 2 or 3 am for at least a few hours wistling..its the excact same wistle with the same amount of time in between..and did i mention its loud too. loud enough to wake us up. Me and my wife are waking up at least two three times a night. the wistling stops when daybreak starts around 5.30. My question to you is…what can we do about it because its almost literally driving us nuts. ps have you heard of this problem before??? i will look in anticipation to your reply, and thank you before hand.
tom and lorena bouwman
cairns australia…
January 30th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
This is called its nocturnal song and is quite common and widespread in a number of species, including magpies. Unfortunately there is no easy solution.
You comments and questions have inspired me to write a new article in this topic:
http://www.trevorsbirding.com/willie-wagtails-calling-at-night/
January 30th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
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May 13th, 2008 at 9:55 am
unfortunately i found a willie wagtail on the way to the letter box being attacked by up to five miner birds.they had stunned it and were swooping it and pecking its already exposed featherless head.when i picked the flapping stunned bird the miners still tried to attack it/me.bird partly recovered but didnt make it through the night after getting tangle in some food i left for it in a box.it must have been weakened or sick etc.thankfully i have seen a few in the area so hopefully they will be back..
May 13th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. It is sad when any bird dies, but as you say, it may have been sick (or possibly injured in some way) so if the miners hadn’t got it, perhaps a hawk may have.
Those miners can be very bossy and often harass other birds. Which miner species are you talking about?
Willie Wagtails are good breeders, so I am confident another one will eventually take its place.
May 13th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
cool….this was on gold coast.was the noisy miner,bit smaller than a butcher bird.grey feathers with yellow beak and black markings around eyes.i actually rescued one a while back in a tangle.actually there are a lot of bird territorial squabbles around, as its wooded and has gardens around here so very many birds.i have seen those miners even chase kookaburras etc……they seem to go in groups.lorikeets around here fly into cars a lot,on the roads.i also took one of those i found stunned on the road to vet care,some kids were poking it with a stick.i think the willie wagtail was weakened because only a healthy bird will overcome an injury and rapidly recover.it was probably just nature taking its course.i dont think the miners were hunting it ,just a territorial thing.