A strange story about a cat and a crow
No Comments »25th November, 2007; Category: Bird Behaviour
I recently wrote an article here about the fact that birds and cats do not mix.
Sometimes that is not quite true.
My attention was recently drawn to an amazing video on YouTube about the strange friendship between a kitten and a crow. This is really amazing and well worth watching.
It’s called “Crow and kitten are friends.”
Click here to view the video.
A series of birding accidents
2 Comments »22nd November, 2007; Category: Bird Behaviour
I had a series of disturbing bird incidents last week. I was driving along through the Adelaide Hills near the small town of Macclesfield on my courier run to Strathalbyn. In this locality the road is steep in parts and with many sharp turns. In some spots one needs to slow down to about 25kph to negotiate sharp bends.
As I came around one corner, an Australian Magpie flew off from the side of the road and collided with the side of my car. I was only going quite slowly and had no opportunity to slow down. Looking in the mirror as I drive on I could see a magpie on the side of the road, so I am assuming it was only stunned. I hope it survived. The road at that point was not safe to stop to investigate.
Around the next corner I had to brake suddenly (after checking the mirror for traffic behind) to avoid a dozen or so Australian Wood Ducks standing in the middle of the road. I slowed down enough to avoid hitting any. They obligingly waddled off the road into the nearby paddock and safety.
Around the next corner an Adelaide Rosella parrot flew low and rapidly across the road in front of the car. This time there was no way I avoid it or brake. I didn’t hear any impact, but checking the mirror again I saw a cloud of feathers behind me and no body. I am assuming I hit it somehow.
All of these incidents happened within a sixty second time frame. Most distressing.
Related articles:
Adelaide Rosella
A fence full of ravens
Last week I was travelling through Callington on my way home from Strathalbyn here in South Australia. The day was hot – around 40 degrees Celsius mid-afternoon. The wind was still quite hot and obviously the birds were feeling it.
Just south of Callington I observed – with a little amusement – some Little Ravens sitting on fence posts along the road. Nothing unusual about that; it’s a common enough occurrence around here.
What caught my attention was the number, and what they were doing. There must have been about 40 or 50 of them, all sitting on the fence posts in a row. Just about every post on ones side of the road was occupied by a Little Raven. The occupied fence posts stretched for several hundred metres. All of them were facing into the wind, each had its wings outstretched to allow for the wind to cool them a little, and each had its mouth open.
And of course I’d left my camera home that day, so here is one I prepared earlier:
Little Raven
Birds and Cats do not mix
A comment by a reader last month got me to thinking – always a dangerous thing. The comment was in response to a post I wrote called “Why do baby birds disappear?” In this article I explained that cats are responsible for far too many bird casualties. One reader responded in this way:
I’m a responsible cat owner (I have a cattery attached to my house, and my three are all desexed, etc) and I agree with you.
There’s no reason a cat can’t be completely happy in a cat run, while giving the native fauna a fighting chance. If you’re going to have pets, the very LEAST you can do is make sure they are properly looked after.
Cats and wildlife can live in peace, if owners take a few responsible steps.
Well said.
Here is part of what I said in my original article:
It would certainly help if all cat owners were responsible and made a run for their animals. This would eliminate some deaths in our fauna, but a far greater problem is the feral cats. There is no control of these and all are very big, strong and cunning. I think compulsory desexing of cats is the way to go, but it would only be a start. Catching all the feral cats is probably not feasible. Making sure no more are added to their ranks will be a good start though.
Do not misunderstand me. I am not anti-cat. I think that they can be a wonderful pet but only if kept in a responsible manner. The harsh reality is that, in a land like Australia, cats alone have accounted for the extinction of many species of birds and reptiles over the last two centuries. They do not have a good reputation.
What do you think on this issue?
Leave your comments in the comments section. Comments are moderated so debate the issues in a responsible manner, be nice and not abusive.
Black-tailed Native-hens form roadblock
I was minding my own business driving along a road in the Mt Lofty Ranges south east of Adelaide, South Australia today when I had to come almost to a complete halt.
Two Black-tailed Native-hens were standing in the middle of the road. It was almost as if they were forming a roadblock, or determined to have a career change and join the local police force. I half expected them to whip out a speed gun. I wasn’t speeding, just casually cruising along quite safely within the normal speed limits in these parts.
As I approached to within a few metres they decided that they had better head off into the undergrowth on the side of the road where they were more at home.
I do not have a photo of this species so click here to see one.