The flight of the baby honeyeater
This week we have had some horrible weather. Hot days over 40 degrees with dust blowing wildly from the parched north of the state suffering the worst drought in living memory. Thankfully it is a little cooler today.
During the hot weather I saw a baby New Holland Honeyeater that appeared to have just emerged from the nest. He was hovering like a little helicopter, not being really sure what this flying business was all about. It must be difficult in good conditions; trying to learn to fly when it is so hot and so windy must be a tremendous challenge.
This little one settled long enough for me to get this photo. I then quickly retreated because Mum and Dad were nearby, fussing around with more food for this hungry youngster.
Related article:
- Why do baby birds disappear? An article I wrote recently in response to a reader’s question about baby birds.
New Holland Honeyeater (baby just out of nest)
Great Birding Moments # 22 Scarlet Robin
1 Comment »22nd November, 2006; Category: Bird Behaviour, Flycatchers, Great Birding Moments, Robins
Australian Robins are beautiful birds. I especially like to see the male Red Capped Robin sitting patiently on an exposed branch or a fence post waiting for an insect to fly past. Another spectacular species is the Scarlet Robin.
Male Scarlet Robin
On a recent visit to Cromer Conservation Park my whole morning of birding was highlighted by the sighting of both a male and a female. The male was rather shy, and although he posed nicely for me, he wouldn’t allow me to get too close. The above photo is the best I could manage. One day, when I have more patience, I will return for another photo shoot. I know where he lives now.
Female Scarlet Robin
The female was far more obliging and came quite close. She posed beautifully for me at reasonably close quarters, but turned her head at the crucial moment. Then she flew off not to be seen again that morning.
Oh the delights – and frustrations – of bird photography!
A slight distraction: Fork Tailed Swifts
I have been slightly distracted today. A series of thunderstorms and a cooler weather front have been moving through South Australia this morning. Yesterday we had a foul day; 40 degree heat with wild wind blowing dust from the dry north. Today is slightly better with cooler air forecast for later in the day.
The distraction comes from the possibility of seeing swifts. I have only ever seen swifts on a handful of occasions and only once here at home in Murray Bridge. The reason for my excitement is that there have been numerous reports of Fork Tailed Swifts over various suburbs of Adelaide, 80km to the west. The storm front is moving in our direction.
Swifts are often associated with and follow storm movements. There is usually greater insect activity at these times and that attracts the swifts. The first time I saw a group of Fork Tailed Swifts they were swooping low and fast over a pasture in the south east of South Australia. I was amazed at both their size (wingspan about 40cm) and their speed. They are indeed, swift.
The good news – the cooler air has arrived.
The bad news – no swift sightings yet.
Even worse news – only a few drops of rain.
The drought continues.
Speeding Bronzewing Pigeon
Common Bronzewing Pigeon
Most people who take an interest in birds know that the fastest bird is the Peregrine Falcon. In a stoop (dive) it can reach speeds of over 200kph and perhaps as fast as 300kph. Most other birds are quite pedestrian by comparison.
Common Bronzewing Pigeons and their cousins the Brush Bronzewings have always amazed me with their speed as they dart through the mallee scrub near here in Murray Bridge. I did not realise just how fast they are able to fly until recently.
We were returning from a visit to Lowan Conservation Park about 40 minutes drive northeast of home. The roadside vegetation is mainly mallee trees, typical of many roads in this area. Our approach disturbed a Common Bronzewing from the side of the road. It proceeded to fly at speed about twenty metres in front of the car. I was driving at about 90kph and was only steadily gaining on this speeding bird. It gradually veered off the road a little but still kept flying along parallel to the road. On catching it I slowed down and kept pace with it at about 85kph until it decided to veer off for a rest. In all, it must have covered at least 500 metres at this speed.
Brush Bronzewing Pigeon
Why do baby birds disappear?
16 Comments »18th November, 2006; Category: Baby birds, Bird Behaviour, Cuckoos, Frequently Asked Questions, Garden birds
One of my regular readers recently asked the question: “Why do baby birds disappear?” We had been corresponding during the recent height of the Australian breeding season. Spring here is coming to a close, but many birds are still actively making nests, sitting on eggs or feeding young in the nest or just out of the nest. This reader observed that many baby birds go missing. What happens to them, she asked.
Here is my reply:
It is very distressing for bird lovers to see the little birds disappear or be killed in some way so soon after hatching or leaving the nest. If we knew the figures, I think we would be horrified by the enormous attrition rate in our fauna, not just birds.
Some possibilities include the following:
1. Removal from the nest by cuckoos. We have several species of cuckoos in Australia. The female lays one egg in a host nest. This could be a thornbill, honeyeater or a range of other species. The host bird hatches the eggs and the baby cuckoo hatches first and it removes all other eggs in the nest in the first hour or so after hatching. It then gets ALL the food from the host parents. Harsh yes – but this is normal, natural cuckoo behaviour.
2. Predation of eggs or chicks: this could be from ravens, crows, currawongs, butcherbirds, hawks and even magpies. Cats, foxes, snakes and lizards, especially goannas, will also raid nests.
3. Predation out of the nest: Once fledged and out of the nest the young birds run the gauntlet of so many hazards including all in number 2 above. Add to those hazards the problem of being hit by speeding cars, wild storms, flying into glass panes (very common), captured by well meaning people and not cared for properly, heavy rain, cold nights and so on.It is a wonder that any survive at all, especially in urban areas. This is in part compensated for by the following strategies:
(a) Laying 3-5 eggs for each clutch as this increases the success rate
(b) cleverly camouflaging the nest – with all my experience I am still fooled by their cryptic nest sites.
(c) breeding two or three times in one season.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.
Related articles:
- Common Blackbirds – the article that started it all. The many comments are very interesting reading.
- Do Blackbirds Swoop? How to deal with aggressive bird behaviour – another article I wrote about Blackbirds. This one also created a great deal of interest with many interesting comments.
- Magpies behaving badly – Australian Magpies have a bad reputation during breeding season.
- A bit on the nose – an amusing incident involving a cyclist, a swooping Red Wattlebird and a nose.
- Anyone for a swim? Forget it baby Blackbird. Now this is something different.