Magpies behaving badly
Australian Magpie
It is now spring here in Australia. This usually means frenetic breeding activities in our bird life. Up until now I have noticed very little activity around here, which is unusual.
Reasons for this could be:
- A very cold and dry winter.
- Little food because of the drought conditions.
- I haven’t been looking carefully enough.
Whatever the reason, one very obvious sign of the breeding season is the activities of the Australian Magpie. I guess most Australians have experienced an attack from a male Magpie during breeding season. They can very aggressively defend their nest from all interlopers on their territory. And it can be painful; a peck on the scalp from an aggressive Magpie can draw copious amounts of blood, as my wife and sister-in-law can confirm.
An interesting article called “Magpies Behaving Badly” can be found on the ABC Science Online site here.
I am so pleased that our resident breeding pair of magpies do not swoop us. They let us move about the garden without any harassment. In fact, in 22 years of living here, I have only been swooped once, and that was my own fault. I tried to imitate the call of the male. I must have used a few magpie swear words!
Related articles from my archives:
Bath time
While working in my wife’s plant nursery yesterday we were delighted to see several New Holland Honeyeaters up close. We had just had the watering system on and so the plants were all quite damp. The honeyeaters came in for a feed only to find all the leaves dripping with water. They both then proceeded to have a bath, scrabbling and cavorting amongst the wet foliage with droplets of water spraying in all directions.
It was a delightful little encounter.
The photo below was taken quite some time ago. I didn’t have the camera with me yesterday.
New Holland Honeyeater
Bird Wars
On a regular basis I have witnessed aggressive behaviour in birds. On a previous post I wrote about the conflict in our garden between a Willie Wagtail and a New Holland Honeyeater. The New Holland Honeyeaters seem to be aggressive towards many species. So is the Red Wattlebird, often seen chasing away other species from its favoured feeding plants.
Willie Wagtails are well known for taking on much larger birds, even as large as a Wedge-tailed Eagle which is many times its size. This is especially so during nesting time. Magpies get very aggressive during breeding season, the male defending the nest from all who dare come near the nest, humans included.
On fewer occasions I have observed a group of one species attacking a single bird from another species. Mobbing of Owls by honeyeaters, for example, is relatively common. Less common, in my experience, is a group actually doing harm to a single bird. While driving recently near our local racecourse I saw about a dozen Common Starlings attacking a Spotted Turtledove. The details are sketchy because I was concentrating on driving and couldn’t stop to observe further. The hapless turtledove seemed destined for a nasty demise. Perhaps the lady walking her dog towards the scene of the crime disturbed the attackers and gave it a reprieve. Whatever happened, I saw no body there a few hours later as I passed the same spot.
Related Articles:
A Battlefield in the Garden
While out in the garden today I was suddenly aware of a noisy scuffle nearby. They were at it again. The interloper New Holland Honeyeater trying to snatch insects from the resident Willie Wagtail’s favourite patch. This time they actually came to blows!
After a few seconds of screaming at each other, many ruffled feathers and a clash of claws they both retreated to nearby trees. After that there was an uneasy peace. The battle may be over but I feel that the war has just begun.
For details of the previous battle click here.
Willie Wagtail
Pelican Attacks
While watching the local news last night I was interested in one item relating to birds. At Waikerie in the Riverland area of South Australia two people were on the river bank fishing. According to the report one of the local pelicans came up and attacked the person fishing from his wheelchair, knocking him into the water. The victim’s friend came to the rescue, holding his head out of the water with one hand while ringing for an ambulance with his free hand.
This is not an isolated incident. Years ago I heard of a rogue pelican at Renmark, about an hour’s drive upstream from Waikerie. This pelican had been harassing people have picnics on the lawns in front of the hotel. There was even a report of a small dog being eaten by this pelican.
More recently, my daughter-in-law nearly lost her lunch when confronted by a pelican on the riverfront lawns at Mannum, which is further downstream. It was quite scarey for all of us sitting on the picnic seat. A fully grown pelican is quite a confronting beast about a metre from your face!
Australian Pelican
Related articles:
- Beware of the pelican
- Pelicans, Shelducks and Teal
- Australian Pelicans
- Pelicans – a list of articles about pelicans from my archives.