Trevor's Birding

Malleefowl mound at Tintinara

No Comments »25th February, 2010; Category: Animals, Nests

Simulated Malleefowl nest in main street of Tintinara, Sth Aust

Yesterday I wrote about the mural painted on the side of a classroom at Pinnaroo Primary School showing a Malleefowl and its nest. A few days later I visited Tintinara in the south east of South Australia. Right in the main street of the town there is a Malleefowl’s nest with two birds tending the nest.

Before local birders race off to visit this “nest”, let me assure you that it isn’t a real nest; it’s been put there to simulate a real nest. And the two birds are metal cut outs in the shape of the birds. It’s located on the lawn in front of the Art Gallery and Information Centre which happens to be the old railway station building.

The nest looks realistic and so do the birds – if you just look at the outline shape. I think it would have been improved if an artist had painted the birds in their correct colours. I guess for consistency they’ve left them just as a shape, in keeping with the metal cutouts of a shepherd, a sheepdog and some sheep across the lawn and little.

It was only a short distance to the west of here that I once saw 6 Malleefowl in ten minutes, doubling my lifetime count of this species. You can read about that incident by clicking here.

Below I’ve posted some photos of the shepherd and his sheep.

A shepherd and his sheep, Tintinara, Sth Australia

Malleefowl painting, Pinnaroo Primary School

No Comments »24th February, 2010; Category: Bird Behaviour, Nests

Mural on classroom, Pinnaroo Primary School

As I was driving past the Pinnaroo Primary School recently I spotted a lovely mural painted on the wall of a classroom. The mural illustrates various aspects of the local farming activities and the environment. I’ve shown it in the photo above – click on it to enlarge.

From a birding viewpoint I was pleased to see the Malleefowl shown prominently as a part of the painting. Pinnaroo is in the heart of mallee country in South Australia.

The Malleefowl is an amazing bird unique to this part of the world and is classified as a vulnerable species in Australia. It is about 55-61cm in size (like a smallish turkey) and quietly feeds on seeds and berries in the mallee scrub, or on wheat seeds in farming areas.

The male Malleefowl builds a rather odd nest. It is a mound of dirt, leaves, sticks and bark and can be from 2 to 5 metres in diameter and up to 1.5 metres high. He will work this mound like a compost heap over the summer months, the rotting vegetation and sunlight heating up the mound. Over many months the female lays about 5 to 30 eggs in tunnels in the mound which are then covered over. The heat inside the mound is kept at almost exactly 33C throughout the incubation period which can last many months. On hatching, the young struggle through the dirt of the mound before running off through the scrub, independent from the beginning.

This species can be found nesting within 20km of my home, yet I’ve only ever seen one in the wild on a handful of occasions. One memorable occasion occurred a few years ago when I saw 6 birds in a period of 10 minutes. You can read about that encounter in an article called What kind of a duck was that? (Click here)

Below I have also included photos of two Malleefowl nests I have found in different parts of South Australia.

Malleefowl featured on a mural on classroom, Pinnaroo Primary School

Malleefowl nest, Gluepot Reserve near Waikerie, South Australia

Malleefowl nest, Ferries McDonald Conservation Park, South Australia

Wedge-tailed Eagle overhead

1 Comment »23rd February, 2010; Category: Eagles Hawks and Kites, Raptors

Wedge Tailed Eagle - Healesville Sanctuary

I had to admit to my wife last week that I really enjoy hanging out the washing.

The reason is simple: it gets me outdoors, eyes cast skywards. Some of my best birding moments have occurred while hanging out the washing.

Last week was one of those moments. I had barely commenced when my attention was caught by a bird of prey high in the sky. It was obviously an eagle, slowly riding the air currents and circling overhead. I raced inside for the binoculars, sure that it was a Wedge-tailed Eagle. A more passes overhead confirmed my first identification.

This magnificent raptor – our largest bird of prey – is widespread all over Australia. It is widespread in our region too, but not common. Their territories are often huge, and they soar for many kilometres each day searching for their food. Despite them being relatively common in our region, this is only the third time in over 25 years I’ve observed one over our property. I need to get outdoors more often!

The nest of the Wedge-tailed Eagle consists of many sticks and twigs and can be reused many times in the lives of a pair. They will often refurbish the original nest, adding many more sticks until the structure is huge, sometimes large enough for a human adult to lie down in. The nearest nest I know of is about 20km NW of home near the Mannum waterfalls reserve.

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Wedge-tailed Eagles
Wedge-tailed Eagle overhead

Wedge-tailed Eagle, Taronga Park Zoo, Sydney

What parrot was that again?

No Comments »22nd February, 2010; Category: General, Parrots and Lorikeets

Fire safety sign near Pinnaroo, South Australia

On my recent trip to Pinnaroo east of here in Murray Bridge I saw the above bushfire prevention sign on the side of the road. As I flashed past I thought, “My readers might like to see that.”

So I came to a screeching halt and backed up. Well – I checked the mirror first. Good thing too – a big truck was following me about a hundred metres back. I let him pass before taking the photo.

Most local councils in Australia have strict regulations about lighting fires, especially in rural areas. Many farmers still use burning off as a strategy for controlling weeds. Lighting a fire during the summer months is asking for trouble, hence the signs.

The message of this sign seems to be appealing to bird lovers.

But what kind of bird?

The two parrots depicted by the artist appear to be rosellas, but they are nothing like any of the rosellas in my field guides. I guess the artist wanted to depict a generic type of parrot, appealing to a very broad audience.

I suspect the artist has adapted an illustration from a children’s colouring book. I’m sure I’ve seen something very similar in one of those “Colour by Number” type books.

I doesn’t matter – if it gets the message across and prevents fires, then it has achieved its purpose. Pity though – I’d like to have a photo or two of the parrots featured. They’d look good here on my blog.

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Pink Cockatoo

1 Comment »21st February, 2010; Category: Aviaries, Parrots and Lorikeets

Cockatiel and Pink Cockatoo in aviary, Pinnaroo Caravan Park

The photo above shows a Cockatiel (left) and a Pink Cockatoo (centre) in the aviary in Pinnaroo, eastern South Australia. Both species are relatively common in the area. This is not a particularly good photo of the Pink Cockatoo – see below for a better shot which my son took some years ago at the Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney.

The Pink Cockatoo is also known as the Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo, named after an early Australian explorer.

This beautiful member of the parrot family is widespread throughout much of the arid and semi-arid regions of mainland Australia. It is far less common than other cockatoos. It is always a special bird to see in the wild, especially when they land and they raise their stunning crests.

Major Mitchell Cockatoo (also called Pink Cockatoo)

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