Golden Whistler (male) harassed by New Holland Honeyeater
Click on the photo to enlarge the image.
Yesterday I wrote about the male Golden whistler I tracked down in our garden. I showed a nice photo I managed to get of this beautiful bird. A few seconds after taking that photo the whistler was swooped by one of our resident New Holland Honeyeaters. This species can be very aggressive towards other bird species. In my opinion they are second only to the Red Wattlebird as far as their aggressiveness goes.
Well, the male Golden Whistler was not going to take this affront lightly. I managed to capture the moment on my camera. The head of the honeyeater can just be seen in the lower right hand corner. The whistler, on the other hand, is showing signs of being somewhat upset. It has raised the feathers on the top of its head – almost like a crest. It has spread out its wings and the beak is wide open giving a harsh warning call to the aggressor.
Although the shot is not the best photo I’ve ever taken, I am quite pleased with the result. It is not often one is able to catch moments like these. A split second later would have seen a totally different scene as the honeyeater flew off.
