Birds in the yard...

[Stix]

Well here's a different topic...

For so many years ive had blackbirds nesting in my back yatd...i know they're not native, but i dont mind their song in the morning...& my yard is a yard that can feed birds well with bugs & nectar...so i get a good few small honey earers regularly chomping insects & sucking nectar...

Anyway...this year no blackbirds...they just disapeared... ...

Around the same time they vanished, a couple of native honey eaters moved in...

So like a crazy old man i talk to them here & there trying to get their trust ( )...and today, i was witness to one of the young fledglings on one its first outings...

The birds are "little wattlebirds"...
This is what they look like... (internet pic).

Little wattlebird

little_wattlebird_151624.jpg (118.62 KiB) Viewed 3539 times

Here is one of the adults watching me while i was getting too close to its young...
(Forgive the blurry pic --its a cropped pic taken at approx 5m away on a mobile)

Screenshot_2019-10-06-19-42-07.png (998.73 KiB) Viewed 3539 times

Here is one of its babies...it was as stiff as a board & did not flinch at all when i was around...obviously a built in survival technique...

Fledgling Little Wattlebird.

Screenshot_2019-10-06-19-42-43.png (1.99 MiB) Viewed 3539 times

When i wasnt close it was quietly chirping away saying "look at me mum" where it was sitting...lol

It was on its way to getting dark & Mum & Dad were a little nervous with my presence & ended up flying away (50 odd yds) & watched from a distance so i went inside & let them get bubs back in the cot...

When i came back out 10 mons later, bubs was chirping away from in the tree & one of the parents were doing the smash-n-grab on a few insects on their way out for the night...

These birds have been visiting my yard on a seasonal basis for many years, but never nested...

Im not sure if there is a dominance thing between them & tge blackbirds, or if these are the same birds that usualky visit, or if they are young first time breeders...
Hopefully the latter is the case, & these natives are increasing in numbers here in suburbia...

Anyway...probably boring to most, but for me, its pretty cool i rekon...especially given its only metres from my back door in suburbia..

[DownunderDutchman]

Well here's a different topic...

For so many years ive had blackbirds nesting in my back yatd...i know they're not native, but i dont mind their song in the morning...& my yard is a yard that can feed birds well with bugs & nectar...so i get a good few small honey earers regularly chomping insects & sucking nectar...

Anyway...this year no blackbirds...they just disapeared... ...

Around the same time they vanished, a couple of native honey eaters moved in...

So like a crazy old man i talk to them here & there trying to get their trust ( )...and today, i was witness to one of the young fledglings on one its first outings...

The birds are "little wattlebirds"...
This is what they look like... (internet pic).

little_wattlebird_151624.jpg

Here is one of the adults watching me while i was getting too close to its young...
(Forgive the blurry pic --its a cropped pic taken at approx 5m away on a mobile)

Screenshot_2019-10-06-19-42-07.png

Here is one of its babies...it was as stiff as a board & did not flinch at all when i was around...obviously a built in survival technique...

Screenshot_2019-10-06-19-42-43.png

When i wasnt close it was quietly chirping away saying "look at me mum" where it was sitting...lol

It was on its way to getting dark & Mum & Dad were a little nervous with my presence & ended up flying away (50 odd yds) & watched from a distance so i went inside & let them get bubs back in the cot...

When i came back out 10 mons later, bubs was chirping away from in the tree & one of the parents were doing the smash-n-grab on a few insects on their way out for the night...

These birds have been visiting my yard on a seasonal basis for many years, but never nested...

Im not sure if there is a dominance thing between them & tge blackbirds, or if these are the same birds that usualky visit, or if they are young first time breeders...
Hopefully the latter is the case, & these natives are increasing in numbers here in suburbia...

Anyway...probably boring to most, but for me, its pretty cool i rekon...especially given its only metres from my back door in suburbia..

Them honeyeaters are cool, I get many in my yard and pick fights with my chooks for their food hehe. I used to get tons of doves but none this spring, shame as my HW97 loves them

[bigpete]

The little wattlebirds can be pretty damn territorial....

[Hammar]

Wattlebirds are awesome. Have a group/family of 4 that visit our yard throughout the day who aren't fussed about us at all. You can walk by within a meter of them and they just keep eating nectar without even acknowledging your presence. If it wasn't for our cat who we let out for a few minutes each time we go outside they probably would be nesting in our yard.

[Blr243]

Excellent post. Great to see an example of wildlife loving /nature loving amongst hunters ....the antis think that we just run around shooting everything that moves

[TassieTiger]

I have red breaths and blue birds everywhere and swallows - they are allowed to nest anywhere and we have nursed more than a few back to health after they have been text flying into windows...

But - funk blackbirds. They too think they can nest in the roof, crapping on everything and making firehazard nests as big as 50 litres in the roof corners. Even gutter guard doesn’t stop them. 12g no 7 does

[Stix]

I have red breaths and blue birds everywhere and swallows - they are allowed to nest anywhere and we have nursed more than a few back to health after they have been text flying into windows...

But - funk blackbirds. They too think they can nest in the roof, crapping on everything and making firehazard nests as big as 50 litres in the roof corners. Even gutter guard doesn’t stop them. 12g no 7 does

Lol...
You sure they're not starlings...?
Starlings are kunts for that...ive never seen the local blackbirds around my place be game enough to go into a roof cavity...they nest in trees here...

[bigpete]

I'd say they are Stix.

[TassieTiger]

Yes - same thing down here. I hate em.

[Harrynsw]

When i was a boy sparrows were everywhere.
As the years went on i saw them less and less, and now when i see them i get a bit excited.

More aggressive dominant species put the heavy on smaller species. In this case Indian mynas killed off the cute little sparrows.

So I'd say that's what's going on in your yard.

[bigpete]

Nothing good about sparrows. They're just another introduced pest.

[RoginaJack]

I just enjoy seeing the Blackbirds in Tassie; hopping across the lawns. My Daughter has them nesting in the trees in the backyard.

[Harrynsw]

Nothing good about sparrows. They're just another introduced pest.

Better than mite infested mynas that will fill your eves up with literally garbage bags full of grass and rubbish, then when the chicks leave the nest, the mite infestation in the nest make their way in to your house looking for blood to suck on.

Sparrows any day of the week.

[bigpete]

Shoot them both. Sparrows build nests all through everything too

[Stix]

Well baby is well fledged now...ive seen it in the yard quite a lot...can hear it squalkin in a tree for a feed, & it only has to wait a few mins before one of the parents come & feed it...
But the only time ive had my phone on me is when its flat...so havent beensucessful in getting a pic...

Anyway,,,im not so sure i like them as much now...i was rinsing out a couple of s**ty fox skins this arvo when suddenly, there was a ruccas over under the tree the Wattle birds nest is in...
I looked over to see a blurr of feathers & heard a Wattle bird & Blackbird having a good hard punch-up...far out man it was on...!!!...that Wattle bird was like a psyco trained in Muay Thai--straight in a thwack thwack thwack...!!...
The black bird soon took off with the Wattlebird parent literally snappin at its tail until it was 20 metres away...

There was a willy wagtail chirping nearby only 5 mins before, & the black & yellow honey eaters dont come no more...

Under the tree they nest in, is a favourite feeding spot for grub eating birds, & even though the Wattle birds dont forage for grubs down there, & at this stage id say they are not letting any other birds in the yard...

Ill have to think about who gets free rent in there next year...the bully mafia birds, or others who are more welcoming of different nationalities (lol) sharing the space...