Why is it every time I go outside birds want food? 25 June 2012

I just came back inside from out the front when all these birds showed up. They were expecting to get food from me but I never gave them any. They all eventually left after a few minutes. The bird species that showed up are Australian Magpies, Pied Currawongs, a Satin Bowerbird and Torresian Crows. This is typical of what birds do whenever I go out the front of my place. I barely can garden in peace or just sit out the front without birds wanting food from me. It is quite annoying most of the time.

Australian Magpie Gymnorhina tibicen

Adult male Australian Magpie - local bird

Australian Magpies are common throughout Tenterfield and are reknown for swooping anything that comes near the nest in the breeding season. Each pair of Australian Magpie mates for life, and generally have 1-2 offspring per year. If an adult breeding Magpie dies or disappears from the area, the remaining Magpie will generally find another mate within 1-2 years, usually around when the breeding season begins. They mate in late Winter to early spring, depending upon whether winter has been warm enough. Their mating season generally begins from September to October.


Here is a video taken on 21 June 2012 of a local juvenile trying to bond with me. It wanted food but I never fed it. This juvenile was born last Spring (2011) and by 2013 it will be gone.

All juvenile Magpies are allowed to stay within the family unit for 2 years then they are chased off by the parents, mostly by the father.

Many interesting things have been observed within the Australian Magpie species here in Tenterfield. Some family units have a hard time feeding, and as a result can be spotted feeding well after dark. Other interesting things include mimicking sounds of various animals, including horses, ducks, other birds and humans. Only the females seem to do this but I'm not sure on how widespread this phenomenon is across Tenterfield.

The Australian White Ibis who only wants bread

Taken: Thursday, 10 May 2012, 3:29:48 PM

This little fellow frequently visits the front lawn area looking for food scraps during the autumn and winter months, specifically looking for bread. It never finds any though. I often have to slowly scare it back across the road in fear it will get hit by passing cars and to generally keep it away from people. Over time it has become an opportunistic feeder but the bird adapts and learns quickly in my presence and moves on quickly when no human food is given to it.

The Australian White Ibis has to be my favourite Tenterfield bird. It is a very smart but cheeky bird, and is quick on it's feet when getting food. It is usually seen alone during parts of the year. Around Winter/Spring it will be seen with it's mate as breeding season approaches. Mind you, I've yet to see babies of this bird species in Tenterfield although obvious mating pairs are formed each year.

This particular bird in the photo is a male and I have seen him for several years here, as he is the only Australian White Ibis who seeks food from me. He has brought with him, once or twice, his mate and another Australian White Ibis with him. That has since stopped.

Masked Owl passing through Tenterfield May 2012

An amusing but cold May night came the presence of a noctural bird to my part of Tenterfield. It was heard for the best part of a month every night between the hours of 10:30PM to 1AM. The owl seemed to fly in from the north, settled into a tree, screeched for about 5-15 minutes, then moved on heading south further.

My brother first alerted me to this bird's call as he did not recognise the sound. It was heard around midnight this particular night. It was quite amusing listening to the bird as it screeched and it's voice echoed across Tenterfield. Many dogs across Tenterfield were barking because of this owl.

I taped the incident on my mobile phone but the sound quality is really poor. My apologies for that and all the talking at the end of the video. You can faintly hear the Masked Owl screech amongst the background noise of barking dogs.

I'm hoping to get a better quality recording of this owl next time I hear it in my area.

The only other recording I have of a Masked Owl is this one:

Masked Owl in Tenterfield again - 25 July 2012