Post updates about Birds of Tenterfield

Trying to sort through the backlog of sightings of birds here in Tenterfield is a never ending job. But thankfully Winter has officially started and the number of bird species currently in town have been reduced to a small handful. Autumn had seen the nomadic species leave town for locating more food. But Autumn has also been a busy time for the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos and birds of prey with an ever increasing influx of these species to Tenterfield. A single parent Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo even stayed in town for more than a week to feed it's juvenile. Lots of notes will be added about that sighting.

So, for the next few weeks I will be adding a backlog of posts about these Autumn sightings plus lots of new videos and photos. I've also seen a few new (on the bird list but haven't yet seen until now: Nankeen Kestrel; possibly Swift Parrots that I'm still yet to confirm; Whistling Kites; White-necked Heron; Straw-necked Ibis; plus a few other) species, and one species (Yellow Thornbill) that I have finally identified after almost 12 months of it eluding me, that have yet been added to my bird species list.

Over the last 5 months I have taken lots of photos and videos of all these local and visiting species, so too have I videos to sort through which my brother recorded for me. It's something I need to keep up-to-date with as each new day brings something different worthy of adding to this site.

Update : Unidentified olive backed and aqua blue winged bird

Its a new species of honeyeater that has yet to be recorded.

There was this one day when I was walking about 8 feet passed these birds when they were on the ground and they were feeding with a family group of King Parrots. One of these unidentified birds looked straight at me. I suddenly got very confused because it's face was almost identical to that of the Blue-faced Honeyeater.

This species face had very similiar markings on it to the Blue-faced Honeyeater. Instead of the top of it's head being black it was the bronzey/brown colour you see on Blue-faced Honeyeaters. The bronzey/brown colour went from the beginning of the beak to the eyebrow ridge above the eyes, then down over the nape which then joined up with the back, which was also the same colour. It had a bare patch of skin around it's eyes but it wasn't the same colour as an adult or juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater. I believe it may have been a dull green colour - meaning it wasn't metallic looking. It's throat was white. The sides of it face was not like the Blue-faced Honeyeater. It had no black colouration on the sides of it's face: it was just white instead. The eyes looked like a Blue-faced Honeyeater but there was something different about them that I still can't figure out.

The head colourations of these two species were unusually similiar to each other. It certainly made me remember this unidentified species face when I took a closer look at it. I now believe this unidentified blue winged bird is a subspecies of, or a new species of honeyeater, and is somehow related to the Blue-faced Honeyeater.

As this species appears to be endemic to Tenterfield, New South Wales, it might be helpful to research the species from this immediate area. I am currently trying to find any kind of bird records that involve bird sightings from Tenterfield that go back 30 or so years. Hopefully someone else may have spotted this species in Tenterfield at some point in the past. I am also thinking of putting a notice on the local Post Office board to see if any local people have photos of this bird at Jubilee Park, Manners Street , between the years of 2001 and 2004. (I haven't done that yet and am not sure if I will either.) That's when I remember seeing them at Jubilee Park all the time.

I ended up by contacting the Australian Museum to get help with identifying this new bird species. The information I provided (written only) of this species was then sent to Dr. Walter Boles and I am currently waiting on a reply back from Dr Walter Boles, the former Collection Manager for Ornithology at The Australian Museum in Sydney.

It is my hope that come September 2013 the bird will return to Tenterfield in order to breed. Only then can I get a video and photos of it. If it doesn't return I can only assume there are small numbers of these birds not far from Tenterfield somewhere breeding in other areas.

Whistling Kite - Haliastur sphenurus

My brother pointed out 2 raptors flying over the landscape to the south of us. Unfortunately I got no decent photos of the birds but my brother got a video on his camcorder. I've taken screenshots from the video to get a feel for the birds flying nearby. The birds looked the same colour as in the video with the naked eye, and the one being filmed had a wingspan of more than one metre but less than 2 metres. The one being video recorded appeared larger in size than a Brown Goshawk. The other raptor was of a similiar size to the one recorded and shown here (wingspan length only). Apologies for the poor quality video and screenshots. The closest bird was more than 100 metres from us when it was closest to us.

Whistling Kites seem to check out the area for prey items but do not come into town anymore. I guess their food items have also been reduced to small pockets outside of town. These Whistling Kites were not observed catching anything whilst being recorded on video.

Raptors, like the Whistling Kite, and nocturnal predators like the Tawny Frogmouth are generally seen during very late Summer to the end of Autumn in the area. Whistling Kites' main diet is mammals, birds, insects and fish as well as carrion (dead animals). They do this by soaring above the landscape. They can also be seen circling certain areas where there might be food that they have spotted.

Here are some screenshots from the video my brother took of these magnificent birds.














Plus two cropped and enlarged photos of the bird:




And here is the video:

Too many birds and no camera

I am getting rightly tired of continuing this blog. There are birds all around me yet I now have no camera in which to photograph them, or take recordings of their calls. Mine broke. It is too much of an inexpensive camera to get fixed.

The birds around here have gone on their merry way to ignore me, and even if I did have a working camera they don't get in range anymore so I can take their photo. Every time I try to get closer to them they just fly away.

So I am going to have a break from this blog for a while, possibly for more than a month. It may be a long time before I can afford a new camera, if I can find a suitable replacement. This blog is now officially on standstill until further notice.

Recent 45cm Pied Butcherbird sighting

Back on the 27th March 2013 at 3:18PM my brother and I had stopped at the bridge on Douglas Street to look at the water in the creek. We were just standing there looking at everything and I had my camera ready to take photos of anything I could see that might suddenly show up, like a duck. Moments later, out of the corner of my eye I saw something very close to us to our left up in the air, and it was flying very fast. Without any sound this large bird flew over the bridge avoiding my brother and I and flew like crazy as if it was chasing something. I didn't see anything in front of the bird. It wasn't until it was about a second or two after sighting it as it was flying away along the creekbank that I could identify it as the 45cm Pied Butcherbird. I could barely keep my eyes on it - it flew that fast.

As I watched, moving quickly and suddenly to keep my eyes on this bird, it flew straight across the bridge then zigzagged right to left, then suddenly dove down to the ground. I never saw it come back up again and lost sight of the bird at this point. It is possible the Pied Butcherbird continued flying rather than diving to the ground, as it was flying a lot lower (about 5-15 metres above the ground at this point) the further away it was from the bridge. I lost sight of the bird at about 100 metres from where I stood on the bridge.

The thing that surprised me the most was it's speed. I've seen Australian Magpies fly in 2 separate speeds, the normal speed and a hurried speed. This Pied Butcherbird easily flew faster than a Magpie's hurried speed (or top speed).

I did manage to take a photo of the Pied Butcherbird flying passed but the photo came out all blurry. It's too blurry to post and it didn't even have the bird in it, and I had the camera pointed too far to the right.

This Pied Butcherbird is turning out to be a really difficult fellow to photograph. But I am glad it is still in the area even though I do not see it very often.

Is there a point to all of this?

Sometimes I just want to

It is hard to be enthusiastic about photographing and filming birds in this town when there is so much destruction happening here. You don't really see it happening every day but over time you do. It is what people don't do that makes me wonder if people here care about anything other than themselves.

The real problem in Tenterfield is a lot of trees and bushes are removed every year but it doesn't look like the plants are being replaced by new ones. Tenterfield is becoming drier and hotter as a result. The birdlife just can't adapt to what humans do to plants so they are forced to move out of the area.

Birds are incapable of becoming residents as they have very little plants to nest, roost or feed from and that's within an area of 24 squared kilometres. What little plants are available here are only good for a small number of birds. Less than 40% of those plants are perfect for small nesting birds.

Now the strange thing is any bird species that is in the area and is looking for a mate usually finds a mate nearby. There seems to be no problems with young birds finding mates. The territories of birds seems not to be a problem either. There's a lot of bush surrounding Tenterfield and most of it is nothing but trees. Nesting sites seem to be a problem with some species but generally birds adapt and breed anyway with what vegetation is available.

Protection from storms, especially hail, is definitely a problem here for birds. One hail storm producing up to 7cm hailstones can kill hundreds of small birds in just 20 minutes. With all the open space and people mowing vast amounts of grass you'd think they'd plant a few trees and bushes so they have less to mow. But no... people just continue to mow their paddocks and grass to keep it neat and tidy. All that people care about in this town is the visual appeal of mowed grass!!!

If people do buy native plants to put in their garden they don't, generally, seem to realize that it takes new native seedlings up to 7 years to produce their first lot of flowers. Generally 7 years is the standard amount of time one has to wait. That is a long time for a bird to wait for a native plant to flower. The bird could be dead by then.

The main thing I'm whinging about is if the observed information I provide about all these species is of any benefit to anyone out there? With some species I can provide an unending source of information as those species are residents. The majority of species listed on this site are species that either live here temporarily or are just passing through. Any information gained about these particular species is just an added bonus. In Tenterfield the birds have it tougher than normal. Any given moment a human can come along and uproot their food supply, destroy a bush or tree with a bird's nest in it with no consideration at all for the birds, or cut down a tree that was producing shade. Any human activity is a big threat to the bird life in this town yet no-one cares less or does anything to protect what little habitat there is left in the area.

Brown Goshawk sighting

Having the opportunity to film any kind of Raptor or Owl in the area is "You have to be in the right place at the right time to do so". This opportunity arose and I grabbed it with what tools I had in my possession at the time. Brown Goshawk sightings in Tenterfield is rare, rarer than sighting a Tawny Frogmouth which is pretty rare these days. Apparently Brown Goshawks are secretive birds but there was nothing secretive about this sighting. The poor bird was under attack by Pied Currawongs. Let me explain what happened.

On the 12th of January 2013 a bird landed in one of the gum trees in my neighbour Carol's side garden. At first all I heard and saw was just a commotion of activity of birds in the trees. Pied Currawongs were flying everywhere in and out of the trees. They all seemed to be chasing each other. That was my first impression. But when the Pied Currawongs began chasing a bird out of the tree I knew something was up. Pied Currawongs don't usually chase anything, especially not any local species. They are quite timid and relaxed birds. But the Pied Currawongs were going mental in the trees.

I started filming the birds and saw a larger bird than a Pied Currawong in the tree. It made a sound I'd heard before and instantly knew it was a raptor of some sort. The Currawongs were swooping it and getting really close to it. The raptor tried mostly to ignore it's attackers but spent a great deal of time chasing after the Pied Currawongs to get them to leave it alone.

Studying the videos I took of the whole incident it seems there may have been 2 Brown Goshawks in the trees. I can't be certain though. I done some research on it's call and learnt it was a Brown Goshawk.

This attack went on for quite some time before and after I stop filming it. I noticed that the House Sparrows in the area panicked when the Brown Goshawk was around and ended up over at my place, hiding in the tree by my bedroom window. This happened after I finished filming the attack by the Pied Currawongs. The Sparrows sounded nervous and panicky. Then they went quiet after a while, hoping not to be heard.

Brown Goshawks used to frequent Tenterfield a lot but now they rarely come to this part of the woods. I had never seen one in a tree before. I always used to see them on wing in the air. One of their main food sources is House Sparrows.

It must be really hard for raptors to be constantly chased and attacked by other birds. The Brown Goshawk obviously just wanted to rest for a while but whilst in those trees it barely got any rest at all.

The Brown Goshawk was in the area for about 4-5 days prior to me filming them. After filming it was gone about 24-48 hours later, never to be seen or heard from again.

Below are the 2 videos I recorded of the Brown Goshawk. I have a digital camera that refuses to zoom.




I filmed this raptor because I love the sounds they make. It reminds me of when I was living in South Australia where there were plenty of raptors. My experiences with wild raptors have been up close and personal, for they ventured close to me back then. Now they don't, and filming this raptor was something I didn't want to miss.

Bar-shouldered Dove Geopelia humeralis

Way back on the 22nd December 2012 I was bored and decided to whistle to the birds just to see what would happen. Now, in the area a Bar-shouldered Dove (I've only just identified this bird call as that of the above mentioned Dove) had moved in just a day or three beforehand. There was only one bird calling out therefore I assumed only one individual was in the area. I heard no more than one bird of this species whilst it was here. It made the odd call which made me alert to it's presence. When it called out it only done so 3-4 times then went quiet. I didn't hear the bird again for several or more hours later. I haven't hear this bird in Tenterfield anymore but in the past I have heard it here often.

The Bar-shouldered Dove started hanging around the Crested Pigeons. I heard them both calling out from the same tree several times prior to recording this video. They were all together when this video was recorded I believe - I just can't remember precisely right now.

Anyway, I went outside and decided to start recording a video as there was nothing else to do. There was no "different bird activity" happening at the time and nothing new to take photos of. I was bored out of my brain so I just started whistling. Deciding I would whistle to the birds was an act and idea of spontaneity.

I am not a good whistler. I can't whistle properly and I've never learnt to whistle properly so I apologize for my terrible and loud whistling in this video in advance. I held the camera too close to my face.

Moments before I started whistling the Bar-shouldered Dove was quiet. Actually I hadn't heard it call out for 1/2 a day. I had no idea if it was even in the area still. To my surprise the Bar-shouldered Dove responded to my very first whistle and kept responding by calling after I whistled again, and again, and again, etc. I couldn't believe my ears that this bird was calling back to me over and over and over again. I wasn't even whistling the same note as it was yet it still responded to me.

Below is the trimmed video (from the original) that just has this bird calling back to me. At the end of the video I changed the note I was whistling and the bird stopped calling back to me. Go to this video (on my Youtube channel) to find out what bird calls are heard next. (There's 2 videos to my whistling spontaneity.)


I never saw the bird in irder to get a photo of it, and I could not see it when I went looking for it in the tree. The Bar-shouldered Dove left Tenterfield several days after this video was taken and I haven't heard it since. It was last located by itself for at least a day in a large gum tree near the edge of another neighbour's paddock before it disappeared.

Bar-shouldered Doves left Tenterfield some time ago. This particular individual was passing through town as there were no others of his kind in Tenterfield.

Think before you chop plants down

GIVE THE LITTLE BIRDS A CHANCE TO BREED PEOPLE!!!! THINK BEFORE YOU ACT.


The Flats where I live are under new management (new owners) and we (the renters) were told all the plants in the garden (front and back) are to be removed and planted out with Grevilleas along the boundary line within the next 3 months. The new owners care about, or so they say, about the birdlife.

Well, yesterday turned out to be the day when everything was chopped down. No-one had a say about any of it. Everything was chopped down except 4 tiny Grevilleas and 2 tiny Photineas and a few smaller plants only 4 of which were fully mature plants. All the other plants chopped down were mature or semi-mature shrubs/trees. Earlier in the morning I was filming a small bird that kept going into one of the Jasmine? bushes and another bush and I had been curious as to why it was also going into the plum tree in the middle of the lawn between Flat 2 and 3 for several weeks now. The plum tree had been mutilated so much it was now a bush not a tree.

All the birds in the area, the small ones anyway, had finished breeding, and this was a new species of bird in the area. I didn't understand what this particular bird was doing. This morning I checked the videos I had recorded yesterday and I learnt, to my horror, the bird was actually nesting and in fact had 2 to possibly 3 nesting sites in the front garden - meaning 2-3 separate nests.

Well, so much for the new owners caring about the birdlife. The nesting sites were chopped down within a matter of minutes. I just hope there were only eggs in the nests and not chicks but I suspect that the adult bird may have been feeding chicks, going on passed video recordings of nesting behaviour of another small species. The adult bird remained in the Pine tree across the road as it watched helplessly in horror as it's nesting sites and possibly it's children were killed and destroyed by a man wielding a chainsaw and Roundup poison.

Today there is no sign of the adult bird/s and they have left the area. If they plan on starting again I have no idea where they would find new nesting sites with such dense foliage as was found in the front garden. I've seen the type of plants in the area, and there are no dense foliage plants within at least 1km of where I live, especially in flower right now.

---

LISTEN UP PEOPLE: If you plan on cutting anything down make sure no bird is nesting in the plant first. If the plant has to be removed, and there is a bird nesting in it, WAIT FOR THE BIRD TO FINISH NESTING IN IT FIRST. Think before you act.

Let's say you don't know if a bird is nesting in a bush or tree that you want to cut down. Firstly look at the plant you want to cut down. What type of plant is it - does it have dense foliage or thin foliage? Thin foliage means you can see individual branches and the branches are not bunched together to form a dense layer for anything to hide in. If this is the case it is safe to remove the plant knowing nothing will nest in it.

However, with a plant (shrub) that has dense foliage you need to study the plant and what birds goes to it before you remove it. You must watch and listen to any birds going to the plant for about 2 weeks prior to removing the plant. You should notice, if a bird is nesting in it, that the same type of bird (and generally they call out when hanging around a nest or potential nesting site) will visit the bush quite a few times during the day, especially in the morning.

If nesting in the bush/plant the bird will disappear into the bush/plant and not come out for about 5-15 seconds. It may just look like the bird is feeding from the bush, if the bush is in flower at the time. But looks are deceiving.

If this is the case with any bird going into the bush DO NOT CUT THE BUSH DOWN UNTIL ALL BIRDS HAVE COMPLETELY ABANDONED THE BUSH, which will be several weeks after first seeing them going into the bush.

Don't be hasty in chopping any plants down until you know for certain there are no birds nesting in it or about to nest in it. To do so will cause birds to grieve and never return to your garden.

I doubt this is a Noisy Friarbird

Way back on the 21st December 2012 at 10:28AM I heard a very strange noise. It was the noise of a Noisy Friarbird, so I've learnt through researching this bird's call. But thinking about this bird, whatever it was, was here just 3 days after the 45cm Pied Butcherbird arrived in the area. In all my time I have never heard this type of bird call before, and have not heard it since. It does sound somewhat remotely similiar to some of the sounds the Pied Currawongs make though.

The bird in the video was about the size of the 45cm Pied Butcherbird, and may have actually been the Pied Butcherbird for several reasons.

1. I have never seen nor heard a Noisy Friarbird in Tenterfield and I've been here since 1995.
2. The juvenile Pied Butcherbird, being new to the area and lost, made lots of different calls during the first month it was here. It appeared it be distressed and frightened and was alone dispite it's parent looking for it.
3. The Pied Butcherbird juvenile is able to mimic the sounds of an Eastern Koel and other bird species quite accurately even at a very young age.
4. This bird was being attacked by smaller birds which is what happened to the Pied Butcherbird when it arrived. It seems only the larger birds are attacked by smaller birds. Normal sized Pied Butcherbirds are not attacked by small birds in the area. I haven't seen it occur anyway.
5. During the first few weeks of the Pied Butcherbird being here it flew frantically across Tenterfield making all kinds of noises. It was the most distinctive and vocal bird in the area at the time.
6. If this bird were indeed a Noisy Friarbird it would have at least stayed in the area overnight before moving on. It's call would have been heard more often and I may have actually seen the bird.
7. This bird was behaving like it was lost and frightened rather than just passing through town.

I honestly believe that this is the distress call of the Pied Butcherbird juvenile. I remember listening to this bird for several hours straight and felt totally sad that it was lost and in distress. I heard it call out like this for most of that day, relentlessly calling out in hope to be heard. I hoped that it's parents would hear it calling out but they never did. It's plight to be heard by it's parents seemed futile but it hung around the area. This bird was relentless in everything it done.

It wasn't until about week 3 that I believe the bird gave up and decided it would never see it's parents again and was homeless. So it began to settle down and got on with more important things in it's life. Those 3 weeks must've been torture for the bird as no other bird gave it peace nor comfort. No bird adopted it either. And no bird stopped chasing and attacking it when it was distressed. But the last time I saw this bird it wasn't being attacked by anything. Birds left it alone.

Why the bird had been separated from it's parents is anyone's guess really. Perhaps a raptor chased it but couldn't catch it and the bird kept flying as it was so scared until it found itself lost in Tenterfield? All I know it is not a bird from Tenterfield as there are no extremely large Pied Butcherbirds here.

I cannot help but think that if this bird becomes a parent, which it will in time, it will be very protective of it's chick/s. For some reason I think it will not let it's chicks go through what it went through. But I'm just guessing here, as I really don't know how birds react in this situation with their own chicks.

Hey, who's eaten all the frogs?

Slowly the frogs in the Tenterfield Creek began to stop croaking day after day until finally none could be heard within the creek itself. That was about a week ago. Their silence (or absence) seems to be a common occurrance in the area. With the increase of large water birds in the area, although only temporarily, maybe the frogs decided it was safer to leave the creek altogether than risk being eaten by these water birds?

Frogs can usually be heard any time of the day or night in the creek. That was until recently but now the creek is empty of frogs. I am actually in two minds over whether the frogs have been eaten or not, as I'm starting to think that although some of them may have been eaten, I also think frogs just moved out of the creek either to breed or to go somewhere safer during their non-breeding season. Come to think of it, it is more common to hear frogs along the side of the road than it is to hear them in the creek. That's over a 12 month period by the way.

Generally frog-eating birds do not hang around the sides of the road away from the creek. It is even rare to see these type of birds close to human houses. But frogs hanging around people's gardens is common.

Any surviving frogs tend to move away from the creek - to puddles on the side of the road or even move into people's gardens. For example, the closest frog to the creek in my area is at the corner of Francis and Douglas Streets, a whole 3/4 of a block away from the creek (more than 100 metres). There are more frogs on Francis Street, north side of Douglas Street, but they are about 1/3 the distance closer to the Tenterfield Creek.

Going further away from the Tenterfield Creek, between Francis and Rouse Streets, along Clive Street, there are several different species of frogs on the edge of the road at the moment. The area is grassed and it dips down to form a ditch on the side of the road and they are concentrated around and near water culvets.

Frogs calling out along Clive Street. When the frogs go quiet all you hear is a cricket.

Unidentified nocturnal bird in creek after dark

It was well after all the birds had gone to sleep but before it was completely dark outside when I was walking home from the service station and walking across the Douglas Street bridge. I looked down at the creek but couldn't make out any details of anything on the ground near the creek. I sort of saw the creek's water which was pitch black in colour. Moments later in the area I was looking at a bird startled and it took off like a rocket under the bridge. It made no sound except for the noise it's wings made on the water as it flapped. It was approximately the size of a duck going on an approximate wing span comparison of ducks being startled on the water in that area.

When this bird took off it did not fly at all and it was about 5 feet into the water from the water's edge. It was retreating like it was pretending it couldn't fly but could still flap it's wings and ran through the water whilst flapping them. It flapped it's wings frantically to move itself across the water to safety. It may have actually ran across the water's surface whilst flapping it's wings. The bird was by itself as far as I could tell. I have, only on rare ocassions in the past, seen this bird night time behaviour before. Only now am I trying to identify the species.

When an Australian Wood Duck is startled during the day they tend to fly away. They can either fly a short or long distance away when startled and have been known to fly at night when disturbed. I do know that sometimes ducks can be heard during the night time but never so early as to just after going to sleep for the night. As this bird was alone I doubt it was a Wood Duck.

I very much doubt it was the White-faced Heron female either as I have yet to hear her during the night time. She is always up early in the morning. As far as I know White-faced Herons are not nocturnal.

Ruling out Australian Wood Ducks and the White-faced Heron leaves only Masked Lapwings and Pacific Black Ducks. It was not a Masked Lapwing as they were all up on Francis Street at the time. This time of the year all the Masked Lapwings flock together as they are not breeding right now.

The Pacific Black Duck is not, as far as I know, nocturnal but I am not ruling it out as a suspect. The Pacific Black Duck rarely makes a sound during the day but I have yet to study this species. It is possible that this bird I saw tonight - well heard flapping across the water - could be a Pacific Black Duck, and what I saw it do is normal startled night time behaviour for this species.

I very much doubt it was an owl or a Tawny Frogmouth as I've never heard of any of them actually feeding in the water. I can also rule out raptors too for this exact same reason plus I don't know of any raptors that are nocturnal.

There are no other known species that spends a lot of time in the water here in Tenterfield that are on my list of what this bird could be. This brings me back to it possibly being a Pacific Black Duck, and possibly nesting somewhere nearby in the water maybe even under the bridge itself. The "possibly" bit is looking more like a "more than likely it was a Pacific Black Duck" than anything else right now. Tomorrow I'll go to the bridge to see if there are any Pacific Black Ducks in the immediate area.

What do birds do when it is a hot Summers' day?

What do birds do when its too hot? Not much really. All the birds tend to sit in the trees somewhere in a shady spot and just rest for hours on end. I've observed a few different species during the hot weather, so I will write about them.

EASTERN ROSELLAS

Eastern Rosellas generally talk a lot when it is quite hot outside. They tend to sit just below the upper leaves of a tree's branches - if its a small tree - or in the top 1/3 part of a large gum tree. They tend to rest from about 12 noon until 5PM without moving from the tree or eating/drinking.

Here is an example of a male Eastern Rosella. The male was looking out for danger whilst his mate was in the next tree to the left. My brother got a bit too close to the tree where they both were seen together in, and they flew out of that tree into separate trees.


When I first spotted the male in a different tree....

Then he began to slouch down so I couldn't see him.

With Eastern Rosellas it is pointless trying to photograph them when it is hot. They hide themselves really well in the canopy of the tree they are in, and actually hide themselves behind leaves. On a separate day I searched for 15 minutes trying to spot a pair of Eastern Rosellas (the same individual and his mate as in these photos) in a small tree I was standing underneath, and I could not see them. I could hear them but that was about it.

LAUGHING KOOKABURRAS

A baby Laughing Kookaburra. Photo taken on 17 february 2013

This photo was taken at 2:49PM and the Kookaburra's parent was hiding in the tree canopy of a smaller gum tree to the left of this tree. The young Kookaburra was exposed in this tree, on a low branch probably about 8-10 feet off the ground. It was a hot day, probably about 37 plus degrees celcius. My brother and I were walking home from doing some shopping in town at the time. We were on the other side of the road when I took some photos of this baby Kookaburra. Only when I spoke to the Kookaburra asking it where it's parents were did the parent respond by giving off a quiet Kookaburra laugh for about 10 seconds then it went quiet. As if to say I'm over here in this tree and I am watching you!

PIED BUTCHERBIRDS

This video above is of the sounds of a Pied Butcherbird during a very hot day and it is mimicking the sounds of an Eastern Koel. The Pied Butcherbird stayed in the tree the longest and was in the tree for more than 5 hours before it flew away. The tree in which this Pied Butcherbird was in was the large Eucalypt tree. I could not see the bird as it hid well amongst the tree branches. I did not want to scare this bird from the tree even though it was really high above the ground, so I stayed on the verandah. If I moved toward the gum tree on the ground the bird would fly to another tree as I tried that prior to the filming of this video.

This particular Pied Butcherbird is the same 45cm Pied Butcherbird I've previously written about on this site.

AUSTRALIAN MAGPIES

Australian Magpie

This photo was taken on 13 October 2012 at 11:39AM. It was a really hot morning and day in general. For about a week between 1 - 4 Magpies hung around my neighbour Carol's front yard in the shade of this particular slow growing tree. The Magpie was about half way up the tree in the shade. Sometimes when Australian Magpies are resting from the heat they will quietly sing but most times they are quiet and just observant of what is going on around them. The juveniles are the ones that sing quietly when it is hot. Magpies usually rest in the trees from around 12 noon until about 3-4PM. Juveniles stay in the trees about 1/2 an hour longer than the adults do and only hunger will make them move out of the tree/s.

Why are the birds not coming back to Tenterfield?

For the passed few years I have noticed a steady influx in the return of certain species to Tenterfield but at the same time these same species are not staying here any more. Some species have opted to only raise a family in Tenterfield and then move on again, whereas others have taken up residency here albeit are tiny numbers. The large majority of birds that left Tenterfield became migratory species, only rarely coming back to Tenterfield and only for food.

Tenterfield has somewhat remained the same over the years and although only a small handful of trees have been removed for various reasons (including via floods) it does not make sense to me that the birds would not become residents again even with the return of the rain. Something is missing in this scenerio that I am overlooking as to why the birds are not moving back to Tenterfield.

The majority of the species are attracted to the Tenterfield Creek whether to nest near the water or to use it somehow. Its strange but I've never actually seen any birds drink out of the Tenterfield Creek. They seem to prefer to drink from puddles away from the creek itself.

Birds follow food sources, whether it be natural or offerings by humans. Birds prefer natural food over artificial sources in this area. They only eat human offerings because of the lack of their own food in the area. But this is strange because no great loss of flora has been happening in the area since 2001. Plant and tree seeds are still being eaten by birds, nectar is still available in the area - otherwise the rosellas (Eastern) would've left by now. Insects are in abundance right now; and aquatic life is flourishing as the White-faced Heron was seen a few days ago with a male, so she may decide to breed again - twice in 12 months.
Even birds of prey have been on the increase, hence being sighted or their scats found - so there is not much to really stress birds out in the way of a lack of food right now. But I have noticed the King Parrots have not come back yet - even though they may be breeding right now - they should be back by now.

Maybe trying to solve the mystery of why King Parrots left in the first place (some years back) might help to solve the mystery of why many other bird species left. Okay, let's find out what King Parrots eat...
Firstly they eat seeds, and lots of them. In the areas I've observed them eat the seeds of Pine Trees, Oak trees, Wattle trees, and grass seeds. Doing a bit more research on the net, King Parrots also eat fruit, berries, Eucalyptus nuts and buds, wild tobacco, honey, and insects.

If this is what King Parrots depend upon to survive it might explain why the majority of this species left town, as there is not much of anything available in between early Autumn and early Spring. All the gum and pine trees go to seed in Summer; Wattles go to seed from October to December; Oaks in Summer; there are no native fruit or berries in the area - all blackberry bushes have been poisoned by the Council; no wild tobacco in the area; which leaves honey and insects. There are Banksias in the area but I'm not sure when they go to flower. Native bees are in such small numbers that any honey is simply not enough for one King Parrot let alone a lot of them. Insects have been numerous - not prolific - since the rains returned in October 2012. I doubt it has anything to do with this because over a period of time these food sources (except the Blackberries) have remained constant and in the same quantity of plants.

In the last few years the temperature has fluxuated dramatically. We have had quite a few warm to hot winter seasons but that seems to be going back to normal now. I really think it has something to do with the weather than their actual food supply that not only made these birds leave but to also not come back.

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus

Scaly-breasted Lorikeets. Used with permission by and screenshot of
  video taken 2010 by auswolf350. Copyright auswolf350.

Out of nowhere, four nights ago at 12:15AM, I heard the sounds of a flock of parrots fly over my roof top heading toward MT. McKenzie. It was pitch black outside with no moon. At first they sounded like bats but getting closer toward me I could tell they were parrots of some sort. (See the first video below for the actual recording of their flight calls). I've since identified them, by sound only, as Scaly-breasted Lorikeets. I have also visually confirmed them to be birds and not bats. Originally I estimated there were no more than 40 birds in the area.


If you cannot hear anything in this video above, turn your speakers up A LOT. Apparently their calls are very high pitched in this video.
Around 6:45PM last night I began walking toward where the birds had previously been roosting so I could be there on time as the birds came in to roost. When I got there, sure enough, the birds started coming in to roost. They began coming in to roost not as a flock but as small family groups that consisted of 12-18 individual birds.

Where the birds first roosted for the night.

However, I began to notice more and more family groups coming in to roost. They were all coming from the west of Tenterfield. I could not get close enough to the trees that some of the family groups had landed in, but it was a small stand of about 8-12 mature gum trees.

On my way home from shopping I walked the normal way home and heard a heck of a commotion coming from a small stand of trees in the Tenterfield Showgrounds. To my amazement there must have been somewhere between 200 and 400 Scaly-breasted Lorikeets roosting in the trees. The more I walked toward home the more family groups I was seeing coming in to roost.


In this video above the Scaly-breasted Lorikeets were in 6-8 of the tallest trees in the Tenterfield Showground. It was taken yesterday around 7:30PM.
There were so many birds of this species I simply could not count them. They flew at speeds more than 50 KMs per hour, as the moment I spotted them flying they were gone. They were travelling too fast for me to even record them on video.

Special thanks to auswolf350 for permitting me to use his video and screenshot to add images of these birds to this post.

Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa

All ducks look the same to me which is why I never noticed the Pacific Black Ducks before. That was until I discovered in a few past photos that some so-called Australian Wood Ducks had long white eye markings like this one below. Click to enlarge the photo.

Pacific Black Ducks taken about Aug. 2012

It seems, now that I think about it, these ducks are always seen in pairs even if they are in a small group. I have not seen them on land at all, except for years ago when they were hanging around the Agricultural paddocks that belong to the High School. They always seem to be in the creek/water unless they get spooked and fly further along the creek out of harms way.

Late last month I took some decent duck photos which turned out to be of Pacific Black Ducks, well a pair of them anyway. (Now I can't find these said photos on my computer.) They did not mind me getting close to them to take their photographs. They were swimming in the creek which was recently flooded, and were playing with the water current.

Currently they are in pairs, not in groups, so it must be getting close to their breeding season.

The Pacific Black Ducks are one of my favourite bird species, and even though they look similar to any duck out there, they can be easily identified by their metallic turquoise-green wing patches and their long white eye markings. And you mostly see them in pairs in the Tenterfield Creek, and elsewhere - probably even at the Tenterfield Dam.

These ducks seem to prefer water with a current flowing through it rather than still water.

What these ducks eat would be whatever exists in the water. Although they are supposed to be herbivores eating seeds of aquatic plants they do also eat small insects and other things found in or on the water. Very rarely do they search for food on land.

At a guess I'd say there are about 20 individuals of this species within the township of Tenterfield that exist/inhabit the Tenterfield Creek only. They are not as numerous as the Australian Wood Ducks, that's for sure.

Audio players refuses to work

Recording bird sounds is easy enough when the birds are around but the big problem is adding these sounds to this site. Adding my bird sound video recordings to Youtube is basically a last resort for me. I am not happy with the fact my videos end up getting compressed, which actually reduces the sound quality and the actual volume of the sound birds make.

With the existing mp3 players I have on this site I have found that one player is fine on this site but two or more of them makes them all malfunction.

Having the Yahoo Media player tends to crash on this site after a while. It refuses to load large files. That's the reason why I'm trying to get an mp3 player to work on this site.

UPDATE: Grey Shrike-thrush bred and moved on

It has been almost 3 months since I wrote anything about the Grey Shrike-thrushes. A lot has happened during that time.

The third Grey Shrike-thrush female stayed with the male and they nested somewhere near the Tenterfield Showgrounds, probably along the bank of the Tenterfield Creek in one of the Gum trees there. Things went quiet around this time with only the occasional sighting of the birds yet they were heard more than seen. Then one day, on the 13 December 2012, I spotted 2 juveniles. The father was accompanying them, watching them from nearby trees and I only ever heard him from time to time. I never actually saw him at all. The next day both parents and juveniles were gone, never to be seen again. That's it really. It looks like these birds only stayed in town to breed and once the chicks fledged they all left town once they juveniles were strong enough to fly longer distances. With the Grey Shrike-thrushes gone, I can't update anymore information about them.

Should these birds come back so be it but it looks like they're gone forever from the area.

Anyway, here's the only 3 videos of the juveniles that I have.

MEGAFAUNA - The 45cm Pied Butcherbird sings like an Eastern Koel

A very interesting development has occurred and I am glad I was able to observe it. For months now I thought a Pacific (Eastern) Koel was hanging around, calling out even calling during the night. But today I saw what looked like a large white fronted bird on the fence across the road making the exact same sound as an Eastern Koel. I was not able to focus my camera quick enough to even get a photo. It certainly was not an Eastern Koel and only 2 species fit into the size category of what it could be: a Laughing Kookaburra and the 45cm Pied Butcherbird. It was not a Laughing Kookaburra. Kookaburras don't mimic sounds they hear. The bird in question was actually the large 45cm Pied Butcherbird.

However going back to when I first saw this 45cm Pied Butcherbird I remember it making all kinds of songs. I recorded what I thought was (until today) an Eastern Koel (The Koels that are in NSW anyway) but thought it strange as it was doing a lot of mimicry sounds. I've several videos like this taken in the last 3-4 or so weeks but one in particular I will add here (or to another post) as soon as I can find it on my pc.

This particular Pied Butcherbird is really hard to photograph. It seems to know when someone is taking it's photo and hides deeper into the tree canopy and goes quiet. It hides in the tree tops during the hottest parts of the day, and is impossible to see as it uses the outer leaves/branches as camouflage. It does call out and makes lots of sounds, which sounds like an Eastern Koel. When it is out feeding it doesn't keep still long enough to take a decent photo of it. it flies around town a lot but often I can't track it by it's calls. It seems to land on something and then call out. For most of the time it is quiet, especially during the first half of the day, but then it gets a bit vocal from about lunch time onwards.

The Pied Butcherbird sounds I've been hearing lately, especially today, tells me there are two of these birds in the area. I have no idea on the size of the other Pied Butcherbird but it's voice is the same but a little bit quieter. I heard them both calling out to each other from two different trees, at least 50 metres apart.

If these birds are coming together to breed then I need to keep a close eye on where they are coming and going to. But as the one I have seen, which I think might be a male, has attracted the female to his area it is possible I might get to see some nesting behaviour in the near future. I cannot be certain though that the two birds will even hang around the area to nest. They might move further away from the outskirts of town where it is peaceful and much quieter.

For two days in a row now the male? has been sighted across the road on the fence around 5pm. Tomorrow I will be prepared and hopefully get a video of the bird. Hopefully it will sing for me - wishful thinking on my part!

If nothing else it will be interesting to see what their chicks will be like and how big the female is. Or to at least get some decent footage of this male? bird.

MEGAFAUNA - The 45cm Grey Butcherbird is actually a Pied Butcherbird

MEGAFAUNA MEANS REALLY LARGE. However, it seems that some species of birds are getting larger and during the month of December 2012 I have seen 3 individuals of 3 separate species that are larger than normal. This post is about my first sighting - of a large Grey Butcherbird juvenile.

I was out the front taking photographs two days ago when I spotted a bird on the fence across the road. So I took a photo of it. It's of the oversized Grey Butcherbird again. That's what I first thought but looking at the bird now I've re-identified it as a Pied Butcherbird. The photos below shows how the bird has developed it's grey colouring over the passed month. It's colouring is not the same as in the video I took of it when I first spotted this bird back in December 2012. It's feathers are a really dark grey now and it's head is turning very dark grey too.

Click the photos to enlarge them.

Screenshot from video taken 18 December 2012.
The bird on a standard Hills Rotary clothesline.
This is what the bird looked like when I first
saw it.

The large Pied Butcherbird in the misty rain.

It is a sight to see this bird because it is so huge. With ex-tropical cyclone Oswald been and gone over Tenterfield, this and many other birds began to come back to the area 2 days ago (29 Jan. 2013) in the late afternoon. I only saw this Butcherbird for a few moments and didn't have the chance to take a second photo of it. I am happy to see this bird again as I know it has been hanging around the area since it first got here in December 2012.

Grey nor Pied Butcherbirds rarely beg for food from humans. They used to but not any more. Obviously their dependence on humans for food is obsolete and as a result nature has resumed it's course. With nature taking over and the birds fending for themselves and trying to find food the result is a much larger Pied Butcherbird species.

Whilst adding the first picture to this post, that the bird was on the clothesline in the photo, I decided to measure the length between each line whilst writing up this post. Then I came up with a more accurate length of this bird in real time. The Pied Butcherbird is approximately 1 and 3/4 lengths of one section of the clothesline when it's head is upright. One length is the distance between two horizontal green cords of the clothesline - that you hang clothes from. I'm actually guessing the bird is just under 1 and 3/4 lengths of the clothesline actually. The length between 3 cords (2 gaps in the clothesline where you'd hang clothes) is approximately 20.5 inches (give or takes 1-2 cms - the clothesline was wound up and I had trouble reaching it). Half that is 10.25 inches, half that is 5.125 inches, and half that again is 2.5625 inches.

The bird is approximately 3/4 of the total length of 20.5 inches. Therefore the Math is:

  10.25 inches
    5.125 inches
 + 2.5625 inches
------------------
  17.6875 inches (or about 45 cms) in length.

When the bird has it's head stretched out horizontally it is approximately 52 cms in length. N.B. The bird is not fully mature and am uncertain if it is still growing.

Pied Butcherbird details found on BirdsinBackyards website:

Minimum Size: 33cm

Maximum Size: 38cm

Average size: 35cm

A better screenshot from video taken 18 Dec. 2012.
The Grey Fantail in question that tried attacking it.

Now, if you think I am pulling the wool over your eyes and exaggerating on this bird's size, then come to Tenterfield and see it for yourself. It might take you a long while to find this particular bird as it moves around a lot but eventually you will see it. I am not exaggerating about this bird's size. I may be out by a few centimetres but that's about it. Pied Butcherbirds are not naturally about 45-52 cms in length, here or anywhere else in Australia but this particular bird is!

This is the beginning of climate change adaptations of birds in New South Wales. How large Pied Butcherbirds will become in the future is anyone's guess.

Supercell storm strikes Tenterfield - lots of birds missing - presumed dead

Back on the 12th January 2013 a supercell storm struck Tenterfield with the ferocity of a tornado making it impossible for birds to find appropriate shelter in time. Around this time there were baby birds of Eastern Spinebills; Western Silvereyes; and possibly even babies of the small Honeyeater species that were still in the nest or had just fledged. The Western Silvereyes I only recently identified as that species. How they got here is a mystery considering they are only supposed to exist in Western Australia.

Nature can be cruel and in this situation was much more cruel than any act of human. How are baby and adult birds of the smaller species suppose to survive when something similiar to a weak developed tornado strikes the area pelting everything with 7-15cm hail? It is really sad to know lots of baby birds died in that storm, and will never have the chance to grow up and have a family of their own.

The storm brought more than 20 minutes of hail (along with rain) to Tenterfield. Since the supercell passed I have only heard one family member of the 4 Western Silvereye species that only recently moved into the area, and as quickly as it appeared it vanished from the area. Both chicks and one of the parents are presumed dead from being struck by hail. I have not seen any Eastern Spinebills or any smaller birds since the supercell storm passed, except for a House Sparrow or two and a few common Blackbirds.

Here is what my brother and I took of the supercell storm whilst we had the chance.

Watch the Masked Plover in this video running to find better shelter from the hail.
How on Earth are small birds capable of surviving such an act of nature when there is very little thick shelter for them to hide in? Tenterfield is a town that lacks the thick, dense foliage of plants that birds can hide in, in the event of hail and heavy rain. If birds are to survive in this area they need shelter from storms. Many smaller bird species will not use human buildings for shelter. If everybody just plants 2 thick, dense bushes or trees close together in their backyards the birds will have a much better chance of surviving bad hail storms. It is up to us humans to provide that additional shelter for the birds as nature is slow at regenerating vegetation. So if you are reading this post, please consider the needs of the much smaller species of birds and plant a few thick, dense shrubs/trees in your backyard.

Red Wattlebirds in Tenterfield begin breeding at 4-5 weeks of age

Having studied the local Red Wattlebirds and identifing individuals through photography and videos for about 6 1/2 months now I recently started asking myself questions about these birds. I've noticed that over a 6 1/2 month period something odd was happening around my neighbour Carol's place with these birds.

Currently I'm observing the fifth observed generation (from before the 14th August 2012 to the first week of December 2012) Red Wattlebird that is probably a male as it is hanging around the area, as if making the area it's home.

This is what has been happening: The first generation male made the area his home, then found himself a mate. In all the commotion of finding himself a mate his parents showed up then disappeared after a few days to a week. He bred with his mate and they had a chick. He nested in a nearby area. At close to 1-2 weeks later when the chick/s had fledged the parents disappeared from the area. The one juvenile stayed in the area by itself, alone, until almost it was 1 months old. Then it found itself a mate. Not long later the parents came back to visit and the 1 and a bit month old bird seemed very excited by seeing it's parents. A while later, maybe a week, the parents disappeared never to be seen again (if my memory serves me correctly).

This whole process repeated itself exactly with the second generation male, and third and fourth generation males leaving (currently) the fifth generation chick which now remains and which is slightly larger than it's parents. However, this fifth generation male has been disappearing from it's territory lately. I'm guessing it is looking for a mate right now.

The strange thing about all of this is I have never heard of any bird species that only raise one brood in one area/nesting site then leaves the area only for it to repeat itself with the next generation son. I do not know where the parents go after they have their first lot of offspring, nor do I know if they reproduce again. But I have a theory (see image below).

My theory of what male Red Wattlebirds do and
where they go during the breeding and non-breeding
season.

Maybe, with this particular "family" of Red Wattlebirds, their firstborn children are raised in this area, and their secondborn children are raised in another area, and the thirdborn children are born in even another location, etc? This seems like the most logical explanation to me as to why the parents don't stay in the area and maintain a territory nor have any more children here. But why they don't raise another brood here is the real question to be asked. And why are they breeding at just one month old, every month, is a question that needs an answer. In other parts of Australia Red Wattlebirds breed only once or twice per season, not close to 4 times per season.

After having gone through all the posts and notes I've written up about the local Red Wattlebirds I have discovered they breed, at first, at the age of one month old. They only appear to have one offspring, although they may lay 2 or more eggs. At the age of 14 days old the fledged chick is 9/10ths fully grown and is already living by itself. By one month old it is attracting a mate and ready to breed and breeds successfully within the next two weeks in the immediate area of where it was born. It does not use the same nest it was born in rather it makes a new nest.

I have been fortunate to study each new offspring being born, raised and fledged in the immediate area. However, Red Wattlebirds are not common to Tenterfield. I only know of four individuals that temporarily live in Tenterfield - in the immediate area of where I live; the two parents; and the one offspring with it's mate. I am uncertain if other Red Wattlebirds live in other parts of Tenterfield but if they do then the number count would be identical to that of my area - just 4 individuals over the course of one month - or 3 if a chick has hatched - or 2 if the parents are nesting - or 1 if the chick is alone before it starts breeding.

I have never heard of any bird species that is physically and sexually mature at the age of just one month old, as is the case for Red Wattlebirds in Tenterfield. I find it ironic that the number of Red Wattlebirds in Tenterfield remains constant. I have not seen them "defending their food sources from other honeyeaters" as what appears to happen in other places in Australia. There are also no rivals with Red Wattlebirds in the immediate area, yet new chicks are able to find themselves a mate every time without fail. The whole area of the Northern Tablelands must be full of Red Wattlebirds but their numbers so widely scattered that it's impossible to do a population count.

This leads to many questions being asked. like "Once a Red Wattlebird has children do they have more children the following month?" "Do the parents always keep in contact with their male offspring?" "Is it possible that the male Red Wattlebird parent form knowledge of their grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, etc through the visiting of their male offspring?" "Do they know of their family lineage?" "If this occurs with the male offspring what happens with the female offspring?" "Why are male offspring being visited by their parents yet the female mates are not visited by their own parents?" "How long do Red Wattlebirds actually live for in the wild?" "Why do male Red Wattlebirds put so much emphasis on calling out to it's parents in the first place?" "What caused Red Wattlebirds to breed in this strange manner in the first place?" "Is this increase in their breeding cycle a part of some sort of adaptation or evolution instigated by climate change?" "Do these particular birds migrate at any point in their lives?" "Does this mean that they have shorter lifespans than Red Wattlebirds that breed less frequently?"

The breeding cycle of the Tenterfield Red Wattlebirds is a mystery. All I know is that going on what I've read about Red Wattlebirds on the Internet on bird websites, the local birds should not be breeding as often as they do. But they are and I think I will never know why. If you think you might know the reason why they are breeding at intervals of about every one and a half months then please leave a comment below.

MEGAFAUNA - A 45cm Grey Butcherbird chick lost and alone

MEGAFAUNA MEANS REALLY LARGE. However, it seems that some species of birds are getting larger and during the month of December 2012 I have seen 3 individuals of 3 separate species that are larger than normal. This post is about my first sighting - of a large Grey Butcherbird juvenile.

My first sighting of this bird was on the 18th December 2012 at 9:03AM when I took this video. The bird happened to land on my neighbour Carol's clothes line then was attacked by a young Grey Fantail. Grey Butcherbirds are 24-30 centimetres in length and Pied Butcherbirds are on average 32cms in length. Pied Butcherbirds are common in Tenterfield and they are relatively small but Grey Butcherbirds are not common here anymore. They are both smaller than the local Australian Magpies.

This young juvenile bird was much larger than a standard sized Grey Butcherbird. It was the size of a Laughing Kookaburra - 45cms in length. This larger than normal young chick has been flying around the area frantically calling out to it's parents and continued to do so for more than a week afterward. Why it was separated from it's parents is anyone's guess. It is, I believe, still in the area as of 10th January 2012 (today). The bird appears to be able to fend for itself but it does not like being chased by smaller birds. I have not seen an adult Grey Butcherbird in the area since this video was taken on the 19th December 2012. The last time I saw an adult Grey Butcherbird was about 12 months ago.

N.B. 31 January 2013 - This is actually a Pied Butcherbird not a Grey Butcherbird.

MEGAFAUNA - A larger than normal male Australian King Parrot

The female is on the left, male on the right. I only had one opportunity to take a video or photos of this male. I opted for taking a video of him.
MEGAFAUNA MEANS REALLY LARGE. However, it seems that some species of birds are getting larger and during the month of December 2012 I have seen 3 individuals of 3 separate species that are larger than normal. This post is about my second sighting - of a large male Australian King Parrot.

On the 19th December 2012 at 7:53AM two Australian King Parrots landed in my neighbour Carol's bird feeder. I recognised the female as the daughter of the mated pair in Tenterfield. There are a total of 4 Australian King Parrots in Tenterfield now - a mum and dad, a daughter and a son. (As of today - 10th January 2013 there are none as the children have left the parents and are finding mates of their own or are probably nesting with their new mates.) All Australian King Parrots photos and videos I have, until the 19th December 2012 are of this particular family and of the generations before them. They all have been the standard size for a King Parrot, no larger than about 41 - 43cms in length.

However, when I first saw the male I was gobsmacked at the size of him. My mouth dropped at seeing him as Australian King Parrots are not supposed to be this large. He was at least 10-15cms longer than the female and was very lean. The female was fully grown and a standard size (roughly 42cm long) for a King Parrot. This bird was at least 55cm in length, if not more.

The male King Parrot was obviously not from Tenterfield rather from a nearby area close to Tenterfield. From whence he came I do not know. All I know is the male was huge bordering on the size of much larger Cockatoos. In all my time living in Tenterfield I have become familiar with the maximum size a King Parrots grows to. But seeing this male has made me think. It has made me think that Australian King Parrots can grow to much larger sizes perhaps in just a few generations.

What made the female choose this large male is anyone's guess. Maybe he was the only male around that wasn't taken? Maybe the female chose him because he was a larger than normal bird? Maybe the birds know something we humans don't and are chosing to mate with larger birds of their own species to help survive better in their environment.

The most interesting thing to see will be the offspring of these two birds. In time, hopefully, the parents will return to the area with their offspring.

MEGAFAUNA - Laughing Kookaburra with 30cm long tail

MEGAFAUNA MEANS REALLY LARGE. However, it seems that some species of birds are getting larger and during the month of December 2012 I have seen 3 individuals of 3 separate species that are larger than normal. This post is about my third sighting - of a Laughing Kookaburra individual.

This particular Kookaburra was first observed flying across my neighbour Carol's paddock in a south-east to north-west direction then landed in the Pine tree near where I was standing. The time and date observed is displayed on the photos themselves. It sat on a low branch about 6-7 feet above the ground. The bird landed in the tree about 20 feet from where I stood. It was alone and seemed to be avoiding other kookaburras in the area. It was silent never making even one cackle. It flew very low to the ground as it flew across the paddock, no higher than 10 feet off the ground.

I had to look twice at this bird as it was exceptionally long from head to tail. When I first saw this bird I didn't know what it was so I started taking photos of it and realised it was a Laughing Kookaburra. The kookaburra in flight had an exceptionally long tail (tail feathers) that were around 30cm in length. The local Kookaburras don't have that long a tail which made me think it wasn't a Laughing Kookaburra at first.

I did not want to make the kookaburra fly away by getting closer to it - which is what I would've had to do to get a photo of it's tail. The kookaburra only just flew into the tree and I did not want to scare it as it seemed pretty relaxed with me nearby just watching it. It did keep looking at me though. I was with my daughter and Carol's dog. The Kookaburra may have been keeping an eye on Carol's dog rather than me.

I have not seen this particular kookaburra before so I can safely say that it is from a nearby area, and possibly looking for a mate as it is not a juvenile. As it was silent and seemed to be avoiding other kookaburras this tells me it may possibly be a male. The local kookaburra family were about a kilometre or two away in an east to slightly south-east direction when these photos were taken.

I was in the right place at the right time for this kookaburra to show up and get these photos. The kookaburra sat there in the tree barely without moving for at least 10 minutes before I moved on.

The strange thing about all of this is not the kookaburra itself rather the length of it's tail. I have never seen a kookaburra with a exceptionally long tail, or any bird with an exceptionally long tail or body, and this was the third sighting of evolution in the making in one week. First a grey butcherbird, then a male Australian King Parrot and now a Laughing Kookaburra.

How widely spread (in New South Wales) this is with Laughing Kookaburras getting bigger is unknown right now. I have not read anything yet about Australian native birds getting bigger or smaller. Am I the first to record this phenomenon? Maybe this is a nearby local adaption to the weather and environment due to the ongoing drought?

I can't wait to see the offspring of this kookaburra to see how big they grow! I just hope this kookaburra stays in the area.