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.

Australian Magpie mimicry songs are their "Happy songs"

I am always amazed when I hear the variety of mimicry sounds made by female Australian Magpies. I've always wondered why they do it. What keeps me wondering about their mimicry sounds is why the local ones never mimic Torresian Crow calls or birds of prey or even Masked Lapwings. And then it struck me that they only mimic sounds of things that make them feel comfortable and relaxed. Things that do not harass them, basically. Magpies do not like Masked Lapwings, period, and will chase them out of their territory.

If you listen to any Magpie mimicking other sounds that they hear, it is always things they hear or listen to in their own territory. They never seem to mimic any noises from outside their own territory even if they can hear it. It is also the sort of things and animals that they get along with and don't feel threatened by.

I have only ever heard Magpies make mimicry sounds around my place and only ever out the front. I may only hear the same bird make mimicry sounds once or twice a year, so they are not singing to me to feed them. When mimicry sounds are heard the birds are always alone. How often they sing like this (meaning = Do they sing like this every day when they are alone?) I do not know but once they start doing so (they start mimicry sounds at 1 year of age by the way) they continue doing it throughout the rest of their life.

I actually have a theory as to why they sing using mimicry. My theory is they find a place (location) in their territory where they feel comfortable and will not be disturbed by the rest of the family. Then they begin singing in their Magpie voice then throw in mimicry sounds. When they mimicry sing their voices are quieter than normal, as if they don't want to be heard from a distance. If they are disturbed by anything they stop singing altogether and will not start it up again. Often they will get underneath a tree or next to something big (like a rubbish bin) which seems to further mask their song from travelling through the air to be heard by other Magpies.

I call this mimicry song their "happy song", as that is what it is almost like when listening to it. I honestly do not believe female Australian Magpies mimic sounds they hear for any kind of use in their courtship with their mate - if they have one. I think they mimic sing simply because they are happy and content. But also, I only hear them sing like this in Spring after their babies have fledged. Does their song have anything to do with breeding? I'm not really sure as I've heard a 1 year old Magpie do mimicry singing. A one year old is too young to breed so it can't be something to do with breeding, in my opinion.

Here's a wacky thought ... they are singing happy birthday to themselves because noone else will, or maybe they are singing "Old MacDonald had a farm" in Magpie language!

So, the next time you hear a female Australian Magpie make the sounds of a duck, horse or something else listen carefully to the sounds she imitates. Listen to the sounds that make her feel comfortable the most that exists within her territory.

My apologies for a terribly written post. I've a lot on my mind lately and I can't think at a deeper level to make more coherent sentences.

UPDATE: Australian Magpies and their female chick

It's feathers are a lot darker than previous chicks that
have been born in the past. It's colouring is that of a 12
month old juvenile actually. ADD ONE HOUR TO THE
TIME ON THIS IMAGE - my camera's time setting is
behind by one hour.

Today I finally saw the Australian Magpie chick for the very first time. At first I was confused about the chick being a chick as it's feather colouring was too dark to be straight out of the nest. It also seems to be a little too big to be a chick just out of the nest. It is the same size as a one year old juvenile Australian Magpie. It wasn't until I took this photo (see left image) that I realised it was their new chick. The chick has been out of the nest for about a week, I'm guessing, two weeks at the most but today was my very first sighting of her.

All the Magpies' past offspring have fully grown tail feathers, whereas this chick has short tail feathers, like that of a Satin Bowerbird. When this chick grows and matures, it is going to be huge. It will easily be bigger than it's parents, in size. Whether it will grow a longer tail or not only time will answer that question. I'm not sure if this is normal or not for a Magpie chick to have short tail feathers at this stage of it's development but it seems to be able to fly okay not that I have seen her fly yet.

I was a little bit concerned when I saw this young bird, as the parents were not exactly feeding it like they have done with their previous offspring. I also believe it is a girl as the adult male was not aggressive toward the chick, even though the chick itself acted in a somewhat submissive manner (she didn't like what was happening to her older brother) on a few ocassions when it was on my front lawn when it's dad was very close by. The dad was being aggressive toward his 12 month old son that was eating food nearby.

Another indication that tells me this is a female is when the chick got frightened it ran straight toward it's mum rather than it's dad. Going on my past experiences in identifying the genders of juvenile Australian Magpies, this chick fascinates me. Not only does it act like a female but also maybe is already self-sufficient when it comes to finding food. It is very quick at adapting to my presence - on the second sighting of me it almost came straight up to me.

I now understand why I have not seen the male Magpie taking interest in feeding the chick. Male Magpies feed male chicks, and female Magpies feed female chicks - only if one chick survives and fledges. But both parents will feed the chick at some point, especially if it is a male and is quite demanding on the parents for food. This chick barely squarked at all for food when it was on my front lawn and it spent all of it's time feeding itself. That doesn't usually happen for months afterward, as it takes about 6 months before the chicks are independant enough to constantly feed themselves. If it is true that this chick is less than 2 months old, then it is very well developed for it's age. I would even say it is maturing at an advanced rate for it's age.

I've noticed, over the years that Magpie chicks, when by themselves, run to Pied Currawong females/males for comfort and protection when spooked and when on the ground. This only happens during the first year of an Australian Magpie's life. Australian Magpies and Pied Currawongs get on really well together here in Tenterfield. The only time a Magpie will attack a Currawong is when a male is experiencing increased hormone levels due to breeding and defending it's male chicks. This can occur for more than 12 months. Pied Currawongs never attack Australian Magpies.

One thing caught my attention with this female Australian Magpie chick.. she attacked a full grown Torresian Crow at one point, and the crow did not bother her or try to take her food after that. Normally the crows will attack the Magpie adults, juveniles and chicks and win but this female Magpie chick isn't putting up with the crows' behaviour at all. I have witnessed my very first aggressive female Magpie, and this girl will not only survive but become a top predator when she grows up. I will only have 2 years to study her before she begins to find a mate of her own and leaves home, assuming her sexual maturity will be the same as all other Australian Magpies ever born in Tenterfield and elsewhere in Australia. She will be one very interesting bird to study, just to see how she grows and what sort of things she does, if different to other Magpie chicks that are her same age.

UPDATE ON THIS POST (6 November 2012) - Turns out that this bird is the one year old female. She was obviously attacked by another bird and as a result had her tail feathers pulled out. At a guess, going on her reaction to a Torresian Crow that she attacked, I'd say her attacker was a Torresian Crow. Female Magpies don't attack other birds, especially crows. But crows attack Magpies.

Updates: species nesting and breeding

Over a period of about 1 & a 1/2 weeks I have observed some changes with some of the birds nesting in Tenterfield. The Red Wattlebird which I thought was the only one left in Tenterfield has started begging for food for it's young about 5-7 times a day. As soon as it has eaten a bit of the food I give it (sometimes), it flies away with a large mouthful of food. Not long afterward it is back again wanting more food. The adult bird, it is the one with the left-bent tail feathers, continues to fly down to the creek where the nest is to feed it's young. So, obviously, it has a mate who is also taking care of it's young, which appears to be constantly sitting or very near the nest. I saw it's mate out feeding herself/himself tonight just before it got dark just after sunset. Today and yesterday the food begging has slowed down a great deal to just 2-3 times a day.

Yesterday when I gave a bit of meat to the Australian Magpies, the adult male flew off with some of it in his beak. He only does this when chicks need to be fed. Going on passed experiences I would say the chicks have hatched less than 4 days ago. Very little food, that I can tell, is being given to the chicks at this time and it was only once yesterday that food was taken to the chicks, but they have hatched nonetheless. Also, the adult male Magpie has been seen more in it's old territory than it's new territory. I'm guessing that the 2 days of rain we had recently brought back the Magpies to their old territory (south side of Douglas Street).

Much earlier in the day (yesterday) my brother Daniel told me he saw 2 crows attacking an Eastern Brown Snake in the paddock opposite the nest of 2 Torresian Crows, on the other side of the road. Daniel did not know if the crows had killed the snake or not and he had no idea that the crows were even nesting. I had to go out yesterday, and before I turned the corner of Douglas and Francis Streets to go onto Francis Street, I saw a crow on the road feeding on a dead rabbit. On closer expection of the rabbit the eyeball was missing. The crow had eaten it. How disgusting!

Turning the corner I tried to see if the snake was dead or not but could not see any signs of a snake. However, on the way home I was actually swooped by these same two Torresian Crows. Well, if you can call it swooping. One of the birds flew from the Tenterfield Creek in the showgrounds area to a gum tree on the ST. Joseph's Catholic Primary School property, at the bottom left of the oval as I got within range of their tree. One of them was sitting on a nest prior to the attack. With 2 birds in the tree one flew over my head about 20-30 feet above me, then sort of lifted it's tail up, flapped it's wings then continued to fly normally. They made no noise when they swooped me. Just before the attack, or during it, I heard a sound that was quiet but weird. It sounded similiar to the noise you hear of dew on an electric fence, creating a slight clicking charge sound. It was a softer sound to that of an electric fence and it was more of a clicking sound than anything else. The second bird swooped me moments later. They both flew onto the Rural Fire Service boudary fence and just sat there doing nothing as I continued to walk passed the area. I was probably less than 150 -200 metres from the said gum tree.  This might actually explain why, several weeks beforehand, I saw a Laughing Kookaburra trying to ransack something in the same gum tree before it was chased out of the tree by one of the crows. Perhaps the kookaburra was trying to take over the crows nest to use it for itself to nest in? I doubt the crows would've had laid eggs back then but I could be wrong.

For probably a week now the Masked Lapwings have stopped swooping. I'm guessing that the juveniles have learnt how to fly and can now flee danger should any come the chicks' way. I am certain that at least 2 breeding pairs of Masked Lapwings have bred this October. The pair that was hanging around the paddock on the corner of Francis and Miles Streets (opposite the showgrounds) that would not move from that paddock have moved on as well. I believe they were nesting too but I avoided that paddock when going on foot into town as they were getting very aggressive in the end. The Lapwings spend most of their time hanging around the Tenterfield Creek or within several hundred metres from the creek.

For the passed 2 days the grey Shrike-thrushes have gone very quite. I have heard one of them calling out at dawn but generally they are quiet throughout the rest of the day. I barely hear a sound from them now. I believe they are sitting on eggs, as of this morning they were still in the area. Within the last 24 hours both birds were seen flying away from their new nest to the creek in a southerly direction. There have been no other sightings of either one of them around my neighbour Carol's back door and I have not seen them flying around my immediate area in the last 4 days.

The Crested Pigeon who was nesting has not been heard lately either. It is still quiet and it has been seen feeding so hopefully there will be chicks running around the place soon. I have checked today if her eggs have hatched or not but can't tell as the female, I think, is still sitting on the nest.

Lastly, to the White-faced Heron... It appears at first glance that the White-faced Heron's nest has been abandoned. As the nest is about 50 feet off the ground it is really hard to see what is on the nest. I also have to move away from the tree to get the right angle just to see any kind of activity on the nest. My hands shake if I hold a camera almost above my head. So, I need to take lots of photos of the nest hoping at least one of them will be crystal clear and not shaky.

Just before sunset tonight I took a few photos of the White-faced Heron's nest, and all are blurry. But the photos reveals that the adult bird is not sitting on eggs anymore and that the eggs have hatched, or at least that's what it looks like. The photo below, despite it being blurry, reveals an adult White-faced Heron doing something similiar to kneeling or standing up in the nest. The bird is to the side of the nest as well. This is a promising sign actually as I have never known White-faced Herons to actually nest in Tenterfield itself.

The drought is severely affecting the local Australian Magpie family

The drought began back sometime between 1998 and 2001. By 2001 it was noticeable that the rainfall was decreasing. That year brought many major outbreaks of bushfires to the area, 7 bushfires in total surrounding Tenterfield itself, and more than 15 burning throughout New South Wales within days or weeks of each other being put out. Lightning was to blame for most of them but humans started some of them as well. Outbreaks of bushfires became increasingly common until about 2005 when they seemed to stop.

About a month ago I noticed the adult male Magpie began roosting in a new area, down by the creek to the left (looking east) of the Douglas Street bridge. This is where his mate has always roosted from the moment she came into his territory as his new mate. It is on that block of land where their new territory seems to be centered, and not their old territory anymore.

For about a week and a half now I have not seen the adult male Magpie that has made this territory home for about 14-15 years nor have I seen him nesting. His territory, like that of other Magpies in town, are approximately one to two street blocks of land in size (or approximately 300-400 by 300-400 metres in size (Is that squared metres?)).

Last Thursday when I was walking along Pelham Street toward Miles Street I saw an adult Magpie with 2 juveniles on the ground in the High School's Agricultural Property (2 paddocks) where this block of land had been abandoned by Magpies for several years. The adult Magpie was obviously a male as it was being aggressive toward one of the juveniles which was upside down on the ground. The adult male stopped and looked at me as I spoke to him - only the local male Magpie behaves in that manner. The other juvenile was just standing around watching on. Even from a 50 metre distance from the birds I could tell the juveniles were a male (the one upside down) and female (looking on) just by going on their behaviour in reponse to the adult male's aggressive behaviour - exactly what the local Magpie pair had last Spring.

Update: I have just had the juvenile 12 month old male come beggiing for some food. I threw out some mixed nuts and he ate some. Within minutes the adult female showed up, and she came flying in from across Douglas Street, from where she normally roosts. Not long after that the 2 year old juvenile showed up next but no sign of the adult male on my front lawn yet.

So why has the adult male extended his territory and relocated his home to the creek? Firstly, despite the fact that the paddocks surrounding his new home are empty, they normally contain domesticated animals (cows and sheep). There is always a lot of manure laying around on the ground. There may be an untapped source of Dung Beetles in those paddocks too. Secondly, birds are birds and they must follow and locate food sources if none are no longer available in the immediate area of where they live. The insects the Magpies eat have obviously been exhausted and the Magpies are now rarely seen finding insects in their old nesting territory area. Their old territory, like most of Tenterfield itself, is suffering from a severe drought. It barely rains in Tenterfield anymore (perhaps several times a year at best) and as such the insect populations have dropped to an alarmingly low level. Obviously the insects that they eat have been extremely difficult to find, and to locate a consistent amount of food to sustain young babies for a whole year, let alone for themselves as well.

Unless conditions improves in Tenterfield I do not foresee any Magpie families breeding this year. Even though it has begun raining in Tenterfield a bit more consistently this month this does not help any bird species to recover from the drought. Unless the rains become regular, and the drought breaks, and the insects recover and begin breeding again, it is possible that the Magpies could literally starve to death in Tenterfield, or be forced to move out of town.

2012 will be a first for the Australian Magpie species in Tenterfield to put off breeding for a full year. No nesting birds have been sighted in town as yet, and it is almost October.

How to tell the difference between a male and female juvenile Australian Magpie.

A juvenile Australian Magpie - gender unknown.

This must be one of the hardest things to do. To look at the juvenile Australian Magpies at first glance they all pretty much look the same. Each juvenile, like it's parents, have their own unique feather patterns and colouring, giving them sort of fingerprint like markings on how to identify them apart from each other visually. However, going on my own study of the local juvenile Magpies when they are out and about, it is much easier to tell them apart when they are one year old or very close to that age - in Spring of each year.

Firstly, with juveniles under the age of 12 months, I have noticed that the adult male Magpie tends to mostly feed the juvenile male, whereas the adult female tends to mostly feed the juvenile female - if any, that are born. That feeding pattern can vary quickly so it is not actually reliable for identifying their genders. The young juvenile male Australian Magpie tends to act more dominant than the juvenile female, and is more demanding on it's parents for food. It seems to be louder when it squarks for food and tends to push the female or other male out of the way just so it can get all the food. Often fights break out as to who gets the food when only 2 juvenile males are born.

However, when the juveniles are one year old you can easily identify their gender by their behaviour and attitude. At the age of one year old, when the adult Australian Magpies are nesting again and the adult male becomes aggressive toward it's previous offspring, juvenile males begin to become aggressive toward other bird species (specifically Magpie Larks) and any other juvenile males within the same family unit. Juvenile males begin to mimic exactly what adult males do but due to their inexperience tend to go overboard with their fighting and chasing of Magpie Larks. Juvenile females, however, are not as aggressive and are usually reluctant to get into a fight or chase any other bird.  They are curious about why their brother/s are fighting or chasing other birds but often turn to the adult female for guidance on what to do next and how to deal with the situation. Juvenile females will mimic the behaviour of their mother.

Juvenile male Australian Magpies are generally destructive around human habitats, often destroying potted plants, ripping apart polystyrene foam containers, standing on and often crushing potted plants, and generally getting into all kinds of mischief. These juvenile males appear to be very curious about their surroundings, and have often been seen playing with various objects, natural and manmade, like how human children play with toys. This behaviour only last for one Spring but it occurs every Spring with each passing generation and I believe is a precursor to it's adult mating and nesting behaviour.

It is roughly about this age (12 months) when juvenile females begin their mimicry singing, and is how I identify, mostly, the juvenile girls from the boys. Male Australian Magpies do not mimic other sounds they hear. By this time the 2 year old offsprings begin moving out of the family unit's territory and find mates of their own. They will not leave the territory until they have definitely found a mate to mate with and have established a territory of their own in which to raise a family within.

How long do Australian Magpies live for?

The exact age of how long Australian Magpies live for not is quite known but it is somewhere between 20 - 30 years. The male adult Australian Magpie that lives in my area is approximately 16 years old, being born roughly between 1996 and 1998. He has a distinctive pattern of feathers but I mostly identify him by his lopsided right wing that broke when he was a juvenile. He regularly tries to lift his right wing back up as it has a tendency to fall down. It does not affect his ability to fly though. Below are a few photos of the male Magpie, that was taken last month.

Female Australian Magpie using fake injury on humans

I am not sure if that is the correct words for the title of this post but it will do. I have come across something very suspicious about the female Australian Magpie that visits my front lawn wanting food from me. A recent discovery tells me the bird is probably faking it and using the fake injury to make me feel sympathetic toward her so I would feed her or something to that nature.

It all started about 3 - 4 years ago when the male Australian Magpie had to find a new mate. His previous mate suddenly got a scare of her life by something unknown and invisible, and simply flew away never to be seen again. That happened on my front lawn which I witnessed. But as this occurred after their chicks had hatched, the male had to raise the juveniles alone and they had 2 chicks to feed.

Anyway, it was a week after the male got a new mate (the following Spring) when she suddenly developed a curled up right foot. Her foot was fine before then and she walked normally. Ever since then I had always seen her limping on her right foot as it curled up as she walked and ran along the ground. Here is a picture of her:

The female Australian Magpie is the bird to the left.

This photo was taken on the 20th August 2012. I don't really have any earlier photos of her with her right foot curled up - that is noticeable anyway. She would walk like this all the time in my presence. She has been doing this for about 3 years now.

In between the time of 20th August and when I took this next photo I saw her in a paddock near the creek. She was near the fence line of my neighbour's property, well within the range of identifying her visually as I walked passed her. Normally I talk to the Magpies as I walk into town to let them know it is just me. But when she just stood there looking at me her right foot was not curled up at all. Actually both her feet were stretched out into the normal position. She did not seem anxious or nervous about my presence at all and seemed relaxed to just stand there without moving. But the moment I opened my mouth and began talking to her suddenly her behaviour changed. She suddenly curled up her right foot, turned around and began limping as fast as she could run to get away from me. After about 10 feet she stopped running and just stood there with her right foot curled up just looking at me.

A lot of thoughts went through my head at this point - the main one was "She's faking her injury!" But why would this female Magpie do such a thing just to gain my sympathy? Did it have anything to do with the fact that I had already formed a bond with her male mate? Or did it have a much deeper meaning? After all the male's previous female mate formed a really close bond with me, and I could actually hand feed her, but when she suddenly disappeared and was never seen again, perhaps the male Magpie didn't want that to happen again so he told his new mate to not get close to me nor properly trust me. That does seem to be happening here and she does not get physically close to me. But she does respond to me calling out to her even though she is always weary around me.

Photo taken 12th August 2012 - CAUGHT IN THE ACT!

To this next photo.... I was quite surprised when my brother, Daniel, took this photo of the female Magpie on my front lawn attempting to eat a chicken drumstrick. She has her left foot curled up, yet her right foot is wrapped around the chicken bone. This photo is proof that she is faking her injury.

However, the female Magpie was curling up her left foot in the presence of my brother, Daniel, not me.  Why suddenly change which foot is injured in the presence of another human who is also familiar with this bird?

Something is going on in this female Magpie's head - but what is the question? 

I have, momentarily, read somewhere on the internet that the curling up of a foot is an actual disease within the Australian Magpie population. If this is an actual disease and this female Magpie has the disease then why are her offspring not affected by it? Why are their feet normal and healthy? Why does the female Magpie only display this behaviour in the immediate presence of humans and not when no humans aren't around? The adult male Magpie does not display this behaviour at all. In my opinion this curling of the feet behaviour is a psychological behaviour rather than an illness or disease. It also may be a submissive female adult behaviour. The female Magpie may consider me to be the alpha female considering I have sort of bonded with her mate? Who knows really.

Whatever is going on with this female Australian Magpie her behaviour is not normal for a Magpie. Her behaviour around me may be the clue - that she is always weary of me and does not fully trust me. Or maybe it is not me she does not trust but something else that she can see but I cannot and she fears it? Perhaps she fears she will be chased off by unseen forces like what happened to the male Magpie's last mate?

There is something else too. I have noticed that in some cases where Australian Magpies have sort of become domesticated (got used to being close to humans and have somewhat bonded with them) that they exhibit this curled up foot behaviour. I have no idea what that means as I am not able to read the minds of Magpies or tell if these birds are stressed out or not. All I know is that it means something!

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.