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.

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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.

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.

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.

2 White-faced Heron chicks sighted yesterday

I had a job to do yesterday and that was to water the newly planted trees along the edge of the Tenterfield Creek adjacent to my neighbour Carol's property. I also placed handmade tree guards around the seedlings. I found a cheap way of making tree guards by cutting up all variety of boxes that normally get thrown in the bin. The type of boxes I'm using are from cereal; frozen dinners; icy poles; biscuits - including the "Shapes biscuits" boxes; and basically any food stuffs that comes in a box. I cut the ends off the boxes and then fold the box in half by placing the 2 sides together and create a new fold along either side, creating a six-sided shaped box with holes at either end. For holding the things around the trees I use bamboo sticks - actually I broke them in half to make 2 out of one stick. But as I don't have any bamboo sticks left I'll be using just normal tree branch sticks in the future. Use whatever you can find already laying around, that's what I reckon!

So, as Carol, Eleesha and I were down by the creek, and I was collecting the water from the creek itself to water the young tree seedlings, I noticed in the area of one of the tree seedlings there was high grass covered in bird poop. I'm talking about a 6-8 foot square area of poop covering the long grass. So I looked up and right above that area was the Heron's nest. The mother Heron never poops that much nor in that area of the outer branches beside the nest. Upon closer inspection of the branches surrounding the nest, and by looking at the nest I saw 2 herons. At first I was excited thinking the mum and a chick were up there. Next thing one of the Herons moved from an outer branch to the nest. The other Heron was already in the nest. Both Herons then began squarking a bit in the low voice that they have and after realizing that I wasn't their mother they went quiet but nudged each other. The young Herons were a light brown to tan colour and were about 1/3 to 1/2 the size of their mum.

Yesterday, around sunset, the Heron mother was sighted flying low over my neighbour Carol's back yard and then around her shed down toward the creek where her babies are in the nest. It actually looked like she was finding food and being sneaky about it in Carol's back yard for her chicks. More specifically it looked like the Heron mum had come from somewhere close to Carol's back door as she took off. When fist sighted she was very low to the ground, below the roof line, and flew from the back door area of Carol's backyard. She was sighted flying away from Carol's house as Carol, my daughter and I were walking back up to Carol's house through the back gate.

What do the White-faced Herons eat around here is a really interesting question and is open for a lot of guess work really. It says on just about every bird website that I've come across that these birds eat fish, insects and amphibians. The variety of non-bird and non-mammal/marsupial/monotreme wildlife in the immediate area are your normal ground insect species; your aquatic insect species such as dragonflies; water beetles; etc; frogs; water dragon; and skinks and the odd snake (Red-bellied Black and a type of Brown Snake (King Brown or Eastern Brown). Before the 2011 flood there were fish in the immediate are but now there are none. There were also a type of yabby in the creek as well but there numbers declined because of the 2011 flood. The yabbies and fish declined for two reasons - the actual flood killed 99% of the population; and 2 the aftermath of the flood changed the flow of the creek, and in sections of the creek where the water flowed freely there is now sand and sand rubble built up creating sand banks and islands in the creek itself.

Here is a list of critter that appear to have gone missing from the immediate area, that are more than likely have been gobbled up by the mother Heron:

1. The birds that croak like a frog - these may actually be skinks.
2. All the frogs in the Tenterfield Creek adjacent to the edge of Carol's property.
3. All the baby skinks that I have sighted around Carol's garden in the passed few months.
4. No baby Eastern Water Dragons have been sighted at all even though there are 3 adults in the immediate area.
5. There has been a massive decline of large beetles in the immediate area - the ones that are all brown in colour, and the ones known as Christmas Beetles. I've only seen one Christmas Beetle all Summer.

The White-faced Heron is also supposed to eat fish, but as far as I can tell there are no fish in the immediate area of Carol's property and/or within 200 metres of the Heron's nest. So, the question is what other foods are the Herons eating that is enough to feed two growing chicks and the mum? Dog food is not being ruled out here, as strange as it seems, and nor is large skinks either. You see, these birds are quite large and obviously need more food to sustain themselves than Australian Magpies.

In the past before the mother Heron mated she was sighted eating insects from just below the ground's surface. This is the same sort of food that Australian Magpies eat which is in abundance here at the moment due to the rainfall increasing since the beginning of October.

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.

UPDATE: Red Wattlebird parents and chick

The new fledgling at Carol's place. My camera's date
setting is actually an hour behind true time. I will change
the time setting once my camera is fully charged.

There is still no visual sighting of any of their chicks yet but both parents have been sighted at my place wanting food from me. This occurs about twice a day now, where food will be taken back to the chick/s. I believe there may be only one chick, going on the amount of food taken.

I really need to study any past notes I wrote down on this breeding pair. So far all is going well and the fledgling is still alive and seems to doing well. It is still being fed by it's parents anyway.

The parents prefer to take bread back to the chick as it is soft. No meat or insects, that I am aware of, has been taken back to the chick yet.

I wrote the above before I had a quick visit to Carol's place and indeed I was right all along about how many chicks they had. Not long after I got there I saw one of the parents with a chick. I managed to take a few photos of the chick before my camera died on me. I only have blurry photos of the chick at the moment.

Tomorrow I'll take some more photos. I'm hoping to get an audio recording of the chick's voice in the next few days, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hope the camera will pick it's voice up. It's voice is a soft, low pitch sound and a very quiet noise. The chick is 3/4 the size of it's parents and is still learning how to fly. At one point when my neighbour's dog raced passed the parent and chick, the chick flew off straight into the upright pole of the clothes line. It didn't seem to hurt itself and was flying again straight away. It's first lesson - watch where you're flying!

In flight it's wings cutting through the air is making a heavier sound than that of the adult birds as it seems to be struggling to keep up with it's parent/s in flight. And the chick has this cute little chirp/squark to it. It has such a tiny little voice at the moment. The chick is so adorable.

Grey Shrike-thrushes have moved on to greener pastures

Two days ago was the last time I heard the Grey Shrike-thrush and it found itself a new mate. The male brought his new mate into his territory but it did not last long. The 2 birds (there may have been 3 birds calling out but I could be mistaken) left the area a few hours later and have not been heard from since then.

The interesting thing about this is the original bird (most likely the male) appears to have abandoned his territory over his chances of successfully mating with this new female. The pair of birds have left an area where a plentiful supply of food is so they can breed in peace and quiet without any disturbances from dogs and humans and predator birds. The male is a quick learner and obviously does not want to go through that heartache again with the first mate he found. He is willing to sacrifice everything for this new female mate. Obviously the drive to breed is stronger than anything else in the animal kingdom.

With the male adapting and learning by his mistakes, and taking into consideration the needs and fears of the female, they will successfully breed wherever they choose to make their new home. I am really sad to see them go but as they have a really good chance at successfully breeding and raising a family I am happy to see them leave together, knowing he has finally found a mate and has learnt from his past mistakes.

But the question is where would this pair of birds move to that has a similiar supply of food? Out in the bush surrounding Tenterfield the insect life is not as abdundant as it is in town. The Eucalypt trees are still recovering from a long term drought and insects are not as prolific as it is in someone's garden. Maybe the insect population out in the bush is enough to sustain them and enough to raise future hungry chicks with.

Grey Shrike-thrushes are not noctural birds therefore they could not easily stay awake and hang around street lights to catch an endless supply of insects that are attracted to those lights if they remained in Tenterfield. I miss these birds already, as well as their songs, but birds have to do what birds have to do to survive and reproduce successfully. I wish them luck. I hope to one day see these birds hanging around the area again.

Eastern Spinebill juvenile sighted today

I woke up to the sound of either a Starling or Indian Myna in the tree next to my bedroom window. The bird woke me up. Upon getting up I opened up the front door and just stood there looking out into the neighbourhood, and lo and behold I saw a juvenile Eastern Spinebill sitting in one of my Dwarf Grevilleas. I was less than 6 feet from the bird. This was only less than 10 minutes ago (around 12:40PM) - yes I slept in. I stayed there watching the little bird as it kept perfectly still as it had it's back to me. I spoke to it then suddenly it moved, then scratched itself. Less than 5 seconds later it called out and a moment later it's parent called out and flew into the Dwarf Grevilleas as well. Then the juvenile stretched it's wings as if it was yawning whilst it's parent had some nectar from a Grevillea flower then the adult flew off across my front lawn to the right. The juvenile remained in the Grevillea.

I decided to get my camera so got up (I was squatting at this point) and walked into my bedroom. The moment I got back to the front door the juvenile flew away.

There is no doubt that this was a juvenile Eastern Spinebill. It was 3/4 the size of the parent bird. It had buff coloured throat feathers and dark coloured feathers on it's wings, similiar to the parent and a parent bird responded to it's call. What a delight it was to see a juvenile Eastern Spinebill upon waking up.

The juvenile may have already eaten nectar from the Grevilleas when I opened up the front door, but it looked like the parent bird was showing the juvenile where the nectar plants are, whilst the juvenile followed the parent around. As the juvenile remained in the Grevillea plant whilst the parent bird fed elsewhere, my Grevilleas appear to be a safe place for juveniles to hang around in. The adult seemed to trust me to leave it's chick in the plant, knowing I would not disturb it.

So, the 28th October is when you will definitely begin to see juvenile Eastern Spinebills here in Tenterfield. I have no idea where the adult birds nested, but they did nest and managed to raise one chick which will grow into an adult bird, hopefully.

UPDATE: White-faced Heron still on nest and it's a female

I took some photos yesterday of the White-faced Heron's nest, and over the course of about 5-7 days it has grown in size. It is really strange as I have never seen the White-faced Heron feeding in the Tenterfield Creek, not even for 10 seconds, since it started nesting. I've yet to see it away from the nest. I've spent hours at a time at my neighbour, Carol's place, and not once have I heard this bird call out - except once - the last day it rained here in Tenterfield. In the immediate area of the Heron's nest are Australian Magpies, Laughing Kookaburras and Pied Currawongs as well as Torresian Crows (well one anyway) - all of which eat eggs and chicks (not sure about the Magpies though).

The picture above clearly shows that there is a bird still on the nest. It apparently is the rear end view of the bird. At first I thought another much larger bird had moved into the nest but after doing some research about White-faced Herons nesting, I learnt that the eggs hatch in about 25 days and it takes a further 40 days before the chicks are fledged. But how long it takes from mating to when the eggs are laid I do not have a clue.

Just looking at this photo means the adult bird does get off the nest to make the nest bigger and to eat. But as I am yet to see a second adult bird in the immediate area, anywhere, it makes me wonder if this bird actually feeds during the night time as well to help eliminate any predators from getting the eggs or chicks.

After mating happens the nest is built higher and bigger over time prior to the eggs hatching. The nest could double in size in a matter of just 2-3 weeks.

Rereading the posts I have written about this White-faced Heron, it started checking out the gum tree for a nesting site around the 1st of October. I have absolutely no idea when the eggs were laid, perhaps a week later? I'm only guessing here. However, on the 7th October the Heron was sitting on eggs constantly. Between the 1st and the 6th October I don't know what happened. However, on the 13th September two adult birds were seen together. I'm assuming this was the day they mated, as the second adult bird was never seen again after the 17th September.

In summary:

• Late August to 13 September 2012: lots of vocalization happened. Bird calling out esp. near sunset.
• 13 September: a second bird was sighted hanging around the first one
• 17 September: one of the adult birds left after mating had occurred during the previous 4 days
• 01 October: remaining adult checks out a gum tree to build nest in
• 07 October: only females lay eggs therefore it is a female
• 07 October: one adult had made a nest and is sitting in the nest
• 27 October: still sitting on nest and no sign of chicks on nest yet. Not that I can see inside the nest, going on angle and height the nest is from the ground.

It must be really rough on this bird to build the nest, lay the eggs, lay on the eggs as well as feed herself. And soon she will be feeding her chicks. In conclusion this remaining bird must is a female.

But why is she raising a family by herself? What would cause this to happen? It's a mystery that only she knows the answer to!

FOOTNOTE: When I observed the 2 herons together it is the male who fluffs up his or has fluffy plumage. The female who is nesting here now apparently didn't fluff up her plumage at all during the times I observed her with the male.

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.

How to tell if birds are breeding in your area.

I have studied a lot of birds in Tenterfield over the years, and this post is a collection of my observations of many different species during their breeding season. I hope it will be useful to anyone who reads it.

Different birds breed at different times of the year, as we all know. Most bird species in Tenterfield breed from August to December of each year, basically during the warmer and wetter period of Spring. Being in a drought still, raising chicks is much higher demand work than non-drought seasons. Survival rates of offspring is dramatically reduced by the absense of a lack of food for the young, developing chicks, and as such breeding seasons are altered by weeks, months or even years. To the extreme side of nature some species may opt out of breeding for a few years until the rains returns. There are so many possibilities that could happen that birds must not only guarantee their own survival but the survival of their chicks if they decide to breed at all.

Okay, let's say you want to know which birds are actually sitting on eggs right now. Firstly you must have some knowledge of the birds' behaviour visiting your area (or garden) prior to reading this information. For example, how often they visit your garden, what they eat, where they eat, and who they eat food with. In the early stages of breeding most adult male birds tend to get aggressive toward other males of their same species. They might also attack other species to chase them away from a nesting area they have chosen. Their songs begin to change at this stage as well.

Territorial birds will always be on high alert for invading rival families trying to steal their territory or mates, and an all out war will commence as a result, with both family groups attacking each other. Both males and females, young and old will get involved.

The very first sign in the birdlife's breeding behaviour though is seeing a second bird hanging around the first one, or suddenly seeing many more birds of that same species, or mated pairs rebonding with each other via song. Birds congregate together during the breeding season to form "mates" or "breeding pairs" and to reestablish their territories as breeding pairs. When they come together they will fight, argue and chase each other. It will be noisy and unless you are deaf or constantly wear headphones whilst playing loud music in your ears, you cannot miss this loud vocalization of the birds. After a few weeks the congregation of birds will separate into pairs of birds and will go their own way. You may only see a few pairs of birds hanging around the immediate area after that happens.

To the actual nesting of breeding birds, their behaviour changes from "Eat, rest, socialize" to "Eat, build nest, Eat, and resting less than normal". Their spent energy is higher than normal finding a suitable nesting site, then spending more time building their actual nest. At the same time more food is needed for them to eat. When nest building birds are not relaxed. They are always on alert and have a lot to be worried about - predators mostly. You might see one of the adult birds (or both) disappear for a while (or altogether). Resident birds that suddenly disappear for days on end is a sign of them breeding - as long as it is within their known breeding season.

However, when birds are sitting on eggs, everything changes, again. Birds are at a very high alert stage as they must protect their eggs at all cost. They must do everything to protect their young from predators, even if it means swooping humans. Birds seem to know that humans are carnivors, and as such treat us as predators just like any other predator bird or animal. (Food for thought: Have you ever seen a Masked Plover or Australian Magpie swoop a sheep, cow or horse?) Just having one stolen egg, or one unhatched egg could mean the end of their chances to breed for that season, or year.

Egg sitting consumes a lot of energy. If both parents are sitting on the eggs rosters are taken. It can actually be very deceiving with birds that are egg sitting because you may only ever see one bird hanging around of that species, whereas in fact there are really 2 birds. Unless you can identify the male from the female with a particular species, you may not be aware that both adults are sitting on the nest. This is also the time when birds go quiet. Birds do not want to be found by predators, when they are egg sitting. Predator birds that eat the eggs of other birds, like the Torresian Crow, will begin to hang around more often, in a chance to steal eggs from nesting birds. But egg stealers seem to target nests in the preliminary stages of just after an egg has been laid, as the egg is fresher and the yolk is still intact. Eggs are stolen and eaten for their high protein content. Egg sitting birds need to eat more at this stage. They need their energy to lay on the eggs and have the strength to counter-attack a predator's attack. Both birds, usually, depending upon the species, experience increases in hormone levels throughout the entire breeding season, and react to threats to their eggs and young under the influence of high hormonal levels. When a bird is sitting on eggs, it will try as lay as horizontally flat as possible and will keep perfectly still if a predator is nearby.

After the eggs have hatched, things change again with the birds behaviour. With the constant demand for food to feed their young as their top priority some species will turn to human handouts for additional food to help feed their young and themselves. It is normal for some species that demand food from humans to beg for food from us at this time of the year. Finding food to feed growing chicks is no easy task. Australian Magpies, for example, feed their young five times a day. With handouts from humans, that's 5-6 trips to the nest by 5 times per day. That equals to about 25-30 mouthfuls of food for just 2 chicks per day, on average. That does not include the food they need to eat themselves, which is more than what they would normally eat when they are not breeding. The parent Australian Magpies also need to feed themselves, and as a result (from the human perspective) looks like the Magpies are starving hungry all the time. If they begin to eat the food themselves, sort of nibble on it, then fly away with some of it in their mouth, you know for certain they are feeding their young. Other species will be seen feeding more times than normal, in a non-stop feeding cycle for most of the day.

However, this is usually the time of year when the big predator birds and reptiles are also breeding, as they depend upon the life cycle of a good supply of juvenile birds to feed their own young with. As sickening as that is to us humans this is just the reality of nature for birds.

EVERYTHING MUST EAT OR IT WILL DIE.