Australasian Wood Duck

All posts tagged Australasian Wood Duck

In Springs New Things – The New Generation of Birds

Posted by aussiebirder on October 24, 2019
Posted in: Australia, Australian Birds, Australian wildlife, Bird watching, Birding, Birds, Birdwatching, Fauna, National Parks, Nature, Nature reserve, Outings, Royal National park, shorebirds, Sydney, Uncategorized, waders, water birds, wildlife. Tagged: , , , .

Sacred Kingfisher

Now here we are well into Spring, where we hear the father whistlers sing, announcing to the world they  bring, their joy for a new and marvelous thing…  new life ready to begin.

Spring is a beautiful time of year to go out birding. There is so much activity and song in the bush as new families are established. For some it is their first season, and others they have lost count, having brought possibly a hundred new lives into the world. This activity is centered around nesting, providing for the nest, protecting the nest and training the new nestlings/fledglings. In this post I will share some of these activities I noticed this week,

1. Nesting: Eggs are laid by female bird and then incubated as she keeps them warm and covers them with her body to protect them. Sometimes the male may help, depending on the specie. In many cases, such as with the Black-winged Stilt which are nesting in Olympic Park, Sydney, the male will keep watch to ward off intruders. The nest is a simple hollow on dry grass next to the lake.

Thankfully, special artificial islands were created for nesting well away from nosy birders, which have proven to be a great success. Yes blue-green algae has been a problem after a hot winter drought. 

2. Protecting Nest, Nestlings and Fledglings: There is a lot of aggressive activity at the moment between species that usually co inhabit territories. We saw a few weeks ago the merciless aggression of the Magpie placing a 100 meter no go perimeter around its nest. Here I watched a Silver Gull continuously chase a Blacked-winged Stilt at the edge of the lake. The Gull was protecting its immature youngster but the Stilt was protecting its nest with his mate sitting on it by the lake. Both these birds are bold and can be aggressive. However, in the end the Gull moved its youngster away from the nest and peace prevailed.

After the ordeal, the Gull parents were confronted with a hungry junior, and try to avoid its cries. One of the joys of parenting no doubt! Note the classic bowing and bobbing of the youngsters head, seen in many species of water birds when begging.

The two most intelligent bird families clashed as this immature Australian Raven was attacked and turned away by this Australian Magpie male, obviously protecting its nest. Thankfully it did not see my wife and I as a threat.

3. Feeding the Nestlings/Fledglings: In many Australian species this is done primarily by the male and relatives, as is the training of the Fledgling, especially with the Magpie and Kingfisher. Here a Sacred Kingfisher catches a worm and waits for the juvenile to come to it and then passes it to the juvenile to eat.

Adult Sacred Kingfisher
Juvenile Sacred Kingfisher

4. Training: It is usually the male who models feeding and behaviour, which shows to us humans the importance of fathers being present and being good role models to their children. Children get much of their self identity and self confidence from the dad. These two juvenile Magpies are out on an excursion with their dad. As he feeds them they learn. Note how only one takes the initiative to follow dad and follows in his shadow. It so reminds me of my eldest son during his early years.

juvenile Magpies waiting in the shade.
one goes to folloe dad.
note juvenile is brown and has a dark eye and dull beak.
following dad
learning from dad

Here we see the youngsters decision to follow dad pays off as he gets a treat from dad as a reward for his following. I love the fact that no coercion is used in their training, those who want to learn do, and those who don’t there is later on when they are better prepared.

The Australian Wood Duck family is a beautiful example of the perfect family, with both parents faithful for life, devoted to each other and to raising their family together. The father leads the family to safety and to good feeding grounds. This clutch produced 14 live babies, and was one of two that I saw in the Royal National Park this week. The family strayed onto the road so dad and mum led them back down onto the green flats by the river. Thankfully, in this peaceful family, these ducklings learn to forage very quickly and less parental training is required. 

As you watch the Wood Ducks come into their grazing area listen and you will hear an immature Laughing Kookaburra practicing his laugh. Unfortunately he eluded me for some time.

As an aside, this flock of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo flew over at great height. It is always a treat to see this bird, and especially to hear its unique call. Listen as they fly over. You may see some touches of yellow on their ears and tail.

As I have shared in recent weeks some birds develop breeding plumage during their breeding season, and of course the Superb Fairy-wren is no exception, being in full colour which would lure any available female. His lady may already be sitting on the nest somewhere nearby as he hunts for food.

One of the delights of not having to work during the week is I get to see birds that may not normally be seen due to the high people presence in National Parks and Reserves during weekends. This pair of Wonga Pigeon are a good example of stumbling upon a great find. This rainforest pigeon is sometimes seen by the river banks at Wattle Flat in the late afternoon grazing, always the same pair. I love the arrow like markings on their under body. They are so quiet that you could easily miss them.

Wonga Pigeon
Wonga Pigeon pair

Finally, to conclude is this series of the very shy Kookaburra flying off:

The importance of good parenting and its ongoing effects well into the life of the child are emphasized in recent research. The child carries the experiences of their upbringing into the rest of their life having a considerable influence on their well-being. This includes physical, emotional, mental, sexual and social health, including longevity. This YouTube video from one of my studies sheds light on this, and the need to instruct our children and grandchildren with gentle kind love.

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” – Ephesians 6:4 (MEV)

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, lest they be discouraged..” – Colossians 3:21 (MEV)

“He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect.” – Timothy 3:4 (NIV)

Have a wonderful week! If this is your first time visiting my blog, why not visit my Home Page and check out my birding website for more birding information and encouraging stuff. Yes, there are still more books left for sale to make a positive influence in the life of your special young person and for that Special Christmas Gift. I have just about finished editing my second and third book, but it will be next year for printing.

NOTE: All photos, videos and music used on this website are photographed, composed, performed  by the site owner and remains his copyrighted property, unless otherwise stated. The use of any material that is not original material of the site owner is duly acknowledged as such. © W. A. Hewson 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.

 

Birding Benefits of Good Friends – The Pacific Baza & Australian King Parrot.

Posted by aussiebirder on October 10, 2019
Posted in: Australia, Australian Birds, Australian wildlife, Bird watching, Birding, Birds, Fauna, National Parks, Nature, Nature reserve, Outings, Royal National park, Sydney, Uncategorized, wildlife. Tagged: , , , , .

Pacific Baza (also known as Crested Hawk)

It was interesting this past week when my wife and I on two occasions, put spending time with friends above being out birding. On these two occasions we were surprisingly blessed to see unexpected birds. We went with one of our dear friends our to the Royal National Park Cafe for lunch, after which we took our friend to see the recent clutch of 14 Australian Wood Ducklings, so she could show her family when they come there this week. While we watched the ducklings feeding off the grass seed, there  sounded an alarm from one of the adult ducks, as they heard a noisy commotion in the canopy of a tall eucalypt trees nearby, being caused by none other than a pack of Noisy Miner. First two pair of Wood Duck flew off (always in pairs, as these birds faithfully pair for life).

It was enough to cause Mrs Sulfur-crested Cockatoo to emerge from her nest in the nesting hole of a nearby tree. 

Immediately father Wood Duck signals his family and they make their way quickly to the river bank ready for a fast escape, as yet they are unsure of the nature of the impending danger. Click on photos to enlarge.

Soon the whole family were paddling together upstream away from us with their eyes on their parents, they followed obediently behind. Finally they returned to shore some 50 meters away. 

This of course made the word raptor come to mind and my wife and I left our friend seated at the picnic table nearby while we investigated. We first of all sighted the Miner pack attacking something deep in the canopy.

It was not long before we heard and saw the raptor: a beautiful Pacific Baza, also known as the Crested Hawk. These birds are quite different to most other raptors in the way they hunt for prey. They are usually not a great threat to birds, as they tend to eat insects and small reptiles. They have this unique way of gliding quickly into a thick tree canopy grabbing insects and reptiles on their way in. Most raptors spy out their prey sitting on bare branches up high from where they can easily observe and pounce, clearly being able to see their prey, but not the Baza.  

Watching this diving process gave us a few nice wing shots. The Noisy Miners continued their attack but the Pacific Baza continued hunting regardless. However, eventually the Baza saw us watching and flew away behind the trees. These birds are found in northern and north eastern Australia, but not usually found south of Sydney, though this one was. They are also found in the Pacific Islands and New Guinea, north of Australia.

We had never seen a Baza this close before. The last time you may remember was up in Far North Queensland as it flew over at great height but my photos were not that good due to the position of the sun.

A couple of days later my wife and I went for an afternoon walk in our local park, but did not see much at all, due to the continuing drought. Despite recent rains, there were few birds. A couple of dear friends live in the street near the park, several houses away, so we thought to drop in and see them, as we had not seen them in a while. As we sat chatting out around their pool, sipping wine, we were told that the Australian King parrot may come to feed on the fruiting Loquat tree hanging over their fence in clear view to us.

Australian King Parrot male

Soon the late afternoon sun caught this flash of colour emerging, as a male and then a very shy female Australian King Parrot fed from this tree. Parrots and Cockatoos are mostly fruit and seed eaters, and have the unique ability of any bird, in that they are able to hold the fruit in one claw and bring it to their mouth to eat. The female has more green on the upper parts of her body, as do the juveniles.

Australian King Parrot male
Australian King Parrot male
Australian King Parrot female
Australian King Parrot female

It was another wonderful blessing sitting, sipping and watching them feed as they caught the last light before sundown, being the first evening of Daylight Saving.

Similar to the Crimson Rosella who make a bell like chime call, the King Parrot make a more courser version of their call.

We enjoyed a wonderful evening meal with our friends, leaving feeling very blessed from their hospitality. The thought that came to me from this week was from watching a female Masked Lapwing sitting patiently on her nest in the middle of the paddock between the Cafe and the Hacking River. Now this open field is frequented by young children playing and people walking and other birds feeding, which caused the National Parks people to place a warning sign and markers around the nest, as nesting Masked Lapwing can remain quite hidden behind the clumps of Button Grass. The male was trying to ward off children playing nearby, but was unsuccessful.

Masked Lapwing on nest

These birds are known to attack people and animals by swooping on those who approach their nesting field, similar to the Magpie during nesting season. However, the male’s ploy is to try and draw attention to himself and draw the intruder away from the nest. The male will stand tall and proud with both wing spurs protruding and making threatening alarm calls to scare off  any intruders who do not follow his lead.

I might wonder why these birds always nest in the middle of open fields which are frequently traversed by humans, their mowers and animals, and where Raptors can easily see their nest. These Plovers, like other plovers are historically waders, and like their cousins lay their eggs in shallow holes on beaches and river banks.  In recent years many of these birds have moved inland to graze on grassy fields where they extract insects and their larvae from just below the soil surface. It is also interesting that despite the vulnerability of the nest, these birds are great survivors and is one of the most commonly seen birds found throughout most of Australia. What might appear foolish actually has much wisdom, as the males have a 360° viewing area around the nest, which is much easier for them, a ground dwelling and feeding bird, to monitor. The proof is in the very successful and secure status of this bird.

“Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell?” – Job 28:20

“To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.” – Job 12:13 

“Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.” – Proverbs 4:6

If this is your first time visiting my blog, why not explore my birding website and visit my Homepage.

You will find access to helpful hints and tips for Birdwatchers and Birders, as well as information on how we can learn to do life better from the birds. 

There are still copies of my first book ‘What Birds Teach Us’ available for purchase here online. Check out my BirdBook page for more information.

Have a wonderful weekend! I have finally realised and accepted that my career as a Senior Scientist has come to an end, so I am now seeking God to find direction for these years ahead. This last five months has been a wonderful opportunity for me to write two more books (‘Flight of a Fledgling’ for 12+yrs and The improved and enlarged 2nd Edition of ‘What Birds Teach Us’ for 7+ yrs). I will advise here on my website when I am closer to publication. Thank you dear friends for your prayers and valued support as I continue to address my health issues and vocational direction. 

NOTE: All photos, videos and music used on this website are photographed, composed, performed  by the site owner and remains his copyrighted property, unless otherwise stated. The use of any material that is not original material of the site owner is duly acknowledged as such. © W. A. Hewson 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.