Thank you my dear friends for following my blog throughout turbulent 2020. This will my last word for the year. Interesting enough I went for a walk today to exercise, as Sydney is dealing currently with another Covid outbreak. After the rain and almost winter-like weather of the past few days it was very quiet in my local bush park, with very few birds and people. So I figured this last one will be simple and short. We are all very thankful that our government is very proactive and responsible to the health and well being of us all, and grateful that we have made it thus far in what is the most extraordinary year in our lifetime.
Australian Christmas Bush flowers
My Christmas card above features the Scarlet Honeyeater male, a bird that appears before Christmas, coinciding with the flowering of our native Christmas Bush, as well as, the call of the Eastern Koel in the early morning.
These among many other signs tells us that we approach the time for us all to kick back , relax and celebrate both the birth of Jesus and the coming new year, as we put the passing one behind. For many this will be a time of grief, suffering and sorrow. We pray for the comfort and recovery of the hundreds of thousands experiencing this in this moment. Every one of us has lost something or someone this year, we are all grieving at different levels. No one escaped loss, just as if it were a world war, and it is not over yet. As I walked along the quieter than usual bush track I stopped to watch and hear something very special and unique. A Grey Butcherbird conversing with a pair of Australian Magpies. In my recent studies and research I have learned that many of Australia’s intelligent birds can communicate between species, as they learn their languages by listening and observing intently. I apologise for the loud Cicada background, yet another sign of Australia’s bush Summer. I recorded this:
What one needs to be aware of it that the Butcherbird is quite capable of copying and speaking with the Magpie, as is the Magpie to the Butcherbird. The call of the Butcherbird in the above recording is not one of his usual Butcherbird calls, he is actually speaking in Magpie. For example, listen to this immature Butcherbird practicing, and recalling mimicry it has learnt from other birds.
This exercise between birds is not only good for improving relationships, but is very useful in times of emergency when either of the birds need assistance to locate and mob a common predator or warn to take flight. This brought me to think, what have we learnt this year? Great challenges are opportunity for greater learning.
Eleven lyrebirds can be seen in the image as a bushfire near Wollombi approached (Supplied: PJ Wallis for ABC News 30th Jan 2020)
Bushfire, drought, flood and Covid were all great challenges in 2020 from which many positive lessons were gleaned, to help us navigate the future. They rallied the community back to the mate-ship of the Aussie battler, that made Australia great back in our early post convict days when ex convict married ex convict and toughed it out in the bush to carve out a home and a family, because they could not afford to go back to Britain. My ancestors also married as ex convicts and established a town in NSW. For those interested rediscover the old the TV series “Against the Wind” to get an idea of the difficulties. These new settlers (all mostly ex convicts) learned to trust and assist each other through the difficult times of establishing a living from nothing, from which arose the Aussie mate-ship, which carried us into the world wars and helped make our nation famous for the ANZACS and the friendly warm helpful reputation we once received from other nations.
The Superb Lyrebird knew what to do to save itself from the firestorm, gathering their mates they fled to the dam. Many species managed to survive using amazing survival skills, learnt and possibly passed down from somewhere in the past.
The Australian Wood Duck has always survived well because both parents have their priorities always before them, keeping them faithful in both relationship with each other and care of the family. Many have rediscovered the importance of family and family relationships, and had to modify the importance of the peripheral things of life, such as job, possessions, sports and money, which for many had taken the place of THE most important – family relationships. The Covid made us all aware of our own fragile humanity, and that we are all vulnerable and all need each other to survive. We are not a rock or an island as Simon and Garfunkel once erroneously suggested. For our northern friends this song is set ‘in adeep and dark December’.
Thankfully we already had the technology to create such meeting places as Zoom to tide us over the Covid lock downs, and create new and more efficient ways to work from home, and have more family and home time. We began to carve out a new kind of normal. A list of new words arose which became common place in daily conversation, and a new awakened responsibility for one’s own health and the health of those in their daily life. The Australian White Ibis in my book “What Birds Teach Us” is an example of support, security and strength in community.
I wish you all a very enjoyable Christmas and a healthy, blessed and prosperous New Year. May it be better and may we all grow more resilient and mindfully learn to experience peace and contentment in what ever circumstance we find ourselves in so that we can be comfort and strength for others. Regardless of what popular opinion has become in recent years, and the removal of Christ from Christmas, he remains: The Reason for the Season. It still amazes me that one so loving and kind, who has brought so much good into our world and our culture, can be feared and despised by so many, even fear from declaring his name with respect, fear that even drives people to kill and injure people who love him and live the life of love he encourages, which continues to be the case in many countries in our world today.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” – 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 (NIV)
W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).
‘To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,
‘So we can learn from them how to live a healthy and happy life.’
The last few days have seen the hottest temperatures for November on record here in Sydney, and much of NSW Friday 36°C (97°F) followed by Saturday 41°C (106°F) with an early morning temp of 30°C (86°F) making sleep an ordeal for many. In the midst of the Friday heat I set out see how the birds in my local reserve were faring, and found most of them sensibly taking the usual precautions for extreme heat, as Aussie birds have learnt to do. I thought it worthwhile to review the ways our birds deal with very hot Aussie days. You may be surprised to know that birds have a higher body temperature than most other creatures (around 40°C) which rises with their very active high metabolic rate.
1. Thermoregulation (panting): When it gets too hot for birds you will see them with their mouths open and silently panting to release heat from inside the body by evaporation in to the air from the mouth (beak). Birds pant like we do when hot for the same reason. One of interesting things each bird I saw on my walk and even the Grey Butcherbird ‘Butch’ above and his son (below), when they visited the birdbath held their mouths continually open. The Grey Butcherbird seldom hangs around the birdbath, but today he and junior did.
Immature Grey Butcherbird
Immature Grey Butcherbird
As I walked through the reserve, no one passed me, I was alone with the birds, many very quiet in the heat of hottest time of the day, but they mostly displayed the same cooling mechanism.
Aussie Magpie
Kookaburra
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Aussie Magpie
Dusky Moorhen in the heat
Kookaburra
2. Shade and rest (inactivity): One of the first steps to dealing with hot sun is to get out of its direct heat by resting under shade. Shade and resting under it, both together assist to decrease excess body heat, as work or burning energy with our bodies naturally produces heat, so to rest in the shade is a dual help. Most of the birds were standing or lying idle in the shade when I saw them. Interesting, the always very active Brown Thornbill was even allowing me to photograph it, a rarity.
Noisy Miners resting in shade
Brown Thornbill resting
Rare to see a Thornbill not moving
resting with his prey in mouth
Red Wattlebird
Sacred Kingfisher resting
Pied Currawong resting with prey in mouth
Sacred Kingfisher resting
I found that the several Eastern Water Dragons I saw on the track were actually sunning themselves in the shade, which is quite extraordinary.
Eastern Water Dragon in sunning position
3. Bathing in or standing in cool water: Water is a very effective means of quickly dissipating body heat, especially if the water is splashed over the areas of naked skin on the bird’s body, by lifting wings and thrashing, and lowering face under the water. This is why birdbaths maintained by thoughtful humans are a great asset to local Aussie birds, especially in heat waves. Birds know where reliable water is found, and tell their mates. They also know when you refill or refresh the baths, returning seconds later to use them. See my special article on birdbaths on my Homepage. If a bird has not enough water for bathing, just standing in the water will assist to thermoregulate their body temperature as their legs and feet are actually cooling radiators for their hot body core. This why it is wise to place bird baths under trees in shade. It keeps the water cool and gives them safe fly in and out places to rest and preen.
Alpha Male Aussie Magpie standing quietly in cool water.
Cooling face first
Then the whole body
We saw these Apostlebirds when we were out west a month ago cooling off ona hot day, you may remember the the video.
Or these Rainbow Bee-eaters using the super quick diving in technique to bathe in a lake in Cairns. The video is half normal speed.
Our own local Noisy Miner coalition, headed by Noisy himself do the same,
4. Spreading wings and ruffling feathers:to expose underlying skin: This is usually done when there is a breeze and best after having a bath as the residual water helps to further cool them down.
Eastern Great Egret with wings out to cool in the heat
These waterbirds showed no heat problem as they were in a cool shady part of the pond, and the water offered a good heat dissipation process considering they were in and on it most of the day. The juvenile Dusky Moorhen and the Chestnut Teal family seemed quite rested.
Dusky Moorhen juvenile
Dusky Moorhen adult watching juvenile
Chestnut Teal duckling
Lastly, the flowering of the Australian Christmas Bush, is the bush herald of that soon to be celebratory season around the corner. It was lovely to see so much of it in full bloom even in the intense heat.
Aust. Christmas Bush flowers
Aust. Christmas Bush
Enjoy your week and stay safe and cool. If you are birding make sure you stay well hydrated and sheltered from the sun, with hat and sunscreen lotion. Be on the lookout on the path ahead for snakes sunning themselves on the track and stamp your feet in uncertain areas before proceeding.
My book “What Birds Teach Us” the perfect Christmas gift, is available here online or at any of the listed shops here.
It was interesting to find some birds of a specie faring poorly in the heat and others quite unaffected, as was the case for these two siblings, I always meet on the track (I call the twins) as they are always together, and are immature, almost mature late in their third year. They trust me and will allow me to stand and pass within inches without moving away. I found another lying in the blazing sun for several minutes. They usually do this to assist spreading their preening oil and to rid their plumes of lice, but today ? Magpies forage and feed on the ground unlike most passerines. Each bird is an individual and each is affected differently by their environment and lifestyle, similar to us humans. My wife hates being cold, and I love it, but I hate being hot and humid and she loves it. I enjoy red wine she enjoys white. She prefers appearance and I prefer practical. She hoards and I am tidy keeping a minimum of possessions. I enjoy being and working in quiet peaceful places whereas she loves having her music playing when she works or rests at home. Learning to respect and accept each others differences, is an important aspect of love in any relationship – we all need To Give A Little Love
“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults [differences] because of your love.” – Ephesians 4:2 (NLT)
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.” – Ephesians 4:31 (NLT)
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud, or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged” – 1 Corinthians 13:4,5 (NLT)
W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).
‘To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,
‘So we can learn from them how to live a healthy and happy life.’
After several days of flooding rain, powerful seas and cold gale force winds causing much destruction along the coast, my wife and I decided to take a walk in our local Oatley Park Reserve to give our legs a workout. It was the beginning of our Australian Spring which always starts a few weeks earlier than in the Northern Hemisphere due to our hotter climate.
The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo were quite noticeably out house shopping in pairs for their next season family, while the occasional youngster from the previous season, sat alone, silently looked on. Usually they will return to the same tree hole, but there is often conflict and squabbling over accommodation when other Cockies or Rainbow Lorikeets bid for the same dwelling. As we see below in this prime real estate with views, which is inhabited each year producing 2 offspring on average. See how they squawk and raise their cones when they get excited, which is often, as a pair defend their claim.
Home security
Defending the house claim
The beautiful Angophora trees are prime real estate due to the frequent holes left from the unusual way branches fall away. Usually their is some construction required by males when purchasing a new home. The male uses his powerful beak to gradually chew out the hole to the required size as the female watches on and gives directions as to how she wants the house sized up. This can take several days of hard work.
Others return to the same hole, which is already naturally formed for them. This guy is keeping watch and guarding his home, knowing full well that this is peek home procuring period.
Walking around the ponds area which were flooding, as storm water flows into it, a pair of Chestnut Teal rest, while a lone Australasian Swamphen makes lovely reflection in the almost birdless pond.
Chestnut Teal
Australasian Swamphen
This time of year when nectar blossom and flowers are very few, just before Spring, most of the seed eating Parrots are on the coast seeking seed baring cones from the previous Summer flowers. One is the Eastern Crimson Rosella. Of course the Rainbow Lorikeet is always here, nesting alongside the Cockies.
We also were delighted to see this tiny Silvereye in a mixed feeding flock passing through the park, which in some other parts of the world would be called White-eye. Both wrong – the eye is neither, it is only the ring around the eye that is white.
A bird that is heard and seen all through this park is one of my favourites, the Grey Butcherbird. As you know I do love hearing my backyard friend singing all through the day.
As we made our way back to the car we heard the loud raucous alarm call of many Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, so we looked up hoping to see a raptor passing over, but nothing. As we walked we saw several people pointing off the track to trees with families of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo. This was what the noise was all about. The Yellow-tails were resting and preening near the roosting area of the Sulphurs. As the saying goes ‘You seldom find Sulphurs around Yellow-tails‘ as the larger, more powerful, well organised and militant Yellow-tails will drive them out, especially when they have young with them, as these ones do. I shared footage of this some years ago where we witnessed this process.
The call of the Yellow-tail flock is unique, and like music to the ears of all birders. We always get excited when we hear their call, there is no other sound like it.
Yellow-tails usually only have one surviving youngster each year as can be seen in this little family preening together. The juvenile or immature sits in the middle next to the female as she preens it and the male usually sits a little bit away always looking out for the safety of the family, ready to act, as a good father/husband should. I apologise for the poor photos due to extreme back-lighting,as they were in front of the sun in diffused light.
The male has the pink eye ring, which the female lacks and is always keeping his eye on you. The good news for the Sulphurs, especially at pre-nesting time, is that the Yellow-tails will not be competing for nesting holes, they are just having a stopover, as they will most likely go back to the mountains in Spring to nest.
Male with pink eye ring
Male with pink eye ring
female with no eye ring
female with no eye ring
Here is a male preening.
After a few minutes with all the human attention the flock leader gave the call and flew off and they all followed further into the valley to find more native Casuarina trees, where they feed on the seed cones, which you can see above and below is what they are resting in. Notice the piece of tail feather that broke off as it left.
Cockatoos are very destructive birds, especially to trees which has become a concern for conservationists and scientists who are trying to address the problem. The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo is one bird that should never be fed by humans, as a flock bird they can become very aggressive if fed frequently and are quite capable of destroying verandas and houses (as they do to trees) when they don’t get enough of what they want, when they want it. The sometimes crazy and reckless behaviour of the young males is highlighted in my book.
Tourists are warned of the danger but thankfully they are usually one off situations. However, if one feeds a flock daily for a period of time it can be dangerous and people have been attacked and injured by the flock as the birds attempt to greedily and forcefully access the food. They constantly trim trees and sometimes ring-bark and kill them just for fun, or they may bite off the bark in search of witchetty grubs, a prized delicacy also for our original inhabitants. Look how this tree is left bleeding.
In conclusion, for those interested, having read last weeks post, the two young Crested Pigeon have fledged and survived the storms of the last few days, hanging on tightly to the tree throughout the gale force winds and teaming rain. A large aggressive abusive cohort of Noisy Miner attacked the nest a few days ago, and I managed to send them flying when I turned the hose on them. Now the pigeon family are going on daily excursions as they break in their wings and learn foraging skills.
If this is your first visit to my blog and website, I bid you welcome to my weekly birding blog. You may want to visit my Home Page where you can access other helpful information for birding and also helpful information that can be gleaned from studying the behaviour of birds.
As I observed the behaviour of these two very different specie of Cockatoo, during our walk in the reserve, I noticed distinctly converse behaviour patterns. The quieter more solid family structure, within the well organised flock structure is vital to the emotional security of the bird and in its intellectual development and future character. The more intelligent and disciplined Yellow-tailed is a quieter more organised bird than the raucous child-like showoff Sulphur-crested, which is part of the reason they can out maneuver and outsmart the Sulphurs. They work as a flock for the good of the flock. Their flock organisation skills are greater as they are more migratory and need to be committed to the flock, whereas the playful and crazy Sulphurs are more individual and competitive in their lifestyle, in the flock but more out for themselves. Sulphurs are more residential or territorial and do not migrate or fly far from their original roost and nesting area each day. It has been found that when Sulphurs don’t fly from their roosting area during the day, they will tend to be more destructive to the trees they roost in.
Organised squadron of Yellow-tails chasing and herding Sulphurs into a eucalypt tree
Sulphurs captive in the eucalypt tree while the remainder of the Yellow-tails feed free of them in the pine forest nearby
Notice in the rare photos above that though it appears the Yellow-tails are outnumbered 5 to 1 they are in control because they are working together to achieve a common goal, and achieve their goal with skill and commitment to the cause, whereas the Sulphur flock has no plan or answer as they are all out for themselves. This is how the empires of man throughout history rose and fell.
This is similar to the way community work together as a flock for the good of the flock, and not like the many who selfishly break the rules of the flock either to show off gloating over their achievements on Facebook or just refusing to conform or come under authority. It is flock cohesion and commitment to the common good of the flock that brings the reward of peace and security in life for everyone, and not the uncertainty and devastation that the dangerous selfish few generate. Maybe you can see a likeness to our current global situation. A braided rope is stronger than the sum of its individual strands.
‘The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.’ – Proverbs 12:26
‘If two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?’ – Ecclesiastes 4:11
Have an enjoyable week, stay safe and warm and those in lock-down stay sane and at peace by finding creative things to do.
W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).