MAGPIES
KOOKABURRAS
BOOBOOK OWLS
RAINBOW BEE-EATERS AND BEES
AND OTHER BIRDS WE SEE AT KOALA CREEK

MAGPIES. I know many people don't like magpies because they can be so protective at nesting time, but they are my favourite birds. I have only been attacked once, and while being struck on the head with such force frightened me, I had to admire the little creature who sent me packing. When their nests are threatened the magpies are fearless. I have seen them chase off cats and large lizards and other creatures hidden in the bush.
I love to hear them singing and they are so friendly that sometimes you have to stop them just walking in the door. I can't resist feeding them and I admire their patience with their demanding, spoilt brat babies who scream non stop for food from the up to six adults, parents and older siblings, who feed them. When the babies are old enough to leave the nest they come to our kitchen door with their family. The young birds point their beaks to the sky and scream for food, even while it is going down their throats. Their bodies are the same size as the adult birds but with immature feathers in mottled grey and black. It is amazing to see the adult birds rushing around trying to satisfy these big demanding youngsters. Sometimes, I think, the parents like a break from the food hunt and make for the fast food outlet at our place.
I am rewarded by a concert. They sing in harmony, all together or take turns. They sing rounds and duets and solos. I like to think that they know I appreciate their music.

                   

I had a touching experience with a family of magpies, in the photo above, a few years ago. This group had been nesting near our house for several years and we could recognise the individual birds. One day I heard the maggies calling outside as usual. They always announced their arrival and loudly ordered their bread scraps. Often one or two birds knocked with their beaks at the glass door of the kitchen, to get my attention. This day their calling was different.
From the verandah I could see six birds standing in a row on the ground below, behind a crippled bird. It was small but all black like the adult birds. One wing stuck out the side at an odd angle and the bird leaned over trying to balance. The group ignored the bread I threw out and one by one flew away, leaving the injured one behind, with me.
I didn't know what to do. I tried phoning the people who cared for wild birds in my town but there was no answer. I just stood and looked at the pathetic little bird. He looked back. When I went closer he moved away. I didn't want to cause him any more distress so I kept a distance between us.
After an hour or so he decided to move. He walked away, limping. I watched and followed as he moved under the bracken and started up the slope. It was hard work for him. He had to push his way through ferns and long grass and it took him all afternoon to cover a very short distance. As it grew dark the little bird crawled into a low bush and I Had to leave him there. I worried about him all night.
The local Wildlife Officer told me once that it was best not to interfere with the natural order of things. Sometimes it is difficult to do this.
The next morning I expected to find him dead or gone but the brave little thing was still there. He refused the pieces of wholemeal bread that I put out for him. When the sun reached the bush and warmed the ground he started off again. He was heading up the hill to the line of trees that the magpies favoured. I think he may have fallen out of a nest there.
Again I followed at a distance.
Like a brave wounded soldier he struggled along, ignoring me unless I got too close. Finally he reached the track at the top of the hill, and stopped. I think he was exhausted. I left bread and water close to him and checked on him every half hour or so. He lay panting, in a bird way, occasionally lifting his head. I was worried that a lizard or snake would find him. I didn't want that. I got a large cardboard box, removed the top and bottom and made a fence around him. I kept watch and talked to him about his nest and the other birds. At sunset he died and we buried him beside the track, under his tree. It is sad, but this is the way life is - there must be a good reason which we will understand one day.

             
                     The little magpie walked up this hill.


                   

One year we found a Kookaburra nest in an old high in a tree right by our house. The two young birds were trained to stick their rear ends out from the nest and the white splashing on the ground below marked the site of the nest.

The following year a pair of Forest Kingfishers nested in another tree, inside what I think was an old ant or termite nest, very close to the house. Last christmas day I was enjoying the peace of the bush when suddenly the birds started making a lot of noise. They are pretty little birds with bright blue wings and tail, white underneath and black heads and beaks. They were very disturbed, flying and diving around their tree and calling loudly. It was a while before I realised that the larger of the two lace monitors was climbing the tree towards the nest. There was nothing I could do. The desperate birds swooped and screamed and attacked while the lizard ripped into the nest and made off with a bundle of white feathers in his jaws. I don’t think it was the first course of his dinner because the parent birds flew away soon after and I think they left an empty nest behind.

Owls have a reputation for being silent fliers who sneak up on their prey in the moonlight. It seems that their feathers are slightly different in design to most other birds. This variation means that there is less rubbing (and noise) of the overlapping feathers. Also there are long, curved barbs on the leading edge of each flight feather to reduce air turbulence and allowing silent flight. The body feathers of the owl are also softer than most other birds and this helps to muffle any sounds of movement. God’s creation constantly amazes me. With millions of creatures to design and watch over he has thoughtfully given them all special gifts of colour and shape and function.

We had to get the ‘bee man’ in to smoke them out. They were not happy about it at all. The ‘bee man’ told me that the small native bees do not sting but the danger of having them swarm in the house was that the honey would rot the inside of the wall. He said that the bees always had plans for alternative accommodation. Their scouts were always on the look out for a better home. Apparently they thought our house was the best at the time, but they would have had someone else to go.

Back to the Rainbow Bee-eaters. They do eat other insects but when they catch the stinging variety they bash it on a branch to remove the sting then eat it whole. They are the only bee-eaters in Australia. They are small, about 21 to 24 cms long. The body is blue and green with a reddish/gold crown and the wings are orange underneath. Their red eyes look out from a blue edged, black mask that starts at the beak and crosses the side of the head. Two long black feather shafts extend about 2.5 cms from the rest of the dark tail feathers.

The Bee-eater will sit patiently on an exposed branch, with other Bee-eaters until an insect flies by. The little bird darts out, snatches the insect and returns to the perch to eat. Some people say they have seen a Rainbow Bee-eater sit beside a fly or a beetle and not grabbed it until the insect moved.

I am not a real bird watcher but it seems that I can stand in the bush at any hour of any day and be surrounded by the sounds of birds. They are all so different, from little tweets to loud squares and the long carolling of many birds singing in harmony. I have started to recognise some of our birds and since we planted trees and bushes especially for them I see them more often.

BLACK COCKATOOs enjoy the seeds from the banksia trees.

SULPHUR-CRESTED COCKATOOs visit us in small flocks, feeding on the ground.

PIED BUTCHERBIRDs with their beautiful song.

PIED CURRAWONGs, look like a crow but with white areas on the rump and wings. You can hear each wing beat as they fly.

MAGPIEs, again my favourites, with extended families, beautiful choirs and friendly natures.

CRESTED PIGEONs with perky upright crests on top of their heads, striped wings and a pinkish hue to the body.

BAR-SHOULDERED DOVEs that also have a pink tinge and striped wings (like a knitted jumper).

PACIFIC BLACK DUCKs, though they actually have brown feathers, a bit lighter at the edges. A black line runs through the eye with a light brown eyebrow above. There is an iridescent green sheen on the wing feathers and the wings are white underneath. It is lovely to see a string of these brown birds glide across the dam or ducking, tails up, for food. I feel happy when they appear.

FAIRY-WRENs , these little blue and black males with their brown wives hop around on the ground looking for insects to eat.

Tiny GREY FANTAILs, looking plain and grey when still for a split second but bursting with energy, fanning the tail and wings, zooming here and there while singing a sweet little song. I saw one today and tried to take a photograph, but it was so fast that I expect to see a little white blur.

RAINBOW LORIKEETs provide the screeching in the treetops, especially when the eucalypts are in flower. They drink the nectar with their little brush-like tongues. Their colours are hard to believe, starting with a red bill, bright blue head, brilliant green back and wings, golden/orange breast and blue tummy they are almost the prettiest birds. They pair up for life, I think that is lovely.

The CRIMSON ROSELLA is equally beautiful. The body is mainly bright red, with little mottles of black on the back. There are fat blue cheeks either side of a pale grey bill, the wing feathers are bright blue and the tail feathers a paler blue. They chatter and sometimes sound like chiming bells.

NOISY MINERs are very common, and noisy. They are white underneath, light grey around the body with dark grey wings. The bill is yellow and so is the patch of skin behind the eye. They call zwit, zwit from the trees or teu-teu-teu when they are flying.

The SILVEREYE is a tiny bird, only about 10cms tall. It is olive green with a patch of yellow on the throat and a white ring around the eye.

WHITE-THROATED TREECREEPERs hop briskly up and down tree trunks, searching and probing under the bark for little spiders and insects.

The WILLIE WAGTAIL really does wag his tail, from side to side.

EASTERN WHIPBIRDs are heard rather than seen in the forest around our house. It sounds like a whip crack from the male followed by a ‘choo choo’ from the female. It was ages before I realised that the olive green bird with the long black tail and small white cheeks was the whip cracker.

The GOLDEN WHISTLER’s song ending in ‘chee-chee-chee-ah-WHIT is probably the most common sound in our forest, but the black and white bird with the golden belly is hardly ever seen.

The BRUSH TURKEY, or SCRUB TURKEY  
that I call BUSH TURKEY is a daily visitor and I have written about them on the Did you know? page.

There are other birds, but I think this covers the birds we see and hear the most.