YELLOW-TAILED BLACK COCKATOO

 Calyptorhynchus funereus

 

 

 

A flock of yellow-tailed Black cockatoos were visiting some old pinus radiata trees on the golf course here in Kilmore. As usual, the first indication of theses bird is the distant creaky, wheezy  call  as they flap lazily from a distance. Sounding rather like a rusty gate, they call to each other as they make their way slowly across the sky. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The flight is so lazy and cumbersome. One almost expects them to fall from the sky between flaps of their large wings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally they alight on a tree where there is something for them to chew upon. The amazingly strong  beaks can open up a tight green pine-cone, gum nuts,  hakea pods, banksias, xanthorrheas, and other woody plants, as they hunt out edible seeds and wood grubs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like other cockatoos, yellow-tailed black cockatoos have a preference for using their left hand, mmmmhh left foot, to hold an manipulate objects. Certainly that seems to be the case with this flock.

They travel in pairs or larger groups. This flock the other day consisted of about a dozen birds, spread out amongst the tree tops and hidden deep within the branches.  

LOOK WHO'S SWIMMING IN MY BIRD BATH

 My birdbath and its visitors, hot day January

 

 

 

There are always visitors to the birdbath hidden away under the lemon tree at home.

Usually it is one bird at a time, sometimes a pair of birds together.

 

 

 

 

 

Early morning seems to be a good time. With the bigger birds, it is not the bathing which attracts them. It is the water. Crows, magpies, currawongs and choughs will bring hard scraps of food to the water and dunk it in to soften. Sometimes they have bread, sometimes a caterpillar, a snail a blackberry. I am not sure where the hard round seeds left in the bottom come from. All this of course leaves lots of gunk in the water, which begins to smell very quickly. Daily clean out is required

 

 

 

Other times, the birds come in for a drink. They are usually very wary and nervous. I suppose they need to be careful.  Heads down in the water might be a good time for a cat or a larger bird to swoop in,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On this hot morning, it seemed to be just bath time. Usually alone, but this day there were several birds in pairs of the same family and several  birds of different varieties together.. A little bit of argy-bargy at if one bird was taking too much time. Just like the banging on bathroom in our house when we were kids.

 

One bird, the Eastern Spine-Bill, is the most common visitor to the bath. He or she is often in the garden feeding from the fuchsia bushes. This little immature bird lets one know it is about by the noisy way it uses the bath. First the flap. flap of it's wings as it approaches, followed by a loud plop as it enters the water. Splash, splash, splash, water all over the place and then the quick flapping of its wings as it flies into the lemon tree to preen a little. Then back again, four, five and six times, before it is all finished. So lovely to watch and listen to whilst sitting outside, reading the morning paper.

EASTERN SPINEBILL

 Eastern Spinebill

 

There has been much activity this week around my fuchsia bushes. A young spinebill has learned the value of these flowers and spends hours feeding  from them.

 

 

 

 

 

This little bird has no fear. I can sit or stand within just metres, and take photographs from all angles.

It pays me no attention, it keeps on with feeding, flitting from bush to bush, happily unaware of my presence/

 

COMMON KOEL

EASTERN or COMMON KOEL 

I wrote about this bird a little over twelve months ago. A very noisy vagrant from the more northern parts of Australia.

 It is only in the last three years that we have noticed it's call in the early months of summer. It calls at all hours of the day and night. The male bird, with its deep blue / black plumage, perched high up in the tops of trees, is very difficult to see. For many people in Kilmore, it is simply referred to as "That bird"

 

"That bird is back again" says Greg. " It started at midnight and is still calling at midday.

It is possible that "that bird", is a single "that bird",  because we never hear a returning call and have never sighted a partner. 

How do we know it is the same bird?

Here is a photograph taken last week, the koel sitting in amongst the branches of a spotted gum by the roadside. Note what looks like magpie-like white colouring on the wings, is merely the refection of his deep blue / black feathers.

 

  This is this year's koel with his twisted beak.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is last year's koel also with a twisted beak.

Same bird!

So this poor lonely fellow has made trips to Kilmore for at least the last two years, probably more often than that. Where does he spend his winters? 

He certainly looks healthy and well fed, so the crossed beak must not be too much of an encumbrance for him. Does the mis-shapen beak affect his chances of finding a mate? His ability to call for hour after hour does not seem to have been affected in any way. But he certainly must expend a huge amount of energy calling as he uses his whole body to make the calls.

He seems to be gone now, (January 4th). We haven't heard his voice for a week or so.