Birds in your Backyard

[frenchy_84]

interesting thing is we seem to have over wintering Swift Parrots in the Devonport area , observed a couple feeding on old apples last winter and the two separate groups that overfly my house are still here.
corvus

Are you sure they are not Musk Lorikeets rather than Swifts? Pretty cool if they are swifts.

[corvus]

Most certainly Swift very distinctive calling in flight and red throats
corvus

[doogs]

Plenty of Rainbow lorikeets on Kelcey Tier too...

Just learning about Birds and did not know they were residents here are they vagrant or have they become established?
corvus

Depends who you talk to. Some think that they are recent aviary escapees become established, others say that they have been in small numbers on the nw coast for 50yrs or more either aviary escapees or naturally occurring, others think they have flown over Bass Straight by themselves. Regardless of when and how they got here their numbers are increasing dramatically, they have populations on the NW and around Hobart and they are a serious concern regarding competition with natives particularly the highly endangered swift parrot.

Two flew in front of my car on the Cressy-Campbell Town road on Monday. First time I had seen them and they are extremely colourful

[frenchy_84]

They are amazing looking birds, they are so numerous on the mainland you take them for granted because they are everywhere. You should see them swarm all over a sugar truck when its stopped at the lights.

[corvus]

Most certainly Swift very distinctive calling in flight and red throats
corvus

Retraction listened again to Swift in Flight and I was wrong they must be Rainbow lorikeets thank you to those who really know their birds
Looks like I need to do a lot more learning before I make any comments
corvus

[ILUVSWTAS]

Rainbow Lozzas are easily identified with the blue head and orange throat.

They make fantastic pets, very smart, VERY playful

[ILUVSWTAS]

one bird i forgot to mention was the grey goshawk wich in tasmania is pure white with red eyes,an endanged species,some bloke down the road shot one about 15 years ago for killing his chickens,apparently they mate for life and are completly monogomous......olblackbilly

This is correct.

There was an instance at melaleuca several years ago where some rangers released some orange bellied parrots only to have a goshawk strike. The hawk hung around for a while, and ended up killing a few OBP's and the rangers had to make a tough decision and shoot the less endangered bird to save the highly endangered ones.

[TerraMer]

Sometimes I feel the same about it being quieter in the bush than the back yard. Depends on the location, season, weather, etc. Some places I've hiked/camped the birds make an almighty racket but some places are dead quiet.
Birds are great, especially first thing in the morning as the sky starts to lighten and their calls fill the air all around for a good hour or so. Just recently, while hiking in Limeburners Creek NP the bird life was prolific and the morning song was just amazing.
Where I'm living at the moment there is a patch of coastal bush (bottlebrush, teatree, cassia, wattle, etc) beside the house so I see and hear a lot of the usual visitors, about 35 different species most days including braminy, sea eagle, osprey, rails, lapwings, black and white cockatoos, rosellas, lorrikeets, wattle birds, tree creepers, tawny frog mouth, goshawks, owls, honey eaters, magpies, butcherbirds, willy-wag-tails, larks, shrikes, drongos, koel, wrens, sparrows and robins to name a few. The wattle birds are the most vocal.
If I didn't have other Aspie interests I would be a twitcher

[bushwalker zane]

I have been living in and around this little town of lilydale my whole life, and only about 3 months ago was the first time I've ever heard Black Currawongs here. I was very excited to hear them, because it reminds me of my other home, the tassie wilderness!

I do find it odd how they just decided to move in all of a sudden though, not sure the reason why..

[Graham51]

We have recently moved to the country and have a lot of birds living on our block. Recently hundreds Sulphur crested cockatoos have invaded a paddock and have been roosting in our trees. We get lots of other parrots including swift parrots and eastern rosellas but they aren't so easy to get photos of.

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[bushwalker zane]

My next door neighbours have a Sulphur Crested in a cage, it's so sad.

[corvus]

I have been living in and around this little town of lilydale my whole life, and only about 3 months ago was the first time I've ever heard Black Currawongs here. I was very excited to hear them, because it reminds me of my other home, the tassie wilderness!

I do find it odd how they just decided to move in all of a sudden though, not sure the reason why..

As previously demonstrated I am no expert but believe some Black Currawongs do come off the mountains in Winter ,someone will have an answer
corvus

[bushwalker zane]

As previously demonstrated I am no expert but believe some Black Currawongs do come off the mountains in Winter ,someone will have an answer
corvus

Yes, this is what I have always been lead to believe, I just find it interesting that (from memory) they haven't come down here before. They can stay as long as they want, I love the unique call

[corvus]

As a point of interest the Grey Currawongs that I mentioned are still evident (by song only for me ) around the Devonport Bluff area
corvus

[ofuros]

Came home one day to find this Sacred Kingfisher waiting quietly by the front door on my verandah....
...not sure if it was nursing a major headache after flying into the window or not,
but within half an hour it had recuperated & flown off.



One morning I found this immature Raven fledgling (with beautiful blue eyes, perhaps a forest raven ?) flapping around in the veggie patch,
he just couldn't get enough run up & height to clear the fence. So i placed him on the lofty heights of our roof,
before our cat took an interest in what all the commotion was about.



We also get the occasional visit from a pesky Scrub Turkey, which creates mayhem & kaos among
our small flock of chickens...Ive never heard such a ruckus in all my life. Racing in all directions with a bossy Turkey
hot on their tail. Eventually found them cowering together behind the tangled roots of the jasmine vine !
Not my pic..

[Pteropus]

One of the local magpies was in my backyard, singing its head off this morning. I reckon there are few bird calls more beautiful than a magpie's
We also have a bush turkey with a nest -> viewtopic.php?f=10&t=10246#p135724
He rakes up all the leaves and stuff!

My next door neighbours have a Sulphur Crested in a cage, it's so sad.

Yeah, I agree that to cage big, intelligent birds like cockies is sad. I have nothing against having them as pets though but they need stimulation and room to move. It is their breeding season up here at the moment and they are going berserk! But I love their screeching anyhow

[Overlandman]

I built my home on 1.5 acres & have a lot of natural bush including large gum trees, with 140 metres of river frontage (tidal), so there is a large variety of birdlife,
There are 2 sea eagles, I have seen them catch fish, pelicans, black swans, blue herons, rosellas, sulphur crested cockatoos, yellow tailed black cockatoos, gallahs, wattle birds,ravens (thanks Corvus), ducks (native), blue wrens, silver eyes, red robins, cranky fans, plovers, native hens, kookaburras, swallows, tawney frogmouths, blackbirds, starlings and sparrows. I also get regular visits from a neighbours peacocks, guinnea fowl & pheasants.
Regards Overlandman

Last edited by Overlandman on Sun 22 Jul, 2012 10:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

[corvus]

Overlandman you mean Ravens we don't have Crows in Tasmania ,nevertheless that is an awesome visitation of birds albeit in an almost perfect setting
corvus

[bushwalker zane]

Haha the crow issue catches a lot of people out

Yeah, I agree that to cage big, intelligent birds like cockies is sad. I have nothing against having them as pets though but they need stimulation and room to move. It is their breeding season up here at the moment and they are going berserk! But I love their screeching anyhow

I agree, they have a pretty nice screech, but not at 5am right next to your bedroom window!