Some birds raucous, others less so

Some years ago (strewth, it is about 30) when we lived in Scullin we used be very pleased we didn't live in a house in Hawker which always seemed to have 50+ Sulphur-crested Cockatoos sitting in a tree above it.  The noise when we took the dog for a walk in the morning was appalling.

Here in Carwoola these screechers are usually absent, but for some reason (possibly related to seed formation in the Acacias) a flock of 25+ has taken to visiting us.  This morning there were about 40 perched in a couple of trees between the house and the dam and certainly did nothing to improve our view of their desirability.  Even with only 6 or 7 of them calling the din was most unpleasant. Here are a couple of specimens demonstrating the crest!

Confirming my view that one of the things attracting them to the house area is the fruit on the Acacias this image shows a Cockie doing what they enjoy most: destroying stuff!
 The Cockies leave a few things behind.  Both classes of 'thing' are basically white.  One of types of thing  is proof that they have been feeding (no image supplied)  and the other is a feather or two.  The detail of the feathers (click to enlarge)  is very delicate:

While checking this bunch out I located the Tawny Frogmouth family in a roost which was obviously a tad crowded for them.  (They usually choose a branch on which at least the male and the two chicks can sit together.)
 The upper branch, with two birds on it, has been a popular roost for the adults in the non-breeding season.  It is the first time I have seen the chicks in that tree.  I am not sure who is what but suspect the two adults are together and chicks separate.  An issue I have yet to observe is when the chicks depart from the parents: hopefully my increased knowledge of their range of roosts will resolve this.

This entity - the upper single in the group shot - was definitely keeping an eye on me.
While nowhere near the racket from the Cockies, the Frogmouths are not absolutely silent. While the male was brooding we would often the adults making the best known call - a series of 'oooms' at about once a second frequency.  (This is much quicker than the call of the Common Bronzewing - a fat pigeon, which also 'ooms'.)  The young frogmouths making a 'churring' noise (amongst other weird sounds) which has ed me to find them a couple of times recently when they have roosted in unusual spots.

Comments

Wally said…
We have some local cockies that do a few noisy circuits of the sky most evenings. They have shown a worrying interest in a neighbour's pergola.
23 December 2011 at 18:54:00 GMT+11
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