In Defence of Crows

[red750]

At Emerald Lake Park in the Dandenongs, parrots hang around the picnic tables.

 

[octave]

17 minutes ago, old man emu said:

Yeah. That's no bun at all.

A bun is the lowest form of wheat

[facthunter]

Could you call that a "Grain Drain"?   Nev

[spacesailor]

The 'supermarkets ' sell 'wild bird ' seed .

spacesailor

 

[kgwilson]

Magpies were introduced to NZ to control grass grubs in the early 20th century. There were no natural predators & there was food everywhere so their population exploded and their range expanded through the entire country & they became the top boss bird. Eventually they were considered a pest & chased out a lot of the native species. I shot heaps of them. I had a cassette tape of a magpie distress call & when I played it they would come to help. They learned that trick pretty quick though. I also had a Magpie trap. It had 2 compartments. Food was put in 1 compartment & the bird got trapped, then another would turn up and get trapped in the other compartment & the process continued.

 

Not surprisingly Magpies in NZ do not like humans but they are not in their natural environment and have done considerable damage.

 

Here on the East coast it is completely different & it did take a while to warm towards Magpies. I now know that they are pretty intelligent and likeable and this is where they belong and are in their element.

[kgwilson]

I'd also never heard of swooping Magpies in breeding season till I arrived in Queensland & saw people on bikes with wires poking out everywhere from their helmets. Initially I thought it must be some sort of fashion or identity thing.

[facthunter]

They DO THAT, alright..  Nev

[Marty_d]

Heard on the radio there's an 8 year old girl got curious about who magpies swoop at, as she noticed walking to school that some dads got swooped and others didn't.

Here's a link to the article - spoiler alert, it's bad news for you if you're tall and bald!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-09/magpies-swoop-bald-more-often-survey-finds/103297520

[Jerry_Atrick]

An inquisitive mind like that is a cause to celebrate a positive..

[old man emu]

19 hours ago, Marty_d said:

it's bad news for you if you're tall and bald!

Magpies don't like the reflection of teh Sun off solar panels for sex machines.

[willedoo]

My poor old raven has been in the wars lately. I'm fairly sure his wife died sometime back last year, and he's now on his own as he's probably too old to get a new mate. Being alone and old, he's struggling to defend his traditional territory from the marauding murder of torresian crows. The raven disappears for a couple of weeks at a time and then shows up for a day or two with more feathers missing from the crows belting him up. He's also very nervous and continually looking over his shoulder.

 

He showed up today after a long absence so I put some tucker out on his feeding platform. He landed on it and hadn't taken a bite when he heard the alarm call of a torresian crow and took off like a rat up a drainpipe. They've really got him bluffed and I'd say he's been copping a fair hiding from them. It turned out the crow was high up and chasing away an eagle. It's not so long ago that it would have been the raven chasing the crows, not the other way round. That's what age does to you.

 

One of these days soon, he just won't be seen again. It's an expected thing, as he's been here quite a few years and is near the end of life. It's a pity one of his offspring couldn't have taken over the patch and started a new generation of a raven breeding pair here, but I think the crows have driven them away as well. Ravens are are a class act; I'd much rather have them here than that other gang of retarded dickheads. The two species are so far apart in brains, personality and compatibility with humans. You couldn't compare them on a one to ten scale as the torresian crows rate a zero. The ravens, I give them a ten.

 

Just as a footnote, with an Australian Raven breeding pair, if the male dies, the female will leave the area. On the other hand, if the female dies, the male will retain the territory and try to find a new mate, so that's why he's still here after his wife died. They probably only find a new mate if they are still young and strong enough to do so. It looks like my old mate can't even find an old boiler.

[willedoo]

I found this photo of my old raven in happier times when his wife was still alive. The photo was taken almost two years ago. They used to sit in the trees not far from the verandah and preen each other. I was lucky to have them around the place permanently for quite a few years; they used to build nests only 20 or 30 feet from the house. Every year I'd get to check out their breeding cycle and life at close quarters. Watching them teach their young was always interesting. The female was always a bit shy, but the male would come within 4 or 5 feet of me and have a yarn. These days he's a lot more wary, probably as he's having to continually fight for survival in his old age.

 

That's the male on the left and his wife on the right.

 

Edited February 8 by willedoo

[willedoo]

It's good to see birds that mate for life and have strong family bonds and loyalty to their partners. It's a big contrast to animals like possums where life is a continual cycle of violence and dispossession.

[kgwilson]

It's a big contrast the human behaviour as well. We seem to emulate possums.

[facthunter]

I've NEVER been beaten up, Animals in the wild have to be very alert or they become something else's DINNER. Nev

[Litespeed]

Yesterday I saw a great display of Ravens defending the nest against a predator.

 

A white bellied Sea Eagle 🦅 cruised along above a Ravens nest on Bull Island and came way too close- 50ft.

 

So the parents went on the hunt, they chased it relentlessly for 5 mins and had the big eagle on the run. The eagle kept trying to get to the nest, the Ravens were clearly prepared to die if needed to protect the family.

 

Eventually it flew away after been repeatedly beaked midair. 

Clearly the eagle could win against one Raven but two prepared to die if needed was too much.

 

 

Such great parents and brilliant team work.

Edited February 8 by Litespeed

[facthunter]

The instinct to protect the Young is strong and necessary.  But not universal. Nev

[old man emu]

17 hours ago, willedoo said:

It's good to see birds that mate for life

I noticed this pairing in several birds around my place, the magpie ; the Willy-Wagtail; a pair of raptor-type birds, and another small pair that I think could be swallows. I don't know about the Choughs. They seem to live in a pretty small group that does look very much like it has a couple of generations in it. Kookaburras are another monogamous species. 

[onetrack]

You learn something new everyday. I'd never heard of choughs before, and don't even recall seeing them when I lived in or visited the Eastern States. Maybe they were scarce in the areas I was in.

[old man emu]

Chough: 

 

White-winged Choughs are found in open forests and woodlands. They tend to prefer the wetter areas, with lots of leaf-litter, for feeding, and available mud for nest building. White-winged Choughs live in social clans of about seven to ten individuals and will defend their nest territory during the breeding season with ‘wing-waving’ displays to deter unwanted intruders. The White-winged Chough feeds mostly on the ground. It is extremely sociable, almost always seen in groups of up to 10, raking through the grass and ground litter. 

 

 

[pmccarthy]

Lots of choughs around our place in central Vic.

[red750]

I must admit, I've never heard of them. How do you pronounce it, 'chow', choe,??" It's my surname with a C in front of it.

[onetrack]

It looks like you'd be chuffed to have choughs around the Houghs house.

 

 

[spacesailor]

Well he said " chuff  " . 

So I guess that's the way to pronounce it .

Makes me " Chuffed " that I now know it .

spacesaiIor

[red750]

Thank you.