Looking out the kitchen window a couple of days ago, I saw a Rainbow Lorikeet flap low across the back yard with a Red Wattlebird firmly attached to its tail. In this case, four wings were definitely not better than two!
It was probably the same Wattlebird that spent the ten minutes I watched, chasing a New Holland Honeyeater through a flowering eucalypt just beyond our yard. The Honeyeater was able to take quick sips of nectar while being chased - unlike that cranky Wattlebird!
…..and so it goes down the “ pecking order”. The New Hollands at my place are viciously chasing all the smaller Honeyeaters. Everyone chases someone else. Even the nice looking , very tame and friendly Yellow Robins are chasing the Scarlet Robins. It’s the fight for food and nesting places. If somebody wanted to move into my house, eat my food ( or was after my husband), I would chase after him down the road and grab him by the tail
. Although these days I don’t run that fast.
M-L