The other evening just after dark we heard a bird squawking noise coming from the garden just on dark. Raced out because we thought it was something attacking our chickens. What we found was two Currawongs rolling around on the ground locked together fighting. They didn't stop when we came over either - not until we shone a torch right on them. Then they flew off . It was so bizarre - had they been there for hours, neither one willing to let go of the other even as it got dark. Do Currawongs fight like that for hours? Has anyone else observed this sort of behaviour before?
I like to watch Pied Currawongs (we have a resident pair and a pair that sometimes enters the territory); in certain circumstances, the resident male chases the other male, but mostly it is a strange sidling up to the other with swollen appearance to belly (to look larger I assume). It seems they don't want to look at eachother: they avert their gaze and move their head in an interesting way. What you have described Rosybee is what I've experienced with Laughing Kookaburras (when a stranger enters the territory of a family in spring). Very distressing. I've seen a kookaburra squeeze the other's neck with their powerful beak. Much of the action occurs on the ground...and yes, even at night. We have tried hosing them apart with minimal success. I have to almost touch them before one might fly away in fear. Dread spring now that I live surrounded by birds. Too much drama! I like the relative harmony of non-breeding time. Oh, and don't get me started on Channel-billed Cuckoos....
Thank you for that observation of your local Currawongs and kookaburras - so fascinating to hear how the males behave toward each other. People really underestimate birds - they have such complex lives. Years ago I worked with birds in a large fly through aviary and got to watch closely such amazing behavior one could not believe they were capable of.
very keen to hear your CBC stories.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLOQ4G09tGs
Hi Rosybee,
This link will take you to a video filmed by my husband and me for the Birds in Backyard youtube channel. The female currawong you can see on the nest is my "Curry-girl" - a fascinating, good-natured bird. In the two years we have lived on our bush block we've seen three nesting attempts fail - that is, every time the pair tried they were dudded by CBCs. CBCs (two - one of each sex) were raised on two occasions, while no one won in an early spring attempt in 2013. In the latter, the newly hatched currawongs were killed and the parents abandoned the nest.
What was most shocking to me was spring 2012 - the CBCs must have slipped in two eggs, but left a third (a currawong). But rather than leave things be, with three chicks (mixed family) having a chance at life, they returned and selectively (I assume) removed the hatched currawong! I saw it happen and yelled and cried etc (rather than grabbing the camera). (That little chick is now part of a beautiful birds nest fern.) But without ever seeing the initial insertion of CBC eggs I had hoped they had simply failed to kill all currawong chicks on that raid. As the little beaks pushed into view over the following week or two, I happily imagined the surviving baby currawongs. So we filmed their progress. Alas, it became increasingly clear that one at least was a cuckoo (was bigger than the other initially). Again we had hope that ONE currawong remained. But no.... The video tells the rest of the story. (Published in Aug 2013 but footage is from 2012.)
Info sites tend to say that CBC chicks starve any remaining currawong chick, but now I've seen another reason why a mixed family is rare. I suspect this removal of currawong chicks (not just destruction of eggs) by the adult CBCs isn't uncommon. And aargh, the sneaky and determined tactics.... The third nest (second attempt for 2013) was fairly low in a cul de sac. This meant we could keep an eye out for the CBCs and tried to scare them off (neighbours probably think I'm crazy - out there in my pjs with big colourfull water tubes). But it was impossible. (Yes, maybe I should let nature take its course and we don't need currawong overpopulation, but from where I sit, I wonder whether my currawong pair will ever raise their own young.) Anyway...the CBCs kept trying, even very early in the morning. Somehow we missed the successful raid. Must say, CBCs are probably my least favourite bird now. But they certainly look magnificent.
Allowing Nature to take its course may well be the preferred option, tsbroughton. The unintended consequences of human intervention are so often tragic.