Song bird unknown

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Ccatnip
Ccatnip's picture
Song bird unknown

Hi,  hoping someone will be able to identify this bird.  It arrives everyday singing and tapping at one of my windows.  Everyday without fail.  It doesn’t seem to stray very far away for long either. It has a wide variety of song of which the video doesn’t do justice.  It has been hanging around for over 12 months and I am wondering whether this is normal behaviour.  I live in southeast QLD.  Thanks in advance for any assistance.  

kazredracer
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Grey Shrike-thrush, one of our most melodious singers.

Ccatnip
Ccatnip's picture

Thank you so very much kazredracer.  I have been using the bird finder on this website for years and this little fellow is the only bird I wasn’t able to identify using the tool.  The closest I could find was an olive backed oriole.  It certainly is melodious and territorial too it would seem.  Every morning it wakes me up at sunrise.  I’m not sure what it expects to find at my front window singing and tapping away every day.  

soakes
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I have seen heaps of grey shrike thrushes but never seen the behaviour you describe.

soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia

Ccatnip
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It is at my window as I type this and comes back several times a day.  I would be interested to know whether anyone has any ideas about its behaviour.  Now that I know what it is I have been reading several articals on the internet.  Apparently they will try to impress or fight off their own reflection if they see it in a mirror.  Perhaps one explanation.  

davoeng1
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Grey Shrike Thrushes around here do that during the breeding season.  I always assume that they are territorial and trying to scare off the bird in the reflection.  I've had them spend hours doing laps of the house, going from window to window.

Woko
Woko's picture

Its reflection is seen as competition. For a couple of years we had a Grey Shrike-thrush (not to mention a Superb Fairy Wren) fighting off it’s reflection in the side mirrors of our car. I cut off the sleeves of a precious old yard shirt & placed them over the mirrors. It hasn’t repeated the behaviour. 

Ccatnip
Ccatnip's picture

Thank you everyone for your comments and knowledge.  I have been reading up on this little fellow now that I know what he or she is.  I am assuming it’s male because of the behaviour.  He wakes me every morning at sunrise.   I’ve seen another one hanging around close by and they both interact so I am assuming they are a mated pair.  I read that they often have three attempts at breeding each season so hopefully I will find a nest on my property.  I also read they defend territories up to 10 hectares and come back to the same breading site each year.  I have 1 hectare with lots of trees and heaps of bushland for miles around me.  Apparently other birds are repelled by their constant singing.  I am amazed by the different calls recorded at locations around Australia.  It’s almost sounds like a different  dialect in each locality.  I’m looking forward to finding out more about this little bird and hopefully finding a nest.  He’s been hanging around for a couple of years so I am assuming he has claimed my property.  

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