This bird has caused all sorts of ruckus in the neighbourhood.
It is hiding in the thick of a large tree and has been there since last night. every bird in the area was sounding the alarm but I couldn't find it until this morning.
I witnessed attacks by drongos,currawongs, bluefaced honeyeaters and the inevitable noisy miners. I can't understand why it doesn't just fly away. it was holding it's claw up in front and I don't know if that is characteristic of this species or if maybe it is hurt.
Butcher bird sounding the alarm
Cheers
Birdie
G'day Birdie. This is definately a Grey Goshawk. The GH has two colour phases, one grey and the other entirely white according to Flegg and Longmore.Ray
G'day Birdie. This is definately a Grey Goshawk. The GH has two colour phases, one grey and the other entirely white according to Flegg and Longmore.Ray
Thanks Ray, I thought so. It made fascinating watching as the drama unfolded. What a beautiful looking bird it was.
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Nice bird to have in the neighbourhood, Birdie. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
George
Melbourne, VIC
Great story Birdie. Thanks for sharing. I saw one of these once from a distance and thought how beautiful it was. Your so lucky to have one in your yard.
See Yez
Trev
So why was it being attacked?
BTW that's a great shot of a pied butcherbird calling!
Amateur
I presume it was being attacked just for being itself!! I imagine a bird of prey such as that would never be welcome in any local neighbourhood :')
WHen I first saw it I thought it was a cocky and it wasn't until I heard the noise from all the other birds that I realised it was a threat to them. The picture of the attack was a drongo giving it heaps
cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Love Grey Goshawks, not very common either. I usually see about one a year. It's been 12 months now as the last one I saw fly over my house in Cambridge Gardens (north of Penrith) on March 12 last year, and it was a grey morph.
Most raptors will cop a hiding from diurnal species once seen. Once you spend a lot of time learning about your local patch of birds, you will soon work out what the species' alarm calls are like and when to be really watchful to spot a raptor. This week I heard a local group of Noisy Miners go nuts for about 15 seconds and lo behold, a Brown Goshawk swooped low over ground about 40m away. Nearly two years ago my wife and I were walking our dogs at the Penrith baseball fields on Andrews Rd and I could hear alarms and I said to her "Bet ya a raptor is around". Kid you not, soon after that a Peregrine Falcon flew about 20m away from us chasing a small bird. The passerine escaped, the falcon turned around and flew about 30m away from us, but only about 5m above ground with its pride shattered. It's amazing what you can deduce from the calls that you hear and learn to recognize.
I have seen Rainbow Lorikeets harass Square-tailed Kites near my house, got a photo of an Aus. Magpie chasing a White-bellied Sea Eagle, two Aus. Ravens harassing a Whistling Kite and seen a poor Southern Boobook get annoyed to hell by Aus. Ravens, Magpie-larks and Noisy Miners. It's a fact of life. You will even see raptors harass raptors. I witnessed a White-bellied Sea Eagle bully the prey from a Swamp Harrier and a Swamp Harrier do the same to a Whistling Kite. All in a day's bird watching really. :) In our WIRES branch we even received a young Barn Owl that was killed by a mob of Pied Currawongs on the UWS Campus at Richmond. :(
I know what you mean about the alarms. i can now just about tell the three main types of alarms in my neighbourhood.
The cat alert, ( only noisies)
The snake alert (everything in creation with wings on it )
The raptor alert - selected birds and a different type of calling
I love it as I don't have to look very hard to find stuff.... they just let me know and all I have to do is keep the camera ready.
I too have seen lorikeets chase a grey goshawk across the treetops in my neighbourhood. There were about 30 of them shepherding it onwards.
Cheers
BIrdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Don't know if it is the same one or not, but the birds went off at this intruder this morning again.
Sorry about the quality of the shots but it all happened in a flash that saw me sprint the distance of my yard out the front gate and about 300m up the road trying to follow this beautiful bird as the rest of the neighbourhood birds tried to drive him away!! He returned to circle up high and have the odd dog fight with an occasional bird after leading the whole flock into the highest gums.
A most beautiful bird indeed and one worth chasing.
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Wow Birdie....how lucky are you???? Well done.
Your right there Birdie. i reckon I could run a long way to try to get close. As Tassie said. How lucky are you? and Well done.
See Yez
Trev
I found out about a pair of these GGs nesting near Kurrajong last year. Though by the time I got the info and checked out the spot, the young have fledged. I certainly will keep my eyes peeled this year in case they return to use the same nest. Hopefully I will be able to observe and photograph the pair. :)