Has any one noticed high aggression from the Wattlebirds to other birds? I have around five or six Wattlebirds that hang around here and look for handouts (feeding young at present) when I feed the Satin Bowerbirds.
Until a couple of weeks ago I had a Bronzewing Pigeon who used to call in daily and would eat with the Crimson Rosella's. This bird has now vanished, but what I have noticed is that my local family of Wattlebirds have taken up residence in the tree the pigeon used to sit in. Maybe they drove the pigeon off?
Did notice two Wattlebirds trying to move on our local Kookaburra today, the Kookaburra more or less ignored them. Has any one else noted aggression and the driving off of other birds by Wattlebirds?
The Red Wattlebird is a dominant species in my neck of the woods. Especially at breeding time they seem to be in great competition with New Holland Honeyeaters for resources such as nectar & water. I've posted before my observation that this is the time of the year when one or two New Holland Honeyeaters spend a lot of time provoking a Red Wattlebird into chasing it around. My hypothesis is they're trying to wear the Red Wattlebird down so that their mates can have undisturbed access - at least for a time - to those resources.
A good reason to plant indigenous plants & avoid those large-flowering hybrid Grevilleas which adorn so many people's gardens is that those Grevilleas attract Red Wattlebirds which then dominate & drive away smaller birds. Bird diversity suffers as a result.
Recent research showed that Australian birds are more intelligent and aggressive than birds from other continents, probably because songbirds evolved in Australia first. There are a lot of aggressive birds in Australia, the skies at my place seem to be a constant battleground between different species, especially at this time of year when there is lots of fruit on my trees.
I have the same as you Woko, the Red Wattlebird, they are quite a character and a couple of them are very bold, coming up to the verandah railing when I am sitting out.
They are feeding young as I see them fly off with some food in their beaks. I think they are responsible for driving my Bronzewing Pigeon away as they have taken over its tree.
The Satin Bowerbirds don't take any nonsense from the Red Wattlebirds though, and hold their ground.