Can someone help me to identify this bird please? I haven't seen it before and it may be that it is the young of a familiar bird. It was with a pigeon and a noisy miner, about the same size as the pigeon, white with black and brown patches, pink legs, brown beak, (not a black and white bird like a magpie for eg, much more white) and thats all i managed to see.
Thank you!
Location is essential, where do you live? Do you have a picture? That would help a lot, can you tell us the shape eg. raptor, kingfisher, wagtail? And a more detailed description too, you said it was the same size as 'the pigeon' but you didn't say the pigeons size, the only thing I get out of your description is maybe a juv Butcherbird
Tegan - Melbourne Vic.
It was in the Inner West of Sydney, on a nature strip (where someone leaves bread out), sorry i don't have a picture. It was shaped a bit like a magpie, (so what is that category?).
elizabeth
Then probably juv Butcherbird, possibly grey, or if it had a bib then pied. Also maybe talk to the neighbour that feeds the birds bread about artificial feeding of birds, it is so bad for them and can kill them
Tegan - Melbourne Vic.
Artificial feeding of birds is not a good look, as you imply, Tegan.
Thanks Woko, glad you agree, seed also ruins lorikeets and honeyeaters brush tongues doesn't it??
Tegan - Melbourne Vic.
Yes I get annoyed when i see people feeding birds. Especially this particular one, it seems so pointless. Thanks for the help.
Elizabeth
elizabeth
It certainly is pointless Elizabeth, did you find what bird it is yet?
Tegan - Melbourne Vic.
I am still not sure, I have had a look at pictures of juvenile Butcher birds and I'm still not sure, i'll keep looking. It was (to me) an unusual looking bird. Thanks
Elizabeth
elizabeth
Hmm, maybe a young Currawong then?
Tegan - Melbourne Vic.
Tegan, I'm not sure about seeds damaging the brush tongues of lorikeets & honeyeaters but, as always, the precautionary principle needs to be applied: don't feed these birds (or any other birds for that matter) unnatural foods.
I did discover on the Wild Bird Rescues Gold Coast website (http://wildbirdrescues.com.au/feeding-native-birds/feeding-wild-parrots-and-cockatoos/) that feeding birds water sweetened with honey & sugar strips the delicate hairs from the tongues of lorikeets and thereby reduces their ability to gather nectar which is their natural food. The site also warns against feeding birds avocado which can kill birds. And don't feed them citrus fruits but I'm not sure why. I suspect it has something to do with citric acid entering their diets.
I also discovered on the NSW Office of Environment & Heritage website (www.environment.nsw.gov.au/animals/TheDangersOfFeedingLorikeets.htm) that not only does artificial feeding of birds, especially lorkikeets, cockatoos & parrots, cause psittacine circovirus or beak & feather disease but also necrotising enteritis which causes death & is caused by an inadequate diet associated with artificial feeding & unsanitary feeding trays.
The upshot of this is that the planting of indigenous vegetation provides natural food for birds & avoids the above nasties. Also, it's rather more attractive than a filthy feeding tray.
How interesting, I knew about avocado, bread, seeds but I had no idea about the sweetened water, but is it okay to feed them normal water at a bowl/bird bath that is cleaned regularly or does that transmit disease like food trays, because I was thinking about saving for a bird bath, but am worried about starlings fouling it
Tegan - Melbourne Vic.
In the video on the home page here it says that it's okay!! Either a bath, or a bowl on the ground, in shade and near shrubbery for escape if necessary.
elizabeth
Water is something a wide range of bird species use when it's present so it's a natural part of their diet (& grooming). The water that birds use is usually a lot less hygienic than the water provided in many bird baths so I'm not a stickler for pure water. In fact, I suspect that somewhat impure water enables birds to produce antibodies to combat any lurking diseases in that water.
I've noticed, however, that if the water in my bird bath becomes too foul then the birds will avoid it so I reckon they know what is & isn't suitable for them. So I tend to top up the water when topping up is needed & only fully replenish it about every four days by which time it's not too flash. To clean out any encrusted slime I use a spatula but this is only necessary every few months. I avoid cleaning chemicals like the plague.
Yes, for some reason Starlings do foul water quickly. I've often wondered why. Do they bring something to the water that is filthy? Apart from a few at breeding time I no longer get Starlings at my place but when I had hordes of them I used to replenish the water every time I saw that it was in a horrid state. This was at least daily in breeding season.
Ms Woko & I found that as our revegetation matured so the number of Starlings declined. I suspect two factors at work here were greater competition for nesting spots from native birds & an increase in raptor numbers. And it has resulted in less work for me in cleaning & filling the bird bath. Oh, yes, and less water used in this driest state in the driest continent outside Antarctica.
That is great that you don't get starlings at your place anymore Woko, to be honest, the most common bird I get in my back yard are starlings and common mynahs, also blackbirds and house and tree sparrows. The reason they foul bird baths is because since they flock, they all go in water at the same time, and they all excrete in it, which is disgusting and in general they are just a really dirty bird.
Elizabeth - thanks for the tips, I will defiantly keep them in mind!
Tegan - Melbourne Vic.
some years ago my Dad had a neighbour in Melbourne's eastern suburbs who fed the birds for a little while,as in a few months but definitely not a year.
He had been a POW in Changi & I now realise he probably had mild PTSD, and directed so much love, affection and gentleness to animals that we were often surprised at his capacity to do so.
Local businesses donated bread which he sliced & diced.
What intrigued us was that huge flocks of lorikeets turned up each day, however, when he went to hospital unexpectedly, after 2 days they never returned.
On his return from hospital he decided for some reason he never shared with anyone, not to feed the birds any more
I think some people feed birds in an almost callous and unthinking kind of way and other people like that neighbour who had PTSD do it because they genuinely believe they are doing something good!
Elizabeth
elizabeth
Perhaps it goes deeper than that. The gentleness of tame birds or nearly tame birds would make a distinct contrast with the brutality & deprivation of a war prison. For a POW to have that contrast would provide a degree of contact with a different, far more pleasant world.
More generally, the artificial feeding of birds meets more the needs of the feeder rather than the fed. Birds need artificial feeding like a hole in the head (which some cockatoos actually get from the beak & feather disease acquired through artificial feeding) but many people who struggle socially find it easier to relate to birds they feed than to other people. In many ways our society encourages social isolation & therefore unwittingly encourages the artificial feeding of birds among other compensating behaviours.
Artificial feeding of birds has also become a cultural norm in many places. That norm can be reinforced by, for example, the recent giving of a bird feeder as a prize in a competition or by meeting the needs of the human feeder.
By contrast there is a growing awareness in some places, for example on Birds in Backyards, that a more appropriate way to feed birds is to provide them with natural food via protecting & restoring their natural habitats.
I find this to be true among not only those who feed birds, but also those who 'rescue' animals, there is a large group of people who impose their "need to be needed" and or "the rescuer" and or "right/just" and or "the martyr" onto birds and other animals and these are the people it is hardest to convince to change habits, actions, or attitudes about birds and other animals. These are the ones who will keep a bird or animal alive at any cost so they can say "I saved it!".
Happy Birding!
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