The Other Birds

Parts 1 and 2 described some of the more common “black and white” and “vividly coloured” species, which make up a large proportion of the birds that are found in the area of Victoria where our son has settled.

In this Part three I will be showing some of the other common birds to be found, the ones that don’t fall into one of those categories but which are likely to attract your attention because of their uniqueness or simply because they are plentiful or easily seen.

And to start off, let’s take a look at one of Australia’s most iconic birds and also one of my favourites –

Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae

The Kookaburra has adapted well to urban environments, particularly those with areas of large eucalypts and if you think it looks a lot like a kingfisher, you would be spot on – it is in fact the largest member of the kingfisher family, outsizing even the Giant Kingfisher from Africa, but its “fishing” exploits are confined to dry land with its diet including insects, small mammals and even other birds.

The name is a loan-word from the Wiradjuri people who called it a guuguubarra which in turn is an onomatopeic version of the sound of its call. The call is loud and distinctive, ringing through the trees and sounding rather maniacal – listen to the calls at this link :

https://wildambience.com/wildlife-sounds/laughing-kookaburra/

For interest, I looked into the scientific name of the Kookaburra – Dacelo novaeguineae – and learnt a couple of totally useless facts, nevertheless fascinating if you are into that sort of thing.

Firstly Dacelo is an anagram of Alcedo, the latin word for kingfisher – which was the genus name originally given to the species. As an aside the genus name of two South African species of kingfisher is Alcedo, while 5 of the other 8 South African kingfishers fall under the genus Halcyon

As to the species name novaeguineae, the laughing kookaburra was first described and illustrated by French naturalist and explorer Pierre Sonnerat in his Voyage à la nouvelle Guinée, which was published in 1776. He claimed to have seen the bird in New Guinea. In fact Sonnerat never visited New Guinea and the laughing kookaburra does not occur there. He probably obtained a preserved specimen from one of the naturalists who accompanied Captain James Cook to the east coast of Australia

Well, I warned you that it’s useless (yet fascinating) information! Just shows that scientists are a quirky bunch at times.

Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala

Like the Laughing Kookaburra, the Noisy Miner is found mostly in the eastern parts of Australia and, like so many species of this vast country, it is an endemic. The first thing that strikes you about this bird is its somewhat cross-eyed appearance – mainly due to the yellow coloured bare patch of skin behind the eyes

And the name? Well I did try and find the origin of Miner but could not come up with anything other than a suggestion that it is another form of Mynah, which we know all too well in South Africa. There is a resemblance so let’s assume that is the case. As for the Noisy part of its name, it is just that – a noisy bird that lives in loose colonies and vigorously defends its feeding area.

Red Wattlebird Anthochaera carunculata

It’s named for the red wattles just below its cheeks, not visible in my photo so you’ll have to use your imagination. A member of the extensive honeyeater family of birds, this is one of the largest and possibly noisiest as well, using its harsh, grating cough or bark to announce its presence in the neighbourhood. It’s the avian equivalent of that aggressive hell’s angel type who roars through the suburbs creating a cacophany of sound.

Australasian Swamphen Porphyrio melanotus

I was amazed during our first visit to Australia some 3 years ago and again during our recent visit, to find this Swamphen in places you would least expect, particularly if you are accustomed to birding in southern Africa. Where we are used to swamphens being shy and retiring, seeking refuge among reeds at every opportunity, the Australian version, which is very similar in appearance, can pop up just about anywhere and is hardly fazed by humans. This one approached to within a couple of metres of our picnic table next to the lake where we were enjoying a take-away lunch.

Masked Lapwing Vanellus miles

As Lapwings go, this is a particularly handsome one, often seen on larger lawns and in fields, feeding in its slow, deliberate fashion across most of Australia. This species used to be called the Spurwinged Plover as, like many lapwings, the wings are armed with spurs at the carpal joint that are used to defend their territory in breeding season.

Superb Fairywren Malurus cyaneus

Now I know what you’re thinking …. what’s so “superb” about this attractive but dull-looking bird? The answer is in two parts – the female lacks the bright colouring of the male, while the male, brightly coloured in the breeding season, loses the bright colouring in non-breeding plumage, other than its tail which remains blue.

Interestingly, they have a communal group breeding system where one pair in the group raise up to four broods in a season, while the rest of the group members look after the young.

This is one of the most common of the small birds that I have come across on my walks and in the garden and are found across the south-eastern parts of Australia.

New Holland Honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae

Not the best photo, but this is s a bird that chooses to perch on the very top of tall trees, and with the sky often being overcast yet bright it presents a real challenge to get a reasonable image. Without any exposure adjustment the image is likely to be so dark as to be unrecognisable.

My approach is to adjust the exposure compensation on the camera by up to +2 full stops – in this case it was +1.3 stops which I found wasn’t enough, so I added a further +0.4 stops while editing. Apologies if this is getting too technical, but this is one of the simplest ways of improving your photos, as I have found that almost every situation calls for some exposure compensation – plus or minus – and all modern cameras have this function available.

As to the bird itself, this is one of the huge family of Honeyeaters that are major pollinators of many of Australia’s unique native plants, feeding on the honey-flora flowers and in the process pollen is deposited on their head and transferred to the next plants they visit. They are common in south-west and south-east Australia and often come into the garden.

Other Flying Things

And now for something else that’s aerial ……. – is it a bird, is it a plane? ….. no it’s Superm….. sorry it IS a plane! That red colouring had me thinking for a moment it was my favourite superhero with his famous red cape! Oh well…..

Actually this is one of the six Pilatus C-21 aircraft that make up the Roulettes aerobatic team – they perform at air shows across the country and seem to spend a large part of the day practising over Sale as there is almost always one of them buzzing around overhead

References :

The Complete Guide to Australian Birds by George Adams

Wikipedia (Laughing Kookaburra)

I started my previous post by saying that the casual, non-birder observer could easily come to the conclusion that Australia’s birds fall into three basic groups –

• black and white or shades in between
• vividly coloured birds
• a variety of smaller, often nondescript birds

The author of The Complete Guide to Australian Birds, George Adams, has this to say in his introduction –

Australia is one of the world’s ten mega-diverse countries and is fortunate to have a rich diversity of birds and an unusually high number of endemic species found across its many, equally diverse and beautiful landscapes. The jabbering of parrots, the laughter of Kookaburras, the song of the Magpie or the trilling warble of Fairy-wrens all bestow a real sense of ‘place’ that is uniquely Australian.

Part 1 described some of the more common “black and white” species, which make up a large proportion of the birds that are found in the area of Victoria where our son has settled. In this Part 2 I will be showing some of the other common birds to be found, in particular ….

The Vividly Coloured Birds

Australia is probably best known for its variety of brightly coloured birds, and rightly so! They seem to occur just about everywhere, especially where their favoured habitat occurs – mostly forests of various kinds, but also anywhere else with trees such as gardens, farmlands, woodlands and the like.

Crimson Rosella Platycercus elegans

Corellas are small, ground-feeding cockatoos but are not averse to foraging in eucalypts for insects, seeds, fruit, nectar and larvae.

This endemic species has several colour forms across its range, which includes eastern and south-eastern Australia. Mostly crimson with blue patches on the cheeks as well as some of the wing and tail feathers, it stands out wherever you find it – in the image below it was scratching amongst a thick layer of fallen leaves and had found an acorn or seed of some kind.

The immature version shows little crimson, which is replaced by dull green, making it far more difficult to spot

Australian King Parrot Alisterus scapularis

The only endemic parrot with a red head, this is another standout species – the image shows a female with its somewhat duller colouring, with the red limited to the belly, nevertheless unmistakeable. I had seen King Parrots during our previous visit in 2019, but was not able to photograph one, so this opportunity was not to be missed when it posed briefly on a fence before flying off with the rest of its small group.

Habitat is forests, parks and gardens and its feeding preference is the outer foliage of trees where it looks for fruit, nuts, nectar and blossoms. They are found in eastern Australia.

Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus moluccanus

Surely one of the most colourful birds you’ll see anywhere, they are easily spotted as they fly around the neighbourhood in small flocks, screeching as they go, then chattering while feeding in the trees. Lorikeets are arboreal feeders that have brush-like tongues for extracting nectar from flowering eucalypts. Favoured habitats are forests, parks and gardens.

Galah Eolophus roseicapilla

More sedately coloured than those above, the Galah makes up for any lack of bright colouring by gathering in flocks, sometimes large ones as will be seen in some of the images below. The Galah occurs across Australia and is usually a ground feeder, taking seeds, herbs and roots or spilt grain and cereal crops.

Eastern Rosella Platycercus eximius

This is another species that eluded my attempts to photograph it during our previous visit, so I was particularly pleased to get some decent images during an outing to Raymond Island (more about that outing in a future post). It is confined to the south-eastern parts of Australia where it is regarded as common.

As vividly coloured as the Rainbow Lorikeet above, the white throat and bill of the Eastern Rosella stand out against the bright colours of the rest of the bird. Preferred habitat is open eucalypt woodlands (where I found this one), grasslands, parks, gardens and farmland. A ground feeder of grass and fallen seeds, it is surprisingly well camouflaged when among foliage.

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita

Perhaps I’m pushing my luck including this all white bird under the general description of vividly coloured birds, however it is a spectacular bird that makes its presence known in no uncertain manner with a harsh raucous screech that comes straight out of a horror movie. They move about in small flocks, inhabiting forests, woodland, cultivated lands, parks and gardens and feed mostly on the ground on grass seeds, herbs, berries and fruit.

South Africans of a certain “vintage” will remember this bird well as it featured in adverts for NBS building society

So what’s left? Having covered the “black and white” birds in Part 1 and the “Vividly coloured” birds in this Part 2, there are still a number of other birds to mention under the heading of “the others” – watch this space…

Reference : The Complete Guide to Australian Birds by George Adams

The casual, non-birder observer could easily come to the conclusion that Australia’s birds fall into three basic groups –

• A majority that are various combinations of black and white or shades in between and can be found hanging about just about anywhere – in trees, on lampposts, in the garden, in town, at the sea – you get the picture
• A lot that are vividly coloured birds, that in any other country would most likely be sitting in a cage in someone’s kitchen saying “hello – polly wants a cracker” or suchlike
• The rest – a variety of smaller, often nondescript birds that don’t seem to seek the limelight as much as the above two groups and take some effort to find as they skulk in the bushes and trees

That’s a gross simplification of course, so to put it into some perspective, this is what the author of The Complete Guide to Australian Birds, George Adams, has to say in his introduction –

Australia is one of the world’s ten mega-diverse countries and is fortunate to have a rich diversity of birds and an unusually high number of endemic species found across its many, equally diverse and beautiful landscapes. The jabbering of parrots, the laughter of Kookaburras, the song of the Magpie or the trilling warble of Fairy-wrens all bestow a real sense of ‘place’ that is uniquely Australian.

Having just returned from our second visit to Australia (the first was in pre-pandemic 2019) I can associate with his description of the birding experience that this fine country has to offer.

The only problem is, with Australia being such a vast country, and considering that our two visits to date have been restricted to a relatively small part of one state – Victoria, in the south-east corner of Australia – means we have hardly touched on that rich diversity.

The majority of this massive continent and its birdlife therefore remains a mystery for the time being, with my only knowledge of it gleaned from the abovementioned guide.

However, having spent a total of some two and a half months during the two visits we have made to Sale, Victoria where our son and family have settled, there has been ample time to observe the neighbourhood birds and those in other places we visited, in the process getting to know some of the common birds quite well.

Which brings me back to those three basic groups, starting with …..

Black and white – and shades in between

Starting with the “all-blacks”, one of the most obvious and widespread is the Australian Raven Corvus coronoides, loudly pronouncing its presence with its “aark” call and often seen from a distance gliding across the landscape

The Common Blackbird Turdus merula, a much smaller species of thrush size and common in the UK and Europe, favours gardens – the female is a mottled brownish colour

Largest of all, the Black Swan Cygnus atratus, (yes, even the swans are black in Australia) which looks all black when swimming but shows white flight feathers when flying

The “black-and-whites” make up a large proportion of the birds seen generally, with the Australian Magpie Cracticus tibicen leading the way (by a couple of furlongs) – it is just everywhere and the family in Aus were quick to mention how aggressive it can be especially during breeding times. I was quite intimidated by one during our road trip along the Great Alpine Road (more about that in a future post) when I found one perched on our rental car’s mirror one morning, giving me a glaring look of “Who’s car is this anyway?”

They do have a very different song, curiously tuneful and sounding like it’s being produced by some sort of electronic instrument.

One of my favourites is the Magpie-lark Grallina cyanoluca, a glossy black-and-white medium sized bird which spends most of the time foraging on the ground, often in gardens. Also known as the “Peewee”, presumably based on its liquid call, it is neither Magpie or Lark but is related to Flycatchers, which it shows by its buoyant fluttering flight when chasing insect prey

Another favourite is the Pied Currawong Strepera graculina, which looks like a slightly smaller edition of the Magpie, although it has less obvious white colouring confined to a white band on the wings and a white-tipped tail. The voice is a distinctive, ringing “cur-ra-wong” which is why it carries the unusual name

Also in this category are the two common Ibises, both of which are combinations of black and white and both occur in flocks of anything from a handful to a hundred or more. One morning I counted over 20 on the lawn of our son’s house, enjoying a temporary “wetland” caused by recent heavy rains.

Firstly, the one that has the impressive name of Australian White Ibis Theskiornis molucca, but is colloquially known as the “Bin Chicken” due to its habit of scavenging from rubbish bins in the cities. They make a grand sight at dusk when they fly in numbers in V-formation on their way to roost for the night.

The second Ibis has the interesting name Straw-necked Ibis Theskiornis spinicollis, but the reason for this name is not immediately obvious until you zoom in on the photos taken and notice that, indeed, the neck does have a straw-like appearance

A bird which I had only a glimpse of during our 2019 visit but which afforded me some cracking views this time around is the Grey Butcherbird Cracticus torquatus. “Honey, I shrunk the magpie” comes to mind as it has all the features of the larger Magpie, scaled down to about half the size. In fact the Magpie and Butcherbirds belong to the same genus so the similarity is easy to understand. The Butcherbird name derives from its habit of impaling prey for later consumption, much like we see in South Africa with the Fiscals (which are also referred to as butcherbirds)

That covers the black and white birds that are most often seen – excluding the smaller birds and water birds which I will introduce in further posts. That leaves the “vividly coloured birds” and “the rest” for a follow up introductory post on my Australian birding experience