birding-aus

Corvid Behaviour

To: "Birding Australia" <>
Subject: Corvid Behaviour
From: "Chris Sanderson" <>
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:29:01 +1000
Talking of strange, possible mating behaviour in birds... I was watching a
flock of Little Corellas at the University of Queensland St Lucia campus the
other week, and in a flock of maybe 50 birds there were many pairs involved
in a strange game.  One would start biting the other on the face and neck.
The one being bitten would then roll over onto its back (a very vulnerable
position for a bird), while the other one kept biting it (definitely biting,
there was no preening).  It didn't look vicious, the birds were noisy but
not obviously fighting or in pain.  Is this a mating ritual?  Playing?
Whatever it was it was strange and fairly comical.

Regards,
Chris

On Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 11:18 AM, <> wrote:

> I've seen similar behaviour to that being discussed with White-winged
> Choughs. I assumed it was some type of mating display when i saw it.
>
> Here's a photos i got of the display that might help people visualise
> whast being discussed here:
>
> http://www.peterfuller.com.au/week/11062007.html
>
> Peter
>
>
>
>
>
> L&L Knight <>
> Sent by: 
> 25/08/2008 08:04 PM
>
> To
> Birding Aus <>
> cc
>
> Subject
> [Birding-Aus] Corvid Behaviour
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I was outside of my house the other day when I noticed a T. Crow at
> the back of a property across the street with its wings spread.  That
> was not something I could recall seeing before, so I popped inside to
> collect my binoculars.
>
> I initially thought the bird was caught on something and hanging down,
> but it moved and I was able to see that it had both its wing and tail
> feathers fully spread - the effect reminded me a bit of the posture
> assumed by riflebirds.  It held that attitude for a few minutes before
> being approached by another crow and they both dropped out of sight.
>
> Is that wing & tail spread position typical of corvid mating display
> behaviour?
>
> Regards, Laurie.
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