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Each year I have either Pied Currawongs or
Australian Ravens nesting in the one very big Eucalypt in my back yard (Kambah,
southern suburb of Canberra). This year (unfortunately) it was the Pied
Currawongs. One of the at least two chicks appears to have got its leg caught in
twigs or string or whatever and was left dangling and eventually (I don't know
when) died, hanging down beside the nest. (I was away from home for a week and
this happened whilst I was away.) That was about 2 weeks ago. The other chick
fledged and is still being fed. The parent Currawongs immediately attack me
every time I arrive home or step out the door, which makes arriving or
leaving my house or hanging up washing or collecting the mail or anything
similar, pretty unpleasant. Anyway, today there were three Sulphur-crested Cockatoo pruning or should I say
removing most of the young apples from my granny smith apple tree, whilst
just above them one other Sulphur-crested Cockatoo was having
a nibble and the by now probably rather desiccated carcase of the Currawong
chick. It was rather inefficiently plucking feathers off it and pulling at it a
bit. I couldn't see with certainty that it was eating anything, but it sure
looked likely. At times it was left hanging upside down whilst doing this, as
the position of the dead chick was not easy to get at. Although birds feeding on
the apples were much more skilled in biting off branches and feeding perched on
one foot. I watched this for about ten minutes pre dusk until the birds feeding
on the apple tree decided with their usual squawk that it was time to go off to
their night roost and the all departed together.
This is probably not unprecedented but not that
expected either.
Philip
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