canberrabirds

Breeding in Torrens

To: Stephen Brand <>, " >> canberra birds" <>
Subject: Breeding in Torrens
From: John Brannan <>
Date: Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:36:57 +1100
At the end of Dungowan St in Hawker there is an enormous eucalypt that has been home to 6 species this spring: A. Magpie, Magpie Lark (2 broods), Tawny Frogmouth, Willie Wagtail, Crested Pigeon and Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike. All have successfully raised young, except for the Willie Wagtails who abandoned their completed nest when the cuckoo-shrikes moved in on the next branch. (The went on to breed successfully in another tree about 30 yards away.) Not all of these breeding events were concurrent (the magpies were finished by the time the BFCS moved in), but they were all pretty close together and seemingly mostly harmonious. There were no currawongs, however.

John Brannan


Stephen Brand wrote:
Magpie Larks now with their second family. First family of three successfully fledged and were fed around out house in late October (one early chick fell or was ejected from the nest which is high in a Eucalypt in the front of our house which upset our 18 year old terribly). I realised they were sitting again on the same nest only a few weeks ago and now have two very healthy looking chicks looking close to fledging. A feature of the second breeding event is that they are and have been almost silent. I have not seen any begging behaviour that produced a noise and I have definitely not heard any. The whole breeding event has been low key compared to the first. I wondered if the reason was, that, in a nearby tree we had a very successful Currawong breeding event where three chicks fledged in early to mid November (I will note dates in future). They are still around our house and requiring huge attention from their parents. I saw at least one small bird in the beak of a parent on our grass at the rear a few weeks back. I guess the second brood of Magpie Lark chicks would have been more vulnerable to predation from the Currawongs during the furious feeding period of three large chicks than when the Magpie Lark had their first brood. Hence the instruction to juniors to keep the noise down. Is two breeding events so close very common? Stephen Brand


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