The group near Yarralumla tennis courts in Mueller St are
carrying mouthfuls of mud this week, they usually nest in the gums behind the
courts
Sz
From:
Jack and Andrea Holland [
Sent: Friday, 12 March 2010 3:27
PM
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds]
White-winged Choughs nest building
Further to Con's observations earlier this week, I watched a
group of 5 White-winged Choughs actively building a nest in a gum tree in the
horse paddocks close to the dam at the end of Kathner Street Chapman this
morning.
This is at least the fourth breeding attempt for
the 2009-2010 season for this small group, the nucleus of which I expect
is the same as those that I wrote about last year [CBN 34, 109 (2009)], as they
are the only choughs seen in my pretty extensive local patch. The
first which had a bird sitting on a new nest for several weeks was terminated
when this nest blew out of the tree in very strong winds at the end of August
2009. They promptly built a second nest in another gum about 50
metres away (with the still extant 2008 nest about half way between) and raised
2 fledglings in this by the end of October.
After a quiet two months the birds reappeared after the Xmas
rain, and one bird was regularly seen on this same nest for about 3 weeks until
they left the area again, possibly due to the hot drying weather and the still
dry dam. One very interesting observation this time was that the two
juveniles/immatures were still with them, and on a couple of occasions an adult
was seen to feed one of these, and shortly after to approach the nest to
feed the sitting adult.
Three birds were again seen in the area for a brief period
shortly after the rain in mid February, but I was surprised to
find (after a tip off) five birds there this morning, flying to and from this
same tree. When I climbed over the fence to approach it, it was clear
they were going to a slightly different spot. My initial reaction that
they were feeding recently fledged young was dispelled when I found them
actively building about a half-completed nest at a similar level in the tree
but about 7 metres away from the other one (which was perhaps too wet to use?).
Not sure how they will fare this time, but I'm pretty sure
the now full dam and the very boggy/muddy conditions have triggered this
attempt, and perhaps the increased food availability. It's also very
interesting that they have been one of the few species which have bred on the
ridge this season in an otherwise very quiet year.
