interesting feeding behaviour and a Gang-Gang nil return

[John Leonard <>]

Hi

I was just in Westbourne Woods, where I recording a nil return for the June Gang-Gang census (remember, these are as valuable as actual records).

Anyway, two interesting feeding behaviours observed:

1. A Kookaburra swooping down and catching a murid. It was either Bush Rat or a young Brown Rat (too big for a mouse). Flew back to the perch and although the animal was clearly dead it still had great difficulty as it had picked up a beakful of twigs and leaves. Once it had dealt with these it swallowed the animal, and then sat on the branch looking very bloated and uncomfortable.

2. A Grey Butcherbird picking bark off a dead limb of a willow and eating invertebrates from underneath (never seen this behaviour before).

--
John Leonard