Re: Kookaburras, cuckoo shrikes, jacky winters and nest hollow disputes

["Philip Veerman" <>]

Some vague hints that may be entirely wrong answers:

 

Several birds do head bobbing (falcons and owls do it noticeably) this is a way of getting views from different angles and is thought to aid in getting a enhanced sense of visual distance perception.

 

Field guide books will show you how to pick Jacky Winters from female robins (basically the same but the Jacky Winter has white tail edges, which it emphasises by wagging the tail.

 

As for Would it be likely that the SCCs took over the hollow from the corellas? well that may be but not necessarily. The behaviour as you have seen it seems fairly normal and it may not mean that either species is using the hollow. They could still both be house hunting. I expect cockatoos may do the same as these rosellas. I have two pairs of Crimson Rosellas & one pair of Eastern Rosellas have been checking the box in my yard for weeks. They all visit (separately) one to several times a day and the females go into the box whilst the males sit outside chattering and tail wagging. Each pair never stay for more than about ten minutes. Usually chased off by either the currawongs (now nesting in the tree) or each other.

 

As for a pair of Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes, one of which had a full face mask, but the other only had an eye mask, indicating that it was a juv. What about parent and young, although it would seem a late developer from last year or maybe an early breeding from this year. Maybe they can breed whilst still in juvenile plumage. Though being together is not breeding.

 

Philip

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Erika Roper [
Sent: Monday, 8 October 2012 7:32 PM
To: canberrabirds
Subject: [canberrabirds] Re: Kookaburras, cuckoo shrikes, jacky winters and nest hollow disputes

It has been brought to my attention that the photo
I sent of the kookaburra eggs was rather large. Sorry, I didn't realise how big
it was. I've resized it, so here it is again if anyone is interested.

Erika

On 8 October 2012 17:32, Erika Roper <> wrote:

Hi all,

I have a few questions that I'm hoping you guys might have answers to.

While out checking the rosella nest boxes today we came across a kookaburra in one of them. As we approached it had its head out the hole and was bobbing it up and down with its bill open. It then flew out and joined its mate in a tree where they started laughing together. I was wondering whether the head bobbing might have been a threat display of some sort, or whether the bird just got stuck in the hole while trying to leave. Attached is a photo of the three eggs we found in the box.

I also saw what I think were three Jacky Winters, though I'm not sure as I haven't seen one before. My first thought was that I was seeing a female robin of some sort, but then I saw three birds in the same plumage. Male robins don't have eclipse plumage do they?

Also, when I was previously at this field site (a couple of weeks ago) I noticed a pair of Little Corellas inspecting a nest hollow, however today the hollow appeared to be in use by Sulphur-crested Cockatoos. Would it be likely that the SCCs took over the hollow from the corellas? I just thought it was interesting that the ownership of the hollow had changed in the last 2 weeks.

And lastly, I saw a pair of Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes, one of which had a full face mask, but the other only had an eye mask, indicating that it was a juv. Do adults and juvs often hang out together as pairs? It just seemed a little weird.

Any answers will be greatly appreciated, and I hope you all enjoy the photo of the eggs. I hope to keep track of the kookaburra nest box over the season, just out of interest.

Thanks,

Erika