canberrabirds

Hollows vs built nests

To: "" <>
Subject: Hollows vs built nests
From: Adam FitzGerald via Canberrabirds <>
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2021 01:56:15 +0000
My ten cents worth re: Galahs lining hollows...

I used to breed the WA subspecies of Galah in large aviaries many, many years ago.

Their large heavy-duty plywood (with metal lined edges) nest-box was left in the aviary all year round, but for the most part, they were only ever inside it with the commencement of breeding activity. They would often spend time delicately chewing & rubbing their necks on around the entrance randomly during the year however. The outer edge of the nest entrance (even a plywood box) ended up super smooth to the touch, I couldn't have done a better job myself if I had tried to sand it! I believe there is some support to the theories that this is done to help make it more difficult for predators (reptiles) to gain access to the nest entrance (Galah feather dust clearly is quite slippery stuff!).

 Throughout the entire nesting period (from egg laying until chicks fledgling) the parents regularly add leafy branches to the nest. The eggs are laid on a bed of leaves about 50-60mm thick but branches are constantly added throughout to the point where by the time the chicks fledge, the bed of leaves can be up to 200mm deep! Whether this is for parasite control, nest hygiene or reduces the risk of flooding I have no idea, but I was amazed just how much material they actually bring into the nest each season!

..Adam

 



From: Canberrabirds <> on behalf of <>
Sent: Tuesday, 26 October 2021 1:41 AM
To: <>
Subject: Canberrabirds Digest, Vol 12, Issue 88
 
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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Hollows vs built nests (calyptorhynchus)
   2. Orange is the colour (Geoffrey Dabb)


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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2021 12:35:08 +1100
From: calyptorhynchus <>
To:
Subject: Hollows vs built nests
Message-ID:
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I once saw a female Galah seeming to egg on a male Galah to continue
attacking the bark of a tree near a hollow. It may be that it's just a beak
sharpening activity and males do it in a exaggerated way to display to
females.

The only other explanation I have heard is that they strip the bark around
the hollow mouth to make it slippery and difficult for possums and snakes
to approach the mouth of the hollow.

John L


On Tue, 26 Oct 2021 at 12:11, Dr David Rosalky <> wrote:

> I agree with you about the timescale.  The birds would appear to be
> investing in their breeding success about ten years hence.  They must have
> got real estate advice.
>
>
>
> David
>
>
>
> *From:* Philip Veerman <>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, 26 October, 2021 12:02 PM
> *To:* 'Dr David Rosalky' <>; 'COG bird list' <
> >
> *Subject:* RE: [Canberrabirds] Hollows vs built nests
>
>
>
> The one I saw a pair of galahs fly into one eucalypt tree, the second to
> arrive bit off a little branch about 15 cm long with several leaves. It
> walked along the branch to sit right beside the partner and did a lot of
> head bobbing. It then flew about 100 metres direct to another tree where
> there was a hollow spout. It appeared to try to push the little branch into
> the hole but was not successful and the branch fell down outside. The
> ?ringbark? idea you mention sounds to me like another one of those dopey
> nonsense suggestions that is an idea looking too hard to find a rationale.
> What is the time scale for that to work? Cockatoos are naturally chewers of
> branches anyway ? and houses for that matter.
>
>
>
> Philip
>
>
>
> *From:* Dr David Rosalky [
> <>]
> *Sent:* Tuesday, 26 October, 2021 11:52 AM
> *To:* 'Philip Veerman'; 'COG bird list'
> *Subject:* RE: [Canberrabirds] Hollows vs built nests
>
>
>
> Thanks Philip
>
>
>
> Yes, I looked at Joe?s book and at HANZAB.  Lots of ?predominantly? and
> similar words but not definitive.
>
>
>
> I also saw a galah taking a spray of leaves into a nest hollow.  HANZAB
> suggests more to do with preventing parasites than lining the nest.  That
> pair was active this morning.  One of them was chewing wood continuously
> for a long period.  A local I was talking  to said that the bird does this
> to ringbark the tree and thereby to induce greater hollowing of the nest
> space.  Really?
>
>
>
> David
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Canberrabirds <> *On
> Behalf Of *Philip Veerman
> *Sent:* Tuesday, 26 October, 2021 11:21 AM
> *To:* 'COG bird list' <>
> *Subject:* Re: [Canberrabirds] Hollows vs built nests
>
>
>
> Joe Forshaw?s book does not appear to mention it, at least not in the
> introduction. Though he does mention Galahs using small leafy branches to
> line the nest hollow. (I happened to see this on Sunday morning.) Of
> peripheral relevance is that the lovebirds of Africa build a nest, as does
> this one (below extract from Wikipedia).
>
>
>
>
>
> The *monk parakeet* (*Myiopsitta monachus*), also known as the *Quaker
> parrot*, is a species of true parrot
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_parrot> in the family Psittacidae
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psittacidae>. It is a small, bright-green
> parrot <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parrot> with a greyish breast and
> greenish-yellow abdomen. Its average lifespan is 20?30 years. It originates
> from the temperate to subtropical
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subtropical> areas of Argentina
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina> and the surrounding countries
> in South America <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_America>.
>
>
>
> The monk parakeet is the only parrot that builds a stick nest
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_nest>, in a tree or on a man-made
> structure, rather than using a hole in a tree. This gregarious
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_animal> species often breeds
> colonially, building a single large nest with separate entrances for each
> pair. In the wild, the colonies can become quite large, with pairs
> occupying separate "apartments" in nests that can reach the size of a small
> automobile <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile>. These nests can
> attract many other tenants including birds of prey such as the spot-winged
> falconet <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spot-winged_falconet> (*Spiziapteryx
> circumcincta*), ducks such as the yellow-billed teal
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-billed_teal> (*Anas flavirostris*),
> and even mammals <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammal>. Their five to 12
> white eggs hatch in about 24 days.
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Canberrabirds [
>
> <>] *On Behalf Of *Dr
> David Rosalky
> *Sent:* Monday, 25 October, 2021 10:38 PM
> *To:* COG bird list
> *Subject:* [Canberrabirds] Hollows vs built nests
>
>
>
> Do any Australian parrots or cockatoos build their own nest?
> --
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--
John Leonard
Canberra
Australia
www.jleonard.net

Make nature great again.
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Message: 2
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2021 12:41:30 +1100
From: "Geoffrey Dabb" <>
To: "Canberrabirds" <>
Subject: Orange is the colour
Message-ID: <>
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