Choughs under Siege

[Renée Ferster Levy via Canberrabirds <>]

What a fabulous and detailed description of an exciting episode! Thank you

On Tue, 1 Jul 2025 at 15:18, Brian via Canberrabirds <> wrote:

Hope you don't mind if I share something that I saw at the National Arboretum this morning. 

There was a very large group of White-winged Choughs foraging along one of the Explorer track, around 60+ individuals. I stopped to watch them. There had to be at least 4 or 5 family groups spread out over 80m -making soft whistling calls. It really was odd seeing so many choughs foraging in one spot.

All of a sudden, they rose up as a single group and flew low to a small forest of deciduous trees - that had lost all of their leaves due to Winter. I felt guilty for disturbing them until the real reason swooped down from the sky, a Peregrine Falcon. It rose up and circled above the birds in the trees. It made a few more attempts before it realized that all the choughs were now safely sheltering in the bare tree branches.

So the Falcon flew in the direction of Dairy Farmers Hill and circled around the lookout, appearing to have given up on catching a plump chough. The choughs calls changed from hoarse screeching to whistling. Some birds flew down to the ground and resumed foraging. However, several family groups must have been mixed up as some of the birds had gathered in several small groups of 3 or 4 individuals and started squabbling, fluffing themselves up to appear bigger, and spreading their wings to display the white tips of their wings. Some scuffling was breaking out

More hoarse screeching from the choughs remaining in the tree branches. I looked up just in time to see the Peregrine Falcon swoop again. However, the squabbling birds had made it back to the trees in time. The Falcon rose and disappeared to the east.

 Yet still more screeching. A fox darted from the small forest and ran up the slope. It had been discovered by the many eyes watching from the tree branches. The nearby magpies decided to share the small forest with the choughs – probably because there were now threats both in the sky and on the ground. The two species even shared the same tree branches. Normally, they would be scuffling.

Calm resumed. Some of the choughs decided it was safe enough to forage on the ground again – but this time they stay very close to the small forest. The other birds continued to sit in the small forest and just watch with their beaks pointed to the sky. I looked around for the Peregrine Falcon, but could not see it in the sky. 

However, the Peregrine Falcon had changed tactics. I caught a glimpse it entering the far-side of the small forest just below the tree tops. It glided towards the “lookout” choughs, much like a goshawk or a sparrowhawk would. Maybe it was an attempt to flush the choughs out from the safety of the tree branches. However, the choughs were not for moving - so the Peregrine Falcon pulled up and left the small forest.

I wanted to watch see how this siege ended but, sadly, the rain had set in. The last that I saw of the Peregrine Falcon was it flying north towards the main dam of the National Arboretum – with 4 annoyed magpies in pursuit…. at a safe distance, of course. No one wants to become lunch.

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