At 12:57 15/07/96 +0930, you wrote:
>Hi ,
>
>I was out walking with the family in the Sturt Gorge CP in the Adelaide
>Hills and saw a WN Honeyeater feeding on Golden Wattle at about 30cm away.
> How close have others been to different birds in their natural habitat
>without disturbing them ?
>Peter Pfeiffer
Well, when I was studying Red-Browed Treecreepers along the Blue Gum Swamp
Creek road in Blue Mts NP near Sydney, way back in 1972-4, a White-eared
Honeyeater used to follow me up and down the road, and if I held still it
would hop onto my head and make vigorous attempts to yank out my hair for
nesting material. You can't get much closer than that.
I believe this sort of behaviour is not that unusual for white-ears - the
late Alec Chisholm has a photo of the same species on Keith Hindwood's head
in his book "Bird Wonders of Australia" (4th ed 1956), and devotes a whole
chapter of the book to "BIrds that steal human hair".
--
Ronald I. Orenstein Phone: (905) 820-7886 (home)
International Wildlife Coalition Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116 (home)
Home: 1825 Shady Creek Court Messages: (416) 368-4661
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 3W2 Internet:
Office: 130 Adelaide Street W., Suite 1940
Toronto, Ontario Canada M5H 3P5
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