John:
Very interesting behaviour - head held down with bill pressed to the
cable. Do you suppose that this a species-specific aggressive display?
Currawongs do have an impressive beak that could cause some damage to its
opponent - I like to think of them as Australian Toucanets because of the
size of their bill and their fruit eating habits. To make a guess : the
currawong had a nest nearby and the magpie did not. Yesterday I watched
two magpies chase what appeared to be agoshawk above the canopy of an open
forest in Mt Coot-tha Park Brisbane. Magpies have started breeding here.
Cheers, Jim
On Fri, 1 Aug 1997, John Larocque wrote:
> Are Pied Currawongs known to be aggressive toward Falcons?
> I have just seen a very assertive Pied Curawong harrass a Brown Falcon
> while a Magpie sat close by and watched. All three were sitting on power
> lines in open grassy woodland on the ridge between Torrens ACT and the
> Tuggeranong Valley. The Currawong pressed its bill to the cable and with
> its ear to the cable moved with purposeful hops toward the Falcon's
> feet. The Falcon was motionless. The Currawong then lept to the air to
> pass over the Falcon keeping its bill between itself and the Falcon.
> Except for ducking the Currawong's bill, the Falcon barely moved. This
> went on repeatedly for about five minutes after which the Falcon flew
> off slowly with the Currawong in pursuit for about 200 meters.
>
> John Larocque
> Canberra Australia
> email: or
> ________________________________________________________________________
>
>
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