Hi to Everyone,
Could anyone shed some light on the reason for the behaviour of
the
Australian Hobby as described to me by Chris Hassell the warden at the
Broome Bird Observatory.
Chris says:
At 5pm on 29th July 1997, five hundred metres along the road
to Willie
Creek off the Cape Leveque road on the Dampier Peninsula, four of us
witnessed an Australian Hobby (Falco longipennis) eating dirt, small stones
and charred wood fragments.
The Hobby was seen initially at a distance on the road and I stopped the
car for a close view. Driving slowly forward I got within 1.5 metres of
the bird before it flew, but only a further 8 metres from our vehicle. The
bird was reluctant to fly and we initially wondered if it was injured or
sick.
We drove forward slowly and got within about 6 metres of the bird. Using
8x40 and 10x50 binoculars, we watched as it waddled awkwardly around the
Pindan dirt road and picked up small stones and pieces of charred wood and
swallowed them.
The bird also scraped soil from the road using its lower
mandible and ate this as well. On at least fifteen different occasions the
bird seemed to swallow its "prey" and appeared to be using sight to
identify and select items to eat. The Hobby moved around on the road in
making its selection and was more reminiscent of a plover than a bird of
prey.
After its initial reluctance to fly and after 15 minutes of close views of
this behaviour the bird suddenly flew off strongly into the woodland. The
bird was totally undisturbed by our presence and only seemed to leave after
it had eaten its fill.
Phil Joy
P O Box 21
Broome
W A 6725
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