birding-aus
One day last week I was waiting for an appointment in a street which is one
back from the Noosa River at Noosaville, when I realised I could hear what
sounded like Cockatoos pulling pieces off a tree. Sure enough when I went
to investigate, there were 2 YBCs happily tearing huge strips off 2 poor
dilapidated-looking trees about 7 metres high. I think they were the
upright variety of willow, but it was difficult to tell because I assume
they are slowing dying, maybe because they have been getting this treatment
from the YBCs for quite some time. My husband tells me there is such a
thing as a "willow grub" and I wonder if the Cockatoos weren't searching for
grubs which would end up killing the trees anyway. In any case, they were
enjoying themselves immensely for at least 20 minutes while I was there,
even though they were continually being straffed by Blue-cheek Honeyeaters
and/or Noisy Miners.
Some friends of ours, here in Pomona, tell us that their quite small Banksia
robor (about 1.5 metres tall) is the victim of the YBCs periodically
throughout the year. They start with the seed cones, but usually don't stop
until they have worked their way down a couple of branches, with the result
that the tree is now a very sorry looking specimen.
Jenny Bradford, Pomona, Qld
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