Last weekend I was at Coolamon, 40 km west of Wagga Wagga at a place with a
large garden of shrubs, etc. Suddenly we heard a great commotion of birds
outside, and saw a group of white-winged choughs chasing a goanna across the
grass.
The goanna initially took shelter under a low and dense grevillea. Here,
the choughs could not reach him, but rather retreated a distance and sat
watching. Suddenly the goanna make a break into the open, and raced up a
small eucalypt and flattened himself against the trunk. Bad move. This was
an open position in which the coughs could reach him, and commenced swooping
at him and making alarms calls.
Obviously these calls are understood by other species, for in about 90
seconds the choughs were joined by an apostle bird and a magpie-lark flying
in from some distance away, both of which joined in the attack.
As I had to leave I did not see the final outcome, but returning about an
hour later I saw that the goanna and the choughs had all departed.
Ralph Reid
Sydney
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