Bowerbird behaviour - Bunya Mountains QLD

[Michael Todd <>]

Hello Lee,

They are fantastic aren't they? The behaviour of bowerbirds and in 
particular Satin Bowerbirds is one of the most interesting features of 
Australian birds. I've been watching a recently located Satin Bowerbird 
bower just inside my neighbour's backyard over the last few weeks. In 
time I'll put together a photographic essay for my website.
Did you notice any yellow objects at the bower as well? A bowerbird I 
recently watched at New Lambton Heights (Newcastle, NSW) was decorating 
its bower with short pieces of yellow/green conifer leaves. The bower 
I've been watching here at home has no yellow objects as of yet- I've 
started keeping tabs on what he has at the bower and how it might change 
over time. His favourite object seems to be a particular blue peg- not 
just any old blue peg. Incidentally my home bower faces almost directly 
east-west in conflict with most of the literature. This east-west angle 
is good for catching afternoon sun where the bower is located.
As for Philip Veerman's concerns. Well, I can see where he is coming 
from but I think he is getting concerned over nothing:
/Over supply of attractive objects would have to impact on the birds' 
behaviour/,
In an urban situation there is already an oversupply of blue objects. 
Straws, pegs, bottle tops etc. I doubt that the supply of extras will 
lead to any problems here unless you did it on a massive scale. Yes, the 
plastic rings on milk and juice bottles could be a problem- I'm sure 
that this has been discussed on birding-aus previously. Its wise to 
always cut that ring- There must be a lot of them out there though that 
the average joe public are throwing out. I don't think putting the odd 
object out for the bowerbirds would do any harm.
/an additional source of littering the forest.
/In urban situations there tends to be a lot of litter around which 
isn't pleasant to the human eye but mostly causes no real problems for 
wildlife. The number of wrecked cars in remnants of bushland on the east 
coast of Australia must be huge. When they are newly dumped they are an 
eyesore admittedly. Older ones can be interesting though. I saw an old 
FJ Holden in a nice little remnant at Tingira Heights (Lake Macquarie) 
recently. I'd love to know whether they are used by fauna as an 
alternative to hollow logs. I'm not sure whether their insulation 
properties would be as good as the natural thing though. /
/
It's worth browsing the birding-aus archives for Satin Bowerbird 
stories- there are one or two good ones there.
Cheers

Mick Todd

Michael Todd 
Wildlifing 
Images & Sounds of Nature
Latest Additions: Hawaii (Big Island- Aki, Pueo, Wandering Tattler)
www.wildlifing.com
Toronto, NSW, Australia 
0410 123715


Lee & Margi wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> My wife & I recently had the pleasure of watching the antics of Satin
> Bowerbirds on our trip to the Bunya Mountains (QLD).  
>
>  
>
> We arrived thinking we would have to 'search' for these birds but were
> surprised to see so many of them flying around the housing estate and
> rainforest.  There would have been 4-8 at any one time just in our yard
> alone.  Their calls were amazing and seemed to come from any tree around.
>
>  
>
> After reading someone's post recently about how a bowerbird stole the lid
> off a drinking bottle I went armed with a small mixture of shiny blue things
> to see what (if any) reaction they got.  After seeing so many Bowerbirds
> flying around our yard I just placed some items on the lawn and sat back
> with my camera ready.  It only took about 5mins before the first young male
> came down and took off with a few items (a blue money box that was cut into
> strips).  Next a fully coloured male came down and left with a milk bottle
> lid.  
>
>  
>
> The next young male that came down took off into the garden with its find so
> I followed it and discovered that it was building a bower next to a hedge
> along the driveway.  I sat on the edge of the garden and watched as the
> young bird picked up small straight sticks and carefully placed them along
> the wall, he'd move a few around, step back and look at them, and swap some
> with other sticks.  There was a small collection of blue things already in
> place (various lids mainly) to which he had added my pen lids and money box
> strips.  When placing some of the sticks he would rub his bill up and down
> each one before putting them in place.
>
>  
>
> I left him alone for a bit and went to investigate a group of King Parrots
> and Crimson Rosellas that had landed across the road.  When I returned a
> fully coloured male was sitting next to a now destroyed bower, the younger
> bird was still close by and when it flew down, the older bird took off with
> a blue lid.  The male returned many times, each time leaving with a blue
> item.  For the rest of the weekend the young bird would partially rebuild
> its bower only to have it knocked down by other males (some developed, some
> not).  It wasn't until we visited the nearby National Parks office and read
> a research paper on Bowerbirds that we learnt that this was normal behaviour
> for the birds.
>
>  
>
> The next day I saw a fully coloured male emerge from a garden across the
> road where it proceeded to do a sideways 'crab walk' up and down the garden?
> A courtship display I guess?.
>
>  
>
> Watching the behaviour of these birds was fascinating and one of my most
> memorable birding experiences to date.
>
>  
>
> In addition to the Satin Bowerbirds, our yard was also visited by both male
> and female Regent Bowerbirds, although they would just eat some berries off
> the trees and leave.
>
>  
>
> Happy birding
>
>  
>
> Lee
>
> Hervey Bay - QLD 
>
>  
>
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