I agree with your views, Philip, on the matter of 'littering' with
artificial blue objects, but ...
A couple of anecdotes from my own experience about a bowerbird and blue
objects. About 40 years ago.
My mother had a couple of acres of original rainforest near her house on
Tamborine Mtn - home to the local male Satin Bowerbird. About 10 m of lawn
separated the kitchen window from some bird feeding trays on which she kept
up a supply of mixed bird-seed. Crimson Rosellas and King Parrots regularly
dined there.
On one occasion I noted the male S Bb on a feeding tray. Thought to get a
photo, but didn't want it of him on the artificial setting. Mother saved
blue objects for him and had a few used blue biros and pen tops. I reckoned
a blue bird on a green lawn would be OK.
Opened the kitchen window. Set camera on tripod. Threw out a pen.
Instantaneously, SBb swooped on it. I didn't get hand to camera, still
less, line him up before he'd grabbed the pen and was off through the forest
to his bower. SBb 1; Syd 0.
In minutes he's back on the feeding tray. Right, thinks I, I'll fix you.
Mother also had a couple of old tin plates that she put on the ground with
seed for the birds. I attached a piece of string to one, with a pen
underneath so I could focus on the plate, then pull it away with the string.
But I must have left the end of the pen just visible under the elevated rim
of the plate. Get back to the window just in time to see him fly down, pull
the pen out from under the plate and off.
SBb 2; Syd 0.
Third try, and I make sure the pen is well hidden. Finally get my photo.
But shows that, at least for a well-fed Satin Bowerbird, a blue object is
far more important than food.
In the depression days of the 1930s, Tamborine Mtn was a poorish farming
community. Work clothes well soiled with Tamborine red soil were commonly
boiled in wood-fired coppers. Rainwater tanks only. Wash and rinse in a
couple of tubs. Standard practice was to add 'blue' to the final rinse for
white clothes. Knobs of blue were sold, tied up in small pieces of cloth.
The blue was soluble. One swished the knob in the water until the water
reached the desired intensity of colour.
Many a farm-house simply had tubs on stands outside the house to be near the
copper. And the knob of blue would be hung on a nail. Irresistible to a
bowerbird. Mother never had to buy blue from the shop - just visit the
bower and exchange one old blue wrapper for one knob of blue - sometimes
used only once by their appearance.
Fifty years later. Washing machines, rather than tubs. No blue cycle. But
plastic had been invented, and blue plastic clothes pegs were equally
desirable. Mother had a stroke. Her house remained unoccupied for several
years. Bower established in the garden. When I found it, there were a
dozen or more blue pegs. I inquired of the only house nearby. Pegs weren't
theirs. Next house would have been more than half a kilometre away, so SBb
checked well afield for his blue treasures.
Cheers
Syd
> From: "Philip Veerman" <>
> Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2006 15:37:39 +1000
> To: "Lee & Margi" <>, <>
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Bowerbird behaviour - Bunya Mountains QLD
>
> Well I support and wouldn't wish to diminish someone's developing appreciation
> of bird study - but I'm a bit negative towards this behaviour with wild birds.
> As described: "I went armed with a small mixture of shiny blue things to see
> what (if any) reaction they got". I think we would be able to predict the
> response already. For three other reasons: Over supply of attractive objects
> would have to impact on the birds' behaviour, I'm not sure how but maybe
> induce increased competition for birds that like to collect these things.
> Although not stated as being used, there can be a risk of some things like
> plastic rings, if not cut open, and other man- made non breaking objects
> getting tangled in a bird's mouth, wing, feet, etc. It is not common but such
> things can kill birds. Lastly although likely to be a drop in the bucket,
> relative to all the other crap dropped by people, this practice will
> inevitably be using birds (unintentionally) as an additional source of
> littering the forest.
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