Hello Robyn,
Obviously you like Noisy Miners and that's fine. they are atractive
looking birds. You also like lorikeets - Rainbows I suspect. I agree
Rainbow Lorikeets are very colourful and attractive birds that lots
of people like. they are interesting to watch and can be quite
clownish in their antics.
Noisy Miners are aggressive to other birds. Just visit my place and
watch the Noisy Miners chase anything that enter their territory with
the exception of Masked Lapwing and Magpies. the do their best to
chase Crows, magpie Larks, Channel-billed Cuckoos and Kookaburras.
The don't chase Willy Wagtails or other little birds because they
have either driven them all away or killed them off. I've seen a
group of five or six NMs kill a Willy Wagtail. Please don't tell me
aggressive is a judgmental term.
Rainbow Lorikeets are also aggressive. Have you ever studied their
behaviour at a feeder or bird bath?
They see off all other birds with the exception of Sulphur-crested
Cockatoos. I have seen them chase Noisy Miners, Galahs, Magpie Larks,
pigeons etc etc. They are aggressive. At times one or two RLs will
chase away everything including other RLs and keep ownership of the
feeding table for themselves.
if there was a balanced population of bird species with no one
species dominating this aggressive behaviour would be of less effect.
However in south east Queensland (and I suspect some other places) we
have very large populations of Rainbow Lorikeets. it is possible to
count them in thousands.
Around Brisbane there has been a noticeable reduction in smaller
birds - Speckled Warblers, thornbills, fairy-wrens, finches and the
list goes on. it would be foolish to attribute this loss to only the
aggressive species but it is probably reasonable to conclude they
contribute.
The major factor is undoubtedly human habitat removal to build
houses, roads, shopping centres etc. another major factor is the
rather strange habit of people and councils to have "neat" grassed
"lawn" areas which involves removing untidy long grass and shrubs.
Our habits of planting hybrid plants that flower all year is also a
contributor.
In short we have mucked up. I am not advocating an eradication scheme
but an attempt to restore a bit of habitat that favours small bird
species.
If people had less flowering shrubs it may reduce the numbers of
Noisy Miners and Rainbow Lorikeets which may contribute to assisting
small birds.
Peter
On 28/05/2008, at 7:56 PM, Robyn Charlton wrote:
Hi all
I guess the comment 'aggressive' being judgmental depends on HOW it
is said
and what context. Personally I see the dear Noisy Miner as proactive,
assertive, vigilante and town crier. I have even seen them as the
observer.
Case in mind was two Pee -Wees scrapping with two Indian Mynors
with an
audience of a couple Noisy's and a Magpie!! Quite amazing!
As I drove from the Uni to the hospital my Dad is in, I took the
bypass.
Quite impressive. The sound Barriers are concrete with bird
reliefs. And
part of me thought WOW makes the trip easier! The other part of me was
thinking how many species lost their homes and even their lives
because of
its construction. I'm quite sure that some of Owl populations would
have
been victims..... And why to make a trip easier.
If we take the shrubs away that Noisys like, who else are we
victimizing. I
have seen Rosellas use the same shrubs as the Noisys and what of
any other
organism, insects for example. Noisy Miners in my observation are
quite
versatile when comes to sourcing food.
Rob
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
===============================
|
