About 20 minutes ago I looked out of the window of my office and there was a
Grey Butcherbird with an item of prey (a young nestling) in its bill. The
butcherbird perched in a tree just 3 metres from the window and it impaled
the morsel of food on a twig in the lower foliage of the tree, only about 4
metres from ground level. Over the next 10 or 15 minutes the butcherbird
devoured the carcass by pulling off bits of meat with its bill.
First, I'm amazed that there would be any nestlings about at this time,
especially as Sydney is currently experiencing its first real wintery
conditions for the year. I suspect the nestling was a Rainbow Lorikeet
because an adult pair have been hanging around a hollow-bearing tree in the
neighbour's garden for some time.
Secondly, it was great to have such a close view of the action from the
comfort of my office. The Grey Butcherbird seemed unaware that it was being
watched because it was so preoccupied with impaling and eating its prey.
Stephen Ambrose
Ryde NSW
===============================
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:
===============================
|
