Surely this is no different to so many birds that prey on living creatures -
particularly but by no means limited to raptors??
Square-tailed Kites take nestlings from other birds as their specialty - do we
call them mean?
Cheers
David Stowe
On 05/10/2011, at 9:55 AM, sandra henderson wrote:
I share his views - I've certainly seen a swamphen take a duckling - in fact
I managed a pic of it (right place, right time). It's online at
m("N00/4200006390/","//www.flickr.com/photos/59388783");">http:
It carried the duckling back to its own nest, pulled it apart and fed it to
its own youngsters. All quite gruesome, and mother Black duck appeared very
upset. this happened a couple of years ago in Norgrove Park in Canberra, a
small man-made wetland on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin.
sandra henderson
canberra
On Tue, Oct 4, 2011 at 10:27 PM, Debbie Lustig
<>wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> In his Saturday Age column on 1/10, 'The case against the swamphen', Robert
> Drewe described the Purple Swamphen thus:
>
> 'It's a tallish, bulky, gaunt bird...taller than the average rooster and,
> in a masked Darth Vader sort of way, more menacing in appearance...[It] has
> sinister black feathers, which blend into an oily purple ruff around the
> neck. [Its head has] a red skullcap of plastic-looking, cartilaginous stuff,
> which descends into a mask from which black eyes glint cunningly and a
> disproportionately large, horny beak.
>
> 'The swamphen has an edgy demeanour, skinny legs and three long, unwebbed
> toes...on which it strides and sprints across reeds and lily-pads,
> defecating heedlessly as it goes.'
>
> Next, about the swamphen's supposed lack of flying prowess: '[It] flaps and
> flies about as high and successfully as a domestic chicken.'
>
> The real point of the piece comes after all this, arguably slanderous stuff
> (can you slander a bird?).
>
> Drewe witnessed swamphens grabbing ducklings and cygnets. He claims to have
> seen this at least three times. Then, recently, one bit him while he tried
> to jog around it. Hence, the ugly, hate-crime rhetoric about its looks and
> demeanour. (It's a very funny article.)
>
> Never having suffered an attack by one, I must leap to the defence of
> swamphens. They're fun to photograph with some bit of stuff in their (long,
> unwebbed) feet. And they fly quite fast round these parts. Wandering around
> on top of huge reed beds is pretty neat, too.
>
> Could it be time to start a Purple Swamphen Appreciation Society?
>
> Has anyone apart from (professional yarnspinner) Mr Drewe seen a swamphen
> grab a duckling or cygnet?
>
>
>
>
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