Hi Gordon,
I think it's pretty common with noisy miners/yellow-throated miners. I've seen
them on two occasions be so intent on belting each other up that I could
approach and catch one or both of the birds. I've seen the same with peaceful
(yeah right) doves and a few other species. The most dramatic was also the most
hilarious - eight weebills flying up vertically with two of the individuals
talon locking (do weebills have talons?), and falling (I estimate about 20
metres) to the ground. Scary stuff. Recently I saw two spangled drongos so keen
on killing each other they didn't notice my approach. They were locked logether
on the ground for 15 minutes from when I first saw them. Plenty of blood. The
"loser" looked dead when they finally separated but eventually picked itself up
and flew off.
I suspect they do this for a variety of territorial reasons, and as others have
suggested, in communial-nesting species it might establish pecking order
between individuals.
Eric Vanderduys
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Gordon Cain
Sent: Saturday, 13 April 2013 1:28 PM
To:
Subject: Noisy miners mobbing one of their own
Just stepped outside to see what I suspected I heard -- noisy miners mobbing
one of their own. I've seen this frequesntly over the years.
I presume this is not confined only to this one species, though I've never seen
it amongst other birds.
Why do they do it?
Cheers
Gordon Cain
Schofields, NW Sydney
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