I totally agree with Stephen and have been trying to nut this out at home. Here
at Shortland (on the edge of Hexham Swamp, Hunter Estuary, NSW) we are blessed
with a good variety of raptors. I have had 18 species fly over my house during
the past 12 months (I work from home so spend a lot of time here!). We are also
"blessed" with an uber-aggressive mob of Noisy Miners (I have seen them
near-kill a White Ibis and have brought egrets down to the ground).
As Stephen says, one can tell which type of raptor is approaching by the pitch
and 'urgency' of the Noisy Miner alarm calls. The most frantic calls occur when
an Accipiter approaches (less so for a Grey Gos), followed by Hobby, Peregrine
then maybe other falcons. The Hobby can really get the neighbourhood going
though and is possibly the only bird that causes every antenna-perched pigeon
to leave their perches in a panic. You can almost track a Hobby by listening to
the wave of alarm calls and fleeing birds.
I was first alerted to this (pardon the pun) by when my first Little Eagle flew
over the house. The alarm was completely different to any of the others I had
heard and sure enough, a 'different' raptor appeared.
They do not bother sounding off at Whistling Kites and only do so at Black
Kites because they're a rare visitor here.
The alarm for Corvids (there are resident Aussie Ravens and Torresian Crows
here) is completely different. It's hardly an 'alarm' at all but is that
relentless 'near near near' that Noisy Miners are famous for. It's probably the
same for the cuckoos.
Mick
On Tuesday, 17 December 2013 9:25 AM, Shirley Cook <>
wrote:
DEar all
Here is a very interesting comment from Stephen Debus.
Shirley Cook
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