Tag:native birds
The Cape Barren goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae) is a large, flightless goose native to Australia. It is one of the rarest of the world’s geese, found only in southern Australia, with a large population on Phillip Island. The name comes from Cape Barren Island, where European explorers first sighted the geese. Their distinctive call is loud, deep, pig-like grunts or honks. The male makes a noisy, harsh ‘ark, ark-ark, ark-ark’ while their young make reedy whistles.
Appearance
Their unique grey plumage bears rounded black spots. The tail and flight feathers are blackish, with pink to deep red legs and black feet. In addition, the stubby triangular beak and green cere (skin above the beak) give it a very peculiar expression. Males of this species are slightly larger than females. While the Cape Barren goose has webbed feet, they are significantly less webbed than ducks, allowing them to spend long periods on land.
The Cape Barren Goose can be found across southern Australia. Their preferred habitat is water, such as lakes, dams, lagoons, swamps and rivers. Being herbivores, they graze predominantly on common tussock grass, spear grass, herbs, succulents, pasture grasses, barley, clover, and legumes. Like many seabirds, Cape Barren Geese can drink salty or brackish water; this allows them to remain on offshore islands all year round.
Breeding
The Cape Barren Goose breeds on the offshore islands of Australia and can be aggressive during the July to September breeding season. They lay their eggs in a nest in the tussocks of open grasslands. The male builds the nest from grass and twigs and lines it with feather down. Each breeding pair establishes its territory in autumn, prepares the nest and defends it noisily against other geese. They are monogamous and bond for life. The female lays four to six eggs and incubates them for 35-40 days. Once hatched, both parents share the brooding duties.
Conservation Status
During the 1800s, the Cape Barren Geese were hunted for food and eggs. By the 1950s, the Cape Barren Goose numbers were so low that biologists feared they might be near extinction. As a result, initiatives were taken that since then have increased the goose population to a level where they are no longer considered endangered. However, they remain one of the world’s rarest geese and have been protected since the 1970s.
The Phillip Island population of 3000 cape barren geese started from six birds, introduced in 1984. Tasmania serves them in restaurants, while permits to shoot and eat them were made available in South Australia in 2000.
The aggressive, native bird, the noisy miner, is arguably one of the most prolific Australian native birds. They are pale grey, with a yellow beak and yellow patch behind the eye. In recent decades, due to deforestation and habitat modification, their population exploded along the east coast from the outback to suburban backyards and parks. Due to the severe negative impact this has had on our small woodland birds, there are repeated calls to cull the native noisy miners.
Noisy miners are native Australian honeyeaters, and in their natural environment, they feed on nectar, fruit, insects and help pollinate native plants. However, they have huge appetites and will also eat frogs and lizards. They can benefit gardens as they love little bugs and insects that damage your plants.
But are they pests?
The “problem” with noisy miners, apart from the din kicked up when the colony is alerted to intruders, is they are also territorial, aggressive and quite the bully. They unite as a colony to attack predators and defend their habitat against all other species of birds. Unfortunately, more often than not, a habitat that has been stolen from those same birds. This behaviour, along with their size, enables them to chase away a wide range of woodland and forest birds that are listed under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, such as Swift Parrot, Regent Honeyeater, Little Lorikeet, Hooded Robin, Flame Robin, Brown Treecreeper, Speckled Warbler, Painted Honeyeater, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Turquoise Parrot and Scarlet Robin.
The exclusion of these birds from their habit by Noisy miners impacts their feeding and breeding and further decreases these species. Noisy miners have also been known to harass cats, swooping them in groups if they are in their territory. As native birds, they are protected under the Nature Conservation Act 1992. It is a serious offence to kill or harm noisy miners.
Miner vs Myna
The Indian Myna is an introduced bird, often confused with the Noisy Miner as they are both have the same distinctive yellow at the back of the eyes. Indian Mynas were deliberately introduced into Melbourne’s market gardens in the 1860s to help control insects. However, further releases occurred in Sydney and Queensland, and, like the Cane Toad, with no natural predators, they spread quickly with devastating consequences for native Australian wildlife.
The Indian myna also lives in large, noisy suburban communities and nests in tree hollows and roof cavities. They also push native animals such as possums and birds from their nesting tree hollows and take over the hollow. One breeding pair of Indian mynas can potentially produce 13,000 birds within five years. As a consequence of the problems the Indian mynas cause, there is also a call to trap and cull their population. The Indian Myna is not a protected species.
Breeding
The noisy miner is a communal, family orientated bird with a life span of around 6.7 years for females and 8.7 for males. They breed all year long, laying two to four eggs each time. The female constructs a deep, cup-shaped nest and incubates the eggs alone, but both parents care for and feed the chicks. It’s also common for other male community members to help feed the chicks.
Habitat
Their natural habit is dry eucalypt forests, woodlands and remnant bushland. However, they thrive in human-modified landscapes as they prefer cleared land with tall trees and little to no understory. Planting shrubs and understory plants in your suburban garden, along with spiky type plants (roses, bougainvillea etc.). This cover provides safety to smaller birds.
What you can do
- do not feed noisy miners
- plant an understory of dense vegetation and ground covers to provide cover and protection to small native birds
- do not catch, kill or harm noisy miners
- leave nesting birds undisturbed
- do not remove eggs or nests
The sulphur-crested cockatoo is one of the largest of several species of beautiful white cockatoos. They are huge birds, spectacular in appearance, gregarious, brilliant, long-lived, and noisy with a strident, screeching call.
Habitat
They are native to eastern Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia, and New Zealand, living along the edges of tropical and subtropical rainforests. However, they are also a familiar sight in urban areas. In some parts of Australia, the cockatoo is so plentiful that people consider it a pest. Their preferred diet is berries, seeds, nuts, and roots; however, they have also been known to eat cereal and fruit crops, young tree saplings, window frames and strip wood off a deck in urban areas. They caused $50,000 worth of damage to the roof of the National Herbarium in NSW and, in another case, $80,000 in damage to broadband network cables. However, much of the fault for the damage results from their habitat being stripped from them by urban development.
The term “clever cockie” doesn’t come out of nowhere. “They’re comparable to a chimpanzee in intelligence,”
Gisela Kaplan of the University of New England
Appearance
Sulphur-crested cockatoos weigh up to 950g, and their bodies measure 44 – 51cm long. They have a wingspan of 103cm across and are primarily white with a beautiful crest of yellow feathers on top of their heads and a yellow wash on the underside of their wings. When agitated, excited or upon landing, the crest is fully raised. When they are at rest or unwell, the crest is flattened against their head. Their beak is black but appears grey due to the white dust used to groom its feathers. A bird with a shiny black beak is generally unwell. The sexes look similar, although the female can be has a reddish-brown eye, while the male’s eyes are darker brown or black. This distinction does not become apparent until the bird has reached maturity, which varies between 3 to 5 years of age.
Curious Facts
- Sulphur Crested Cockatoos are ‘left handed’ preferring their left foot over their right
- They mate for life
- In captivity they have a lifespan of around 80 years compared to 20 – 40 yrs in the wild
- The most common and widespread cockatoo in Australia is the Galah
- Their name has its origins in Malay and means ‘vice’ or ‘grip’ because of their very powerful beak
- They pick the bindi eyes from lawns before the weed turns prickly
- City dwelling cockatoos have been known to open the lids on wheelie bins or turn on drinking fountains when they are thirsty
- Cockatoos can mimic the sounds of other animals, including people
- Their strong beaks can crack a macadamia nut
- They are protected species under the Australian Commonwealth Law.
Cockatoo Flocks
Research has shown that up to 100 birds flocks tend to spend their entire life in a 5km radius. They also live in a tight society with birds hanging out in 5 – 20 ‘best mates’ groups.
Breeding season
The sulphur-crested cockatoo is a seasonal breeder, breeding from August to January in southern Australia and May to September in Northern Australia. They create nests of wood chips in the hollow of a tree laying two to three eggs. The incubation period lasts 25 – 27 days, and both parents incubate the eggs and raise the nestlings for 9 – 12 weeks. The young fledgelings will then remain with the parents for several months. The birds do not reach sexual maturity until 5 – 6 yrs old.
Predators
As they are also ground foragers, this leaves them vulnerable to predator attack. So their behaviour has evolved as whenever there is a flock feeding on the ground, there are also a few birds up in the tree watching out for danger. if the sentries spot a predator such as a large kite or a snake, they raise their crest and give a harsh, explosive cry of warning, causing the ground feeders to immediately take to the air, squealing and screeching hoarsely until the danger has passed.