hi all, snapped this lil beauty building a nest in my yard this morning. someone said it was a yellow robin, but i don't think so. maybe you guys can help me out. i ended up here after looking all over the net ;-) cheers!
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Knowing your location might help with identification, tweetee, but so far I’d say that’s a Yellow-rumpled Thornbill. However, at this stage of its construction it’s hard to tell if it’s a Yellow-rumpled Thornbill’s nest.
hi woko, yeh i'm a noob, can you tell? i'm in ashford nsw, between inverell nsw and texas qld, west of tenterfield nsw. i'll keep you posted on the nest as it goes, looks like it is going to be a hooded nest if they keep going. do the yellow rumpled thornbills usually make a hood nest? they are great lil guys, i was watering a tree about 2mts from their nest and they came for a shower. sweet whistle too, i whistle back, not sure what i am saying though, lol!
Agree with Woko, Yellow-Rumped Thornbill aka Butterbum! (It’s the only thornbill with a distinctive white supercilium [stripe above the eye]).
"The nest is a rather unusual structure, not typical of a thornbill, roughly the size and shape of a football with a hooded entrance low down on one side and cup-shaped on the top.'
http://www.graemechapman.com.au/library/viewphotos.php?c=527
aj, thanks for confirming and also the link. glad the lil guys decided to use my place, very cute and friendly, not skittish like some small birds. cheers!
Location, hooded nest, photo, call, behaviour. It all points in the direction of a Yellow-rumpled Thornbill.
Iv never seen a yellow rumpled thorn bill nest befor, although there is an increasing population of 10 that are in the back paddock every summer.
Wimmera mally region, Vic.
woko and lightuningbird, the nest is taking shape, ill get a pic and post it once it seems completed. pretty cool lil birds!
hi guys, thought you would be interested in the latest pic of the nest, it is looking much different now, little hooded entry and false nest on top. they are still active adding here and there. cheers.
Looking good.
I’m very wary of getting up too close & personal with nests as many species will abandon their breeding attempts if they sense nearby threats.
woko, thanks advice. ive got a 50x zoom so i can be back a fair way and not hassle them, the flash is also very good when i remember to use it. the thornbills were also not at the nest when i took the pic. as they are quite close to the house, it's easy to monitor them, i can even see the nest outside the main bed window. they have added a bit more hood over the entrance now. both have been active flying around this morning, still bringing in material for the nest. cheers.
Way to go, tweetee. And thanks for the updates. A nice evolving story.
I’m going to keep a look out for thornbill nest....plenty of bushes and thornbills here.
Wimmera mally region, Vic.
lightuningbird and woko, i have noticed my lil thornbill friends have completely hooded the nest entrance now, it is really concealed. i will get a pic for you guys when they are not around to be disturbed. lightuningbird, hope you can find a nest and if you do, could you please post some pix, i'd love to see as well. cheers.
hi guys n gals,
time for a follow up. the thornies are still at it, adding to the nest both outside and inside. here are a couple pix to update today.
1. thornie working on the hood for their nest.
2. thornie entering the nest at the hood.
cheers!
Terrific! The drought here in much of SA seems to have put a dampener on bird breeding over the last 18 months or so. Now that we’ve had reasonable rain this month there may be insect breeding, plant flowering & bug presence near the soil surface to encourage breeding to start soon. The importance of water presence cannot be over estimated. Where you live, tweetee, has had reasonable recent rain, I imagine.
@ woko - oh, we have drought here too, for 2.5 years now. our local water supply dam is at 5.5% and they stopped letting water out at 6%, so maybe i am lucky the thornies chose my place to nest ;-) i have a small water container in the tree, not visible from the nest, just put it there this afternoon, so i'll see if the thornies or any other birds here take advantage of it.
Hi folks,
A couple more pix for you to check out.
1. YRT singing away.
2. YRT under the nest.
3. YRT attending to fake cup nest on top - notice how well camouflaged it is.
4. Unknown bird checking out the YRT nest. Anyone have an idea what this one is?
Cheers ;-)
White-plumed Honeyeater, tweetee. I shouldn’t think it would pose a risk to the Yellow-rumped Thornbills - unless it sees the Thornbill nest as a source of material for its own nest!
That’s most interesting that the Yellow-rumped Thornbills seem to sense that, in spite of the drought in your area, there are sufficient resources to justify their breeding.
If the Yellow-rumped Thornbills in your area are anything like those where I live they’ll welcome the water you’ve provided, especially if it’s in a shallow container.
And I’m really enjoying the story!
I had a singing honeyeater nest in a bush a wile back. Whit plumed honeyeaters came around a lot, they didn’t pose any harm, I think they where just wondering what was going on.
Wimmera mally region, Vic.
hi folks, had a bit more action today, with varied visitors checking out the thornies work of art.
1. woko, the white plumed honeyeater was indeed raiding the nest for various tasty morsels from the thornies hard work. i can only assume it was taking it back to it's own nest. it actually has a small white feather in it's beak in the photo, but hard to see from the backlight.
2. yrt with soft nest lining material.
3. unknown came to check out the action. anyone know who this one is?
4. willie also came to see that all the fuss was about.
5. unknowns who dropped in. i managed to capture three of them preening. anyone know these cute lil guys?
6. i saw 2 magpies try to chase one of the thornies, it just out maneovred them, haha!
cheers, till next time ;-)
1st unknown is a rufous whistler.
2nd unknown, don’t know but I love the way the 3 bird is looking at the camera!
Wimmera mally region, Vic.
lightuningbird,
here's a couple more pics of the unknown celeb's.
Your 2nd unknown visitors are Varied Sittella.
hi steven, thanks for your update to the thread. quite nice lil guys those varied sittella.
There so cute!
Wimmera mally region, Vic.
These guys are still at the nest building stage, must be getting close now. A few pics for you guys.
Does the male have the small white wing feathers?
Cheers
Not sexually dimorphic. Those are the flank feathers over the wing.
Only difference is juveniles have darker eyes.
Nice work, keep it up!
hi guys, been a while since an update.
drought is biting hard here. the thornies had a drama with their nest, some strong wind came through about a month ago, and whipped the branches holding the nest over an extended time. the nest was damaged and some other birds took advantage of it, and raided it. however, the industrious little guys didn't let that set them back. they got back to it and there's another nest above where the last one was. they secured it to a thicker branch this time. the wind still can whip the branches around, with no damage to date.
and how's this? yesterday, i noticed a broken egg under their nest. so they are obviously having some breeding success. as we can't see into the nest, we have no idea what is going on, or how many chicks they have. there was another half egg i noticed this morning, that must have been blown by wind, about 5 meters away. so they could have 2 little ones they are caring for in there.
pics of the new nest location and also the broken egg in my hand. cheers.
pic showing nest position in relation to the street and home.
Love this kind of ongoing story tweetee, thanks for posting. Looking forward to seeing the chicks :-)
hi folks, here's a 1.5 minute video of the nest with mum and dad on duty. for whatever reasons, youtube won't embed it here. so here's the url https://youtu.be/jzv2PRmecz8
the thorny chicks are now getting more vocal for their share of the food booty.
can't see inside the nest, so no idea what is going on in there.
also, had some magpies and a crow getting up too close and personal with the nest, had to chase them off. we don't want our baby thornies to be on the lunch menu for them if we have anything to do about it, and especially not after such an extended effort by the parents to rebuiild and start over. but we can't watch the nest 24/7, so let's hope that nothing decides to trash their nest for a feed.
i came up with an idea to use some shadecloth on the side where they are most vulnerable. seems to be working so far, and the thornies are still attending the chicks, even though something a bit strange is there now. it's like a protective shield for them and here's hoping that it is successful.
cheers, tweet
update - last thursday morning could still hear the thorny chicks in the nest. on friday noticed no sound at all. either one of 2 things happened, something took the chick/s, or they fledged without us knowing. left the nest alone until saturday afternoon and stuck a finger in to test and found a dead thorny chick, been dead quite a while, no flesh or smell. something happened to the chick/s, but it's still not clear, as we haven't noticed any young thornies around squeaking for a feed. i did notice one come up to me while watering the garden in the backyard, but it was silent. i'm hoping it was one of the chicks.
on another tangent, either the same or other couple have started to make another nest, on another branch in the same tree.
magpies and crow not been hanging around.
unknown nectar eater had a bath at his local watering hole. very loud vocals these guys.
redwings have been hanging around quite a bit and noticed some juvenile king parrots here as well as some grass parrot couples. so the drought is providing us with some bird viewing pleasure, cheers.
Hi tweetee. Thanks for the update, notwithstanding the apperent demise of at least one young Yellow-rumped Thornbill. And you've shown that if you have the habitat many native birds will find refuge in it during a drought.
I've noticed over the last week or so a sudden increase in the number of Yellow-rumped Thornbills at my place. I imagine that some of them are fledgelings. I'll have pay closer attention to them.
Nice work tweetee, love the updates thanks.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Interesting diary of events, thanks.
update for those following the thread.
1. have witnessed potential mum and dad breeding, so looks like they are quite serious about things here ;-)
2. new nest has really started to take shape now.
3. crow has given up visiting here, hope it got the message. we still see it flying around though.
4. magpies aren't as aggressive, so maybe their young have fledged.
we still have a decent range of other birds visiting, really like the grass parrot couples, but they are super shy and take flight at any movement or noise. we have to be already sitting outside, usually without my camera, and they may come for a feed and drink, but if a door or window opens, they are outta here. cheers.
update. thornies are still bringing odd nesting material, but surely must be getting close. they have a solid little nest going, possibly with eggs inside by now. the old nest has not been touched by anything that we have noticed.
some pix.
1. pic of nest looking skyward from the ground. the lil entry to the cozy home can be clearly seen.
2. lil thornie on the fence.
3. we have had a couple of visits from a greater bowerbird. apparently they are not supposed to come down this far, but here we are, proof in the pic.
4. greater bowerbird - showing the pink plumage that will crest when needed, usually under duress from other birds it seems. they make a rather strong sound like someone clearing their throat, when they display their pink plumage.
5. blue-faced honeyeater, was taking food back to it's nest.
6. juvenile blue-faced honeyeater.
7. our usual visitors - noisy miner. they are cheeky and will have a go at the magpie in numbers. they usually win too.
8. unknown - does anyone know this one? just one visit from about 6 of them, they were feeding from the ground only.
cheers, tweet
Some nice photos tweetee, and thanks for the update.Tour last might be a Grey Crowned Babbler, as always happy to be wrong.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Agree with Dale, visitor is Grey-crowned Babbler. The unknown visitor in post #33 was a Brown Honeyeater (seems no one gave ID). Loving this thread so thank you, Tweetee. Hope you get a break in the drought sometime soon
Sue
hi dale and sue, thanks for comments and id's, i do enjoy the participation from everyone.
unfortunately some of the mobile bird id apps, don't have the birds listed for this area, that happened with the greater bowerbird, as it is 'supposed' to be much further up north than here, it didn't show, but my partner did a google search, patient lil cherub she is, and managed to find it among the thousands of results. we were stoked to find it. perhaps the ongoing dry spell is driving some northerners further south seeking greener pastures?
sue, it really is so dry here, we are using 1k ltrs of water a day, to keep our small vege and flower garden alive. we are very lucky to have a dam 25km from here, it is at 4.5% which is still a lot of water, we have no restrictions as yet, and we are first stop as a small town other than the properties in between. we can't keep the back yard grass alive, so have to prioritise things. we should have some nice results in a month or so. zinnia's will start flowering, more marigold's of different colours, and some different petunias. the gazania can handle a bit of dry, about the only one. the strawberries are not doing much yet, got some cabbage on the way, spinach has been awesome, the spring onions went ballistic, eggplants, tomatoes, different pumpkins, zucchini's, squash, corn and some beloved sunflowers as feed for our feathered friends. but they all need watering everyday, as there is no moisture in the soil anywhere else. it is amazing how the various trees survive. nature knows what it is doing, however, it would be great to get some wet stuff from the skies soon, cheers.
Hi Tweetee, just looked closer at your Bowerbird and think it is more likely a Spotted Bowerbird which is in your area. Check it out yourself. However, this devastating drought is driving birds out of their normal area and you could see some strange visitors.
hi sue, oh my, i am sure you could be right. i can't find a factsheet for it, but had a look on the merlin app, and it seems so close, i am going to have to give you a couple of milky ways and a cappucino for that one, cheers and thanks heaps ;-)
what do you use to id birds in different areas? is there a secret i don't know about yet?
Hi Tweetee, a good Bird Guide book usually has a distribution map for each species & sub-species. Alternatively there are a few bird apps for your phone or IPad such as the Pizzey & Knight’s Birds of Australia. The latest book The Australian Bird Guide by Monkhurst et al is very good. What have you been using?
being rather new to all this, it has been google images and the merlin app on android. if we spot something, we can use merlin, by answering just a few questions, it gives a list of possibles for the area. of course, nothing can be super accurate, but so far, it has been ok, with what we have tested it with. it is simple to use, but i would like to see them implement a way to upload pix of what we find, to help expand their database to keep track of bird movements and also keep the birds found as a personal file, like a 'my birds' folder with some quick notes etc. it is not that comprehensive yet. but, it is free ;-)
Merlin does offer ID from your own photo which is of some help but I think there are a few holes in the Australian data. Photos can also be uploaded as part of a birds sighted list on E-bird and this all goes to increasing the database for the Merlin app. You may have to increase your identification skills before you find the listing useful. Birds in Backyards is also a useful resource with an identification section and people happy to assist. Build your skills and you will soon know all the regulars. That water source will attract them. Have fun.
As Sue says, check out www.ebird.org, where you can enter your sightings, keep a life list, upoload your photos and sounds etc - done by the same people Cornell Lab who did the Merlin app, and there is some integration between the two. The Merlin app is getting better as they upload more Australian bird packs - but I still much prefer the Pizzey & Knigh app PK Birds - very expensive, but much better as a field guide. But really the best is still paper guides, all of them are decent, but the new Australian Bird Guide (Menkhorst etc) is excellent and will really help you ID birds as your interest grows, as well as giving you a decent amount of information about them.
hi sue and alex, thank you both for contributions.
having one app to do the lot, seems like it may be a while off, if at all.
ebird is a bit of a challenge, not knowing how to drive it yet. i did manage to get one listing up for my local area with 2 pix, after much wondering what to do, and trial and error. if ebird and merlin are linked, that will really help things, sharing common data. as my area is a very small country town, there isn't much activity. i guess i just need to use it more and get used to it and upload as time goes by.
i am keen on seeing how merlin goes and grows, it is easy to use for us here and it looks like the 'local' database is reasonable, again i just have to get used to driving it too.
personally i'd love to see a 'bird camera' developed. one with a decent screen, like a 6in mobile phone, touchscreen, where internet capability exists with apps like merlin loaded, where anywhere/anytime those of us who want to develop more knowledge, can do so and we don't need to carry a bagfull of different stuff around. in fact, driving the camera/phone/storage/settings/etc from the screen, instead of heaps of buttons, other than those needed for bird/landscape/etc pic taking operation, makes more sense to me. but.... wishful thinking?
come on nikon, you make cameras and phones, you even have a bird setting in the p series, combine these things and make an awesome bird camera/phone/multipurpose bit of kit ;-) i'm sure there would be market interest. imagine taking some great pix, talking to your mate while it is happening, albeit quietly, and then sending them a pic or video direct or uploading the goodies to social media or your fav place? or streaming the event while it is happening? mmm, now i wanna one of dem things, lol! just thinking about a p900 married with my 48mp xiaomi phone and the versatility it could provide. dream on tweetee ;-)
cheers and a tweet/squawk/cough from the smokey and dry nth west nsw.
Your dream is a reality, tweetee... https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/wireless-mobile-utility-app.page
The P900 has wireless & bluetooth capability, and if you load the WMU software onto your Android phone, and pair it with your camera, you can automatically and immediately transfer images from your camera to your phone (via bluetooth so you don't need to be near a wireless router) and then post them from your phone to Facebook, Instagram, whatever you like. You can also use the phone as a remote monitor and even as a trigger for taking photos. I've tried it and while a bit clunky, it works ok. I'm not much of a social media person (prefer forums) but there are a number of uses - eg all photos on my phone are automatically backed up to the cloud on Google Photos, so by having the camera transfer photos to the phone, they are then backed up to the web (if I'm in range of cell towers) before I even get home from the shoot! Of course that has implications for both camera and phone battery life, as well as data usage. More sophisticated Nikon cameras use Snapbridge which is somewhat less clunky and more featured.
Re ebird - it is the most amazing citizen-science project, as well as being a great place to build your life list. I tend to use their mobile app for data entry (noting all the birds I see on a given walk / observation) and its really easy to use, quicker and more accurate than a manual checklist once you get used to it. It syncs beautifully with the online version, so I'll generally upload a checklist in the field, then when I get back home and go through my photos, I might edit that same checklist (eg correcting a species) and add any worthwhile photos at that stage. The life list then just builds up, and you can view it and slice and dice the data through My eBird, including downloading spreadsheets of your data. Super tutorials and help available here https://help.ebird.org/?t=
Cheers
Alex
alex, thanks so much for this.
i haven't seen anyone do a report on the p900 and mention this, as i have been looking at reviews of several bridge cameras together, eg best 2019 bridge etc, (the p900 has been perferred over the p1000 in several) and nothing about using the camera and a separate mobile together. this is a big move in the right direction, imho! i'd love to see that taken one step further, full mobile integration with the camera, if that is even possible.
what you have described is very useful, perhaps you could write a tutorial for biby? or mention how it works for you in a special thread, like you have done here. i was not even aware this was an option until you responded. makes getting one, even more attractive.
i am taking steps to use ebird, i've managed to put the spotted bowerbird details up, not sure if i have done it ok or not, lol! i have some more pix i want to upload there. i've only got it on pc, so i'll have to check the mobile app out. it could be easier to use. being a complete noob, can you briefly describe how you upload a checklist. is that of the birds you have id'd? using the submit button?
so i guess the hardest part is kicking things off and learning how to drive it? it was quite confusing to start with, the pc version. i didn't find it intuitive. i'll check the tutorials out as well.
cheers and thanks again, much appreciated.
btw, can we follow and be notified of new posts by other members in biby?
alex - update, just tried the ebird android app, so easy to use.
is there a tutorial here on what new 'birders' can do to get up and running? and what they can do to add to the birds database? such as what you have mentioned to me so far. i found all this rather confusing, until you and sue mentioned some options and how to's.
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