Me again!
Exciting news. We have a female rosella going into the box now and no Indian mynas in sight. My husband made a sliding door to keep them out if they turn up
Male at the box
Female at the box
Female coming out of the box
Male on the feeder
Male galah on the feeder, crest up
Gorgeous Birdgirl, and well done with the Rosellas, let's hope those mynahs stay away and you have another family to raise this season! beautiful colouring on those Rosellas.
Cheers
birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Gorgeous shots, Birdgirl, and that's great news.
Is the box a bought one, or one you've made yourselves?
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I have been considering putting a box up in my tree here in Brissie, hopefully for lorikeets or perhaps the occasional Pale-headed Rosellas we get around here. It's probably much more likely to be used by the Noisy Miners instead though, as they're more regular here.
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I noticed them chasing off a Pale-headed Rosella around here a couple of times this week. Strangely, they don't seem to care too much about the Lorikeets though.
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Cheers
Tim
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
By the way, what part of the country are you in Birdgirl?
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
beautiful shots of a beautiful bird Birdgirl2009
well done :)
:)
Thanks everyone
timmo - we are from the Hunter Valley in NSW, near Newcastle. My husband made the boxes. We looked up the dimensions on the internet and in books - the hole diameter is important as well - I think it is 8 cm for rosellas. Having a hinged lid is good too, so you can clean it out at the end of the season.
We have rainbow lorikeets in the yard every day and they have never shown any interest in the box. I think they prefer to nest higher. Our box is about 8 m above the ground. Having the pale-headed rosellas nest would be excellent. Noisy miners won't nest in a hollow or box because they build a stick nest but Indian mynas are another story ...grrrr! as are starlings.
Try it - you'll be surprised at how much enjoyment you get out of it and how you get to recognise all their different calls and what they mean eg "I've found a great box!", "Come out and we'll fly away together"
Awe... lovely Birdgirl.
Your going to be a Mum.:)
Congratulations.
Al
Hi birdgirl,
All the best people are from Newcastle and the Hunter, :D, I grew up there myself and still have a soft spot for the place.
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Thanks for the tips and encouragement - I made building a Rosella nest box this afternoon's project, and now have the box built, painted and ready to go. I just need to get up in the tree and mount it tomorrow.
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Hopefully it's just at the right time, as I noticed the Pale-headed Rosellas up in the tree again today, making their "peep-pi-peep, peep-pi-peep" call.
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If not, then I hope something else makes use of it (other than possums and Indian mynas of course).
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Cheers
Timmo
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Oh, one other question - any tips on safely mounting a box at that height?
I don't think I have a ladder long enough to get up that high, but I might be able to manage 5m or so.
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
That's great news. Good luck and make sure you post a pic. My husband uses a ladder then abseiling gear to secure himself so he can use both hands to locate the box and cannot fall to the ground. It's not worth risking a permanent injury. They will probably come in at 5m - John Dengate's Attracting birds to your garden says estern rosellas nest from almost ground level to 15m. We have our boxes painted with solarguard so they last longer and are easier to clean. Here's something to encourage you (previously posted)
At home sick oday ):, but just wondering how can you tell the difference between the male and the female? Do all female Eastern Rosellas have the "patchiness" and the males more glossamer?
Hi Amateur
I hope you feel well again soon. If you see a pair, the male is always brighter with a more intense, saturated red. The female has a paler, more orangey red. She often has more yellow around the back of her head or behind the eyes. She may appear a bit slimmer too.
This is a female
This is a male
Hi timmo
I am putting a copy of the answer to birdie's question on the kookaburra thread here, because you might find it useful too
Hi birdie
We have lots of noisy miners every day but they have never damaged anything.
What kind of bird is the nest box designed for? That gives you a clue to what height it needs to be put at. I don't know if you could secure it properly to a palm tree, so it can't fall or twist (but you may be able to, to a big one)
There are two disadvantages of nesting boxes compared with tree hollows:
-they may get too much sun and overheat. I have sometimes had to go out and hose the galah box every hour on a hot day when the birds nested late in the season. So look at the aspect
-they blow around more with strong winds, because they are attached to a branch, meaning that the eggs could roll around and break if a parent wasn't in there and it would also be very uncomfortable for the parent. So pick the thickest, heaviest branch near the trunk of a tree
Thanks Birdgirl.
If I go for the back garden then sun would be no problem, but real trees are not that easy. I have palms and plenty of shade from over the fence where the catbirds live. Goodness knows how I would get up to secure the box anyway.
The box itself has a 7cm hole in it and came with parrot nesting mulch and see, so I guess they mean it for parrots. It has a hinged lid and a perch at the front.
This is 'catbird corner' where they hang out and over the fence it the stormwater creek which is a reserve too.
This is on the other side of the fence taken of the catbird and parrots zone, there is plenty of shade from this area in our back area .
This is the biggest tree we have , but it is the front of the house and is butcher bird territory, plus it gets a lot of sun
Any advice would be great thanks.
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Birdbox looks good - 7cm hole is good for small parrots eg rainbow lorikeet and you might just get rosellas, which like 8 cm. I would paint to help it last longer and make it easier to clean, so stuff doesn't soak into the raw wood, and also to help weatherproof it. I would also move the perch up to just under the hole if you can, like ours, as they often use it to manoeuvre in and out of the hole, and with the galahs the male sleeps on it at night while they are nesting.
re location - my eye is on that gum tree - is it in your yard? Make sure that whoever climbs up has proper climbing gear - no use falling and breaking a back or neck. I'tt go out and take a photo of ours now to show how they are attached. THe galah box is only 2m above the gorund becuase they chew the tree when they nest - you just have to make sure cats can't get to it
Hi birdie
I just wrote a nice long reply and the forum logged me out and I lost it. Even more annoying than not being able to edit!
Rosella box is about 8m up gum tree. There is a towel between the back of the box and the tree to reduce rubbing but something that did not retain as much rain would be better eg shadecloth. There are 2 horizontal occy straps around the vertical branch, and there is one occy strap (enclosed in hose to reduce rubbing) over the fork.
Galah box is attached to a pole which cats can't climb by the two silver bands. The two projecting bolts are attaching the nice branch to the box so the galahs can perch above it
Hmmmm..... might have to call "hire a hubby" for that one Birdgirl! I'm afraid this is not a very handy household and Bunnings doesn't do well out of us at all!
Amazing to see what looks like a typical suburban backyard and yet you have such great things happening there. Thanks for being so detailed with it for me.
By the way.... a good tip for the forum and long posts. If it looks like I am getting to the end and it has taken a while, I block copy the text I have written and then hit post . That way all you have to do us refresh and hit copy then post what you have. Saves a lot of time and frustration. especially if you have just copied about 6 photo locations onto it!! Remember to do it before you hit the reply key!
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Beautiful shots Birdgirl.....you are soooooo lucky to have them....thx for sharing.
Thanks again for all the info on boxes, securing etc, birdgirl.
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I was going to hang my box up today, but was stymied by wet weather - I'm not that keen to climb trees in the rain.
But tomorrow it's on for sure. I've taken a few pics of the box and I'll post some pics once it's up in the tree.
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I do have a climbing harness, so might use that with a length of rope to secure myself to the tree while I do it. My last effort in the tree resulted in misadventure and a trip to the emergency department, and I am definitely not keen to repeat that!
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
I have the John Dengate book too - it's a great resource. I used the design in there as a starting point for the dimensions of my Rosella box but eventually ended up using the design at the following link. http://www.sustainablebluemountains.net.au/localliving/more/files/Nestboxes.pdf.
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I built it without the myna baffle, but have made the lid long enough to add one if Indian mynas turn up and become a problem. I haven't seen them here very often, so hopefully I won't need to do that.
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Looking forward to seeing the pics. I hope you don't have to use the myna baffle. We haven't because we wouldn't be able to see the rosellas and they usually fly directly in and out of the box without stopping
Hi folks,
The new box is up, after some effort.
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I put it in a new post here http://birdsinbackyards.net/forum/messages.cfm?threadid=9371F39A-97F5-2B85-484A3B89F9F0377F
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Cheers
Tim
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane