I do not wish to start a debate about whether feeding birds is wrong or not and so on, but I thought this might be of use to some people who read the forum and/or contribute to it. http://www.sydneywildlife.org.au/FAQRetrieve.aspx?ID=41686
| Term and Conditions | Privacy Statement | Web Support by Gaia Resources Hosted by Serversaurus |  |
Thanks Amateur, that is a good article. Very wise not to start another contentious debate on here!! There are too many experts around I think.
Unfortunately even the photo thread seems to have lost it's glow for me lately.... more critique than enjoyment :(
I just love hanging out in my garden and listening to and observing my drop in feathered friends!
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Are your catbirds still hanging around Birdie? Were they actually building a nest when you saw them picking up sticks? Very envious here :)
Yes Amateur,they sure are still here. I love to hear their little "tsk tsk" noise in the mornings. They hop along my fence and feed on flowers and berries around the drain area. They are a pair so maybe the third one I saw in Summer was a young one. Not sure. They don't call like a cat though these days, so I guess the mating season is well gone!!
In the same space the other evening i had an awesome time listening to the Currawongs. They all came in in a huge group and were calling to eachother and flying from branch to branch. If I can work out how to post the sound clip I will do so as it was a real experience to hear the variety of musical calls .
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
http://www.filexoom.com/showfile-20131/currawong.wav
Try this and see if it works, it may take a while to load.
If it works I'll load a 2nd one where the whipbird got in on the act as well!!
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Sorry it looks like you have to download it to listen to it, that's a shame . Do you know of any other sites where you can share sound files?
Sunshine Coast Queensland
That's a very nice factsheet, I hope it is enough to get the message across.
http://www.fileden.com is great for sharing any files but it requires you to register and has limited 1 GB storage if you choose the free account.
Had the patience to listen to the carolling Currawongs, they sound beautiful :) They get really noisy at dusk and dawn though, I find it nicer to listen if they're calls are more sparse and not a large clamour. We don't get much musical variety around the inner suburbs of Sydney, the Currawongs, Koels and Magpies are my favourite.
They sound very happy there in your clip. Could also hear some noisy miners in the background and an annoying cricket. Were there any others who joined the chorus?
Taz
Hi Taz
Thanks for the link. yes there was an eastern Whipbird on the next recording that I did. And you are right, there were a gaggle of noisies there as well. There always are in my garden. it was an unusual gathering of the Currawong, so low down that I could feel the branches above me rustling and moving. Usually they are up in the gum trees and calling across the valley here.
The loud whistle call was very unusual . I have never heard it before and would love to know what that is about.
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
They must be feeling especially keen to visit you today ;D
I couldn't differentiate between the Currawong's call and the unusual loud whistle at first, very interesting. I don't think I've heard that call before.
Eastern Whipbirds, I can never find them but their call is so loud, clear and distinctive. It's quite frustrating but I guess it's nice to just listen.
Taz
Ha ha, don't feel alone about the whipbirds....
This is the only time I have managed a few shots of one. the resident pair were out in the bushes on my neighbours block, I was only 10 ft away but absolutely could not see the female, even though her call and his were piercing!!
They are very clever and so well camouflaged.
My house is surrounded by bird calls for most of the day, but especially the morning and evening are best.
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Must agree with that one Taz. I swear there was one like a few metres away from the loudness of the call but I never saw it D: The Currawong has got one of the most beautiful and wide variety of songs though, it is great to see hear them the occasional time they come around
I know what you mean, Amateur. They're like ninjas of the bush.
[img]http://api.ning.com/files/UEYsD8fm40v*8eCisHZZN4B3i4*MMivgAbmSdKUy35xpVFp4WCmUSSRTsIFTHuW9/ninjas.jpg[/img]
You must have a very sharp eye Birdie ;D Nice shot, I love that little tuft-crest-thing they have on their heads and those bright white "cheeks". Clever birds indeed. No wonder they have such a distinctive cry and a call-and-answer technique for them to find eachother.
Taz
Hey Taz
I read today on a bird site that the Currawong is known to do a "wolf whistle" which is an apt description of that whistle in the recording.
Couldn't get fileden to work for me. I signed up but couldn't get an activation email.
I really wish I could upload birdsongs onto Flickr when I do my pics :)
BTW I heard a whipbird yesterday morning and the female gave 4 responses in a row as a reply. I have heard 3 at times but that was the first time I have caught 4 in a row.
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Hey Birdie
"Wolf whilstle" - that's actually quite a good description for those Currawong's calls :)
As for the activation e-mail, maybe it got sent into your "junk" folder? I don't know, that's annoying. Filexoom isn't too bad despite the minute wait after each download but at least the file is still successfully uploaded and is accessible by other users. There are so many online uploading sites for images, popular ones for videos but hardly any for others. You could save it as a video and upload it to youtube.
I haven't heard a female whipbird's response yet. I've only encountered a whipbird once and it was the male's call alone (and I couldn't even find him). It'd be nice to hear your second sound clip if you can upload it :)
And congratulations on your 1000th forum post which will be your next one ;D
Taz