I live in Monbulk, which is a small village in the Dandenong Range Mountains in Victoria, Melbourne. My husband and myself moved here around seven years ago, and to our joy the birds are beautiful.
Our favorite, the BellBird (and its bell like singing) was everywhere, around our property and other properties in the street. Their bell like singing is melodic and a delight to listen too. The last couple of years, I have noticed that their singing is no longer there to hear, and I have not seen one in a long time. What has happened to our BellBirds. Can they just disappear. We would love it if they would come back.
They have probably moved to another patch of forest terrorizing the other native birds that feed on the insects etc that inhabit the canopies. Beautiful as they are, Bell Miners are not so nice when they gang up on other species driving them away from an area. If my information is correct in (at least) some NSW National Parks they are declared pests!
Hi,I live in Frankston and in summer in parks like boggy creek and the pines you can't hear your self think for all the bell birds calling out to each other,and yes they are nasty little sods just like all other miners they chase off other birds just because they can.
One possible reason for there decline in any given area is the increase in the number of indian miners, this introduced pest is one of the birds who will stand up to them.
Hi BellbirdLover, you will find, that from where you live, across to Emerald, Cockatoo,Gembrook,down to Launching Place,the Bell Miners have disappeared.The Bell Miners,aggressivly defending their territories against all other intruders,live in large colonies in the same spot for years.They also move away as the whole colonie, after bushfires, or loss of dense vegetation of land clearing etc. There could be many reasons. I know you love them,sorry to say, I'm happy they have left,it gives the many smaller bird a chance.
M-L
Bellbirds actually farm Lerps which are insects that exude honeydew. The BBs eat the honeydew and to defend the lerps they chase away other insect eating birds allowing lerps and other insect numbers to increase. Lerps are sap suckers and if there are enough of them they can actually kill the trees they feed on. This condition is called Bellbird Dyeback and has killed large areas of trees in the Kyogle shire. It is also a suspect for the New England Dyeback. Bellbirds have started to appear in my area,I hope they move on soon. Ray
Thanks raysimula,I didn't want to frighten BellbirdLover so much,but we have seen it happen in our area, it took about 10 years for the trees to show the devestating effects of the Dyeback. We are glad they have disappeared,for some reason(?), the white Cockatoos also.Is there some kind of connection? Do you know?
M-L
Thank you for such a quick response to my question. OMG, I am shocked to hear that they are such rogue birds. I dont know an awful lot about them, so I do really appreciate the input from all you bird lovers.
Its strange, that something that sounds so beautiful, can be such a threat to our other lovely birds. I have several King Parrots visit me for a daily portion of sunflower seeds. The male is a beautiful creature, dazzling in his crimson and dark green attire. The female visits as well, but has to wait her turn. They are very tame.
Hi,now you've heard the down side of having a large number of bell birds in a small area it makes you appreciate just hearing the occasional call ring out,they are a stunning bird and there call dose sound so peaceful it epitomizes the sound of the bush.
There is an up side,start having a close look around and see how many different species you can spot that weren't there 7 years ago.
cheers
These posts are from a decade ago but I do wish to clarify a few misunderstandings from other posts above. Bellbirds which are native Australian make a variety of "ding-bing" tunes, so delightful and magical. They are a part of the natural Australian fauna. Indian minor birds to which the post from Windhover might be referring to as bell minors ? (invasive, no ding-bing sound and not native). Indian minors made it to Australian shores by hitchhiking via shipping containers. These sneaky little guys work as a strong collective and breed well. They act like bully mafia gangs but in the bird world. I am certain the original post is referring to our lovely Bellbirds.
Just to clarify for Svet...
Bellminers are native Australian birds which are coloquially called Bellbirds and do make a lovely bell-like sound. Windhover was pointing out the correct name and some of the behaviour as others also did... they do farm lerps and chase off other species... and it is suggested may cause some loss of forest. The original post refers to these birds.
The Common (or Indian) Myna (not Minor) is indeed an introduced species which is being erradicated in some places. Windhover was definitely not referring to them.
I hope that helps to clarify the naming issues.
Hey Svet :-) Yes, raysimula's post above explains well how an excess of Bell Miners can damage a location, including chasing off all the smaller native birds (despite being native themselves) and actually causing dieback in trees because they actively farm / protect psyllid bugs in order to eat the lerp (honeydew) that they produce. The psyllids eventually get so numerous (because the Miners chase off all their predators) that they sicken and eventually kill the trees they are feeding on. So large numbers of Bell Miners in a forest is not a good sign, and often is accompanies by dieback and sick trees. You'll very often find the Miners in remnant or edge forests - have a look at the trees and see if you can tell the difference between them and a healthy forest.
Personally I really dislike Bell Miners - when they move into an area in force, almost all the other birds move out - and they are so noisy and numerous that its hard to hear or see anything else. I was in the Border Ranges rainforest recently, and the campsite where I was was overrun with them - meaning we saw very little else while we were there :-(