When we lived at Molendinar on the Gold Coast a family of four Buff-banded rails decided to call our backyard home for several weeks. We had no fish pond or water of any kind in the backyard, so I thought it a bit strange. Over the course of the time they spent with us I was able to gain their trust and they would not scurry away as they had at the start. Then they disappeared overnight, just as they had come. I was saddened as we had grown accustomed to them being around.
Wow that would have been a great experience to have them around your backyard. Very nice photos, they are a great looking bird.
Lucky you, I doubt many people get such a beautiful bird in their yard (I had to go all the way to the other side of town the see those)
Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera
Very Striking bird.
elizabeth
Thanks WhistlingDuck. I spent a lot of time looking in the backyard for them during this time. They were sort of like defacto pets. So I was very lucky and priviledged and worried when I did not see them for a few hours!
Thanks Ryu, Lucky is the word. And appreciative. Chances like that rarely come along. Cheers.
That they are Elizabeth. To see them up close you get to appreciate the buff. We put a tub of water out for them and they would bath and splash most of the water onto the lawn. Cannot seem to find those pics as they are on an old computer. Cheers.
Wow what a great bird to have in your backyard and a nice story with it.
Most interesting, mhubbard. It seems the rails in your backyard were able to wander around the neighborhood. Was it an urban/suburban area in which you lived? And was there a wetland, river or creek nearby?
Having appropriate habitat, especially if it's close to high quality natural habitat, is an excellent way to attract wildlife. And yes, it's very easy to become attached to birds & other wildlife but oh, so important not to regard them as "ours" lest we're motivated to intervene in ways which might be quite damaging to them.
Lovely shots, a new bird for me...
Ron
Hi Woko. Our suburb had mainly treed large urban blocks and was certainly in the suburbs of the Gold Coast. The nearest river, the Nerang River, was about 1.5 km away. We left the birds to their own devices apart from placing a tub of water in the backyard, which they used for drinking and bathing. We felt protective of them mainly because of the threat from cats. We also used to laughingly call them the chooks as it was like having chooks in the backyard. Cheers Murray
Cheers Timothy.
I can fully appreciate your protective feelings towards the rails with cats about, mhubbard. It's something of a dilemma when you're trying to establish conditions suitable for birds but the birds are being attracted to an area where cats abound. Perhaps bird bath retailers should provide a free cat trap with every bird bath sold!
Thanks Woko. I had only planted trees to attract birds out the front of the house. The back was just a backyard, so the arrival of the Buff-Banded rails was a complete surprise. I had to turn to my bird books to ID them! Unfortunately cat owners do not realise that if they leave their cats out at night they are immediately feral. That's the nature of cats. And we had a few neighbours who were totally irresponsible in this regard. Others were responsible. This is a really sore point with me as I have seen first hand the damage cats - and dogs - can do to our wildlife. At least dogs can be contained. End of rant.
Hardly a rant, mhubbard. Rather, a short exposition on the threat cats pose to wildlife.