Photography by Steve Solomons. Site by Weblight Studio (Australia) All Rights reserved
Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike
Black-Backed Magpie
Chestnut Teal
Crested Pigeon
Domestic Pigeon
Eastern Rosella
Figbird
Galah
Little Corella
Noisy Miners
Rainbow Lorikeets
Grey Butcher Bird
Scaley Breasted Lorikeet
Noisy
Miner
Manorina Melanocephala
DISTRIBUTION:
Eastern Australia, from about Cairns, Qld. south to Tasmania and west to about
Adelaide, SA.
NOTES: Also called Soldierbird, Micky, and
Snakebird. Frequents open forest and partly cleared land. It is a restless,
bold, and noisy bird, keeping up a constant chatter of loud and sharp notes,
especially at sight of intruders, hence the name Soldierbird. Lives in colonies,
which co-operate in defending the colony's territory and in raising the young.
Food; insects (is taking bread from food tray for nestlings) procured among the
leaves and blossoms and on the ground; also pollen, native fruits and
berries
NEST: Cup-shaped, made of twigs, strips of
bark and grass, frequently decorated outside with wool (I have noted spiderwebs
too); lined with grass and hair; placed in a bush or tree, up to seven metres
from the ground.
EGGS: Three or four; pinkish-white,
profusely spotted reddish-chesnut and purplish-grey. Breeding season: July to
December or January
Noisy Miner chick, able to fly and just beginning to find its own
food but still cheeping loudly for a parent to feed it.
Left: This juvenile has been named "Fatso" When
he was a nestling I used to put large amounts of bread out and his parents made
use of it to quiet his endless begging. The yeast, starch and salt made him fat.
The amount was cut back and lately he has become slimmer but there was a lesson
in it
The picture was taken shortly after the supply of bread was cut and he was following me about begging!
references from What Bird is That?
Neville W. Cayley. 1931 revised by Terence Lyndsey. 1984
...Angus and Robertson, Sydney Australia