Banding birds

I was helping John Rawsthorne catch and band birds last weekend at the Weddin Mountains. It was the end of the breeding season and many of the birds we caught were young of the year. Or like the rainbow bee-eater above were adults worn out after their efforts - literally as this bird shows with its tatty plumage and broken tail-streamers.

This red-browed firetail was identifiable as a bird of the year because the red in its brow was incomplete

- the adult birds have a thick brush stroke across their brow.

There was a family party of grey butcherbirds in the area, this is one of the adults.

They have a particularly sharp hook on the tip of their bill for picking up prey, mostly invertebrates, but also small skinks and young birds if they can catch them. That is my skin on the tip.

                               Another predator made an appearance - a goanna ( lace monitor lizard). 

 

It was nice and quiet as it walked through the camp, still a youngster itself.

Bird banding

    Last weekend I was at helping to catch and band birds at a study site in the forest near Moruya in south- 
    east New South Wales. The project is run by Micheal and Sarah Guppie, and Anthony Overs. Above is
    one of the main study species, a Variegated Fairy-Wren (adult male).
 

    The breeding season is almost over so there were many young birds such as the juvenile White-naped

     Honeyeater on the right above, whose plumage is much duller than that of the adult on the left. 

     Another of the honeyeater species was the New Holland Honeyeater, a bird which favours to feed on

     the nectar of banksias. These birds have splendid detail in their facial plumage.

      Below is an adult male Mistletoebird, which has a wonderful red breast and the sheen on its back is a
      rich deep metalic blue, appat from on the primaries and central tail feathers which are dull grey-brown.

       Another shining bird was the Shining Bronze-Cuckoo. Even the bars on its breast have a greenish
       lustre.

    And one of the last birds we caught was a Black-faced Monarch Flycatcher, an adult as identified by

    its fully black face markings.

Papuan Frogmouth

While at Iron Range I kept an eye out for frogmouths, a very careful eye. There are two species in the rainforest there, Papuan and Marbled. This Papuan Frogmouth was sitting on a nest on a lateral branch about 15m up - it was the lowest branch in a tall tree. He merged so well with the bark of the branch and mixed in with the epiphytes, he was very difficult to spot.

Then as I watched him, I quickly noticed a pair of Figbirds coming in to feed their young in a nest less than a metre from the frogmouth. And not only that but there were a pair of Noisy Friarbirds building a nest about a metre above him (to the right). See below. Both pairs of passerines were very active and busy all the time I was there. Had they deliberately selected to nest close to the frogmouth, for protection? Frogmouths will pull themselves up into a dramatic threat display posture if a predator approaches. They hold their mouths wide open, 180 degrees almost, and spread out their wing and head feathers as they rear up. They more than double their apparent size and hiss loudly. Enough to see off a predator smaller than themselves? The main predator in the area would likley be the Canopy Goanna.

This bird was sitting over a single chick of about two weeks age. It would leave the nest in another two weeks. Enough to cover the Figbirds nestling period, but not that of the Friarbirds.

Atlas Moth

I found this Atlas Moth fluttering low over the road through the rainforest at Iron Range while driving along after watching frogmouths at night. Its wingspan was almost 30cm. 

The four panels in its wings shone in the light, but were translucent 'windows' as can be seen above where the dark of night can be seen through one and the hand of the person holding it can be seen through another.

Its feathered antennae indicate that it was male, and they are about an inch long. Its large eyes sparkle in the camera flash. And those legs are large and strong, the whole animal was strong and vigorous. It might have been injured by a passing car, but it seemed to be able to fly alright.

Frogmouths

During an overnight stop at Musgrave on the main road through Cape York I watched a pair of Tawny Frogmouths hunting. They were typical in their behaviour, by looking for prey from a perch on a low branch then swooping down to catch insects on the ground. However, they were much smaller than the birds in south-east Australia where I study them, about half the body size. The female, below, identifiable by the rufous colour on her wings, was especially small.

In the nearby Lakefield national park, I found this Papuan Frogmouth. He was roosting in a shady, thickly-leaved tree, and I was surprised when he flew away as I approached. Frogmouths usually sit very still and rely on their camouflage to conceal them from potential predators. He was immediately identifiable by his massive head and bill, and thick eyebrows. A very impressive bird.