Wild Bird Wednesday 517 - Little Raven

The Little Raven (Corvus mellori) is the default raven (or as most people would call them 'crow') in Melbourne.  You have to got further North and West in Australia to start getting true crows.

That being said, the identification of this bird is still not as easy as it seems as we also get Australian Ravens in parts of Victoria.  Based on the behaviour of this bird, which included wing flicks after calling, I almost confident of my ID!

I love the range of expressions these birds (or possibly this bird!) seem to have as they were looking for food.  The picture were taken a few weeks ago in a local park.

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Wild Bird Wednesday 516 - Australian Magpie

The Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) may well be the most widely recognised bird in Australia.  Although there are regional variations in the amount of black and white shown by this bird, they are all considered one species.  Whatever the biological truth of the matter they are fascinating birds, and one that I see on a daily basis.

These birds are little way away from my usual haunts: these birds are feeding around a garden sprinkler in The Mallee region of NW Victoria.  It was a hot day, and I think that they were enjoying the 'rain' as well as the worms that the water was bringing to the surface.  These birds did seem to have the rare ability to only catch and eat the worms when they were stood behind an obstacle of some kind!!

As ever you can join in with WBW by clicking on the big blue button.  Life continues to be strange for me, and I cant tell you how much I appreciate your comments and links.  SM

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Wild Bird Wednesday 515 - Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) is an iconic and well known Australian bird.  I believe it was one of the first - if not the first - Australian bird that a long term contributor and friend of mine ever saw!  (Hello there!)

They are a loud, conspicuous and characterful species that can be seen in many places near where I live.  They often form flocks, and when they do, you tend to hear them before you see them.

Theses birds were feeding on fallen acorns in a park about 20 minutes from my house.  I really like the way you can see them using their feet as 'hands' in these images.

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Wild Bird Wednesday 514 - Common Bronzewing

The Common Bronzewing (Phaps chalcoptera) is one of Australia's commonest pigeons - they can be found in a wide range of habitats.  In fact they occur over much of Australia, and only avoid areas that are short of water.

This male bird was feeding around a footpath in one of my local parks.  I was there in the late afternoon, and the low sun was perfect for highlighting the wing feathers that give it its name.  Like many birds, these are not the easiest to get close to: but this one seemed a little more relaxed than many.  Maybe it's the constant foot traffic through the area - but whatever the reason this bird did not fly off into the distance at the first excuse.

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Wild Bird Wednesday 513 - Spiny-cheeked honeyeater

This is probably the last of the 'water tank' posts (at least for a while)

These birds are Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, which are far more common in the dry, inland parts of Victoria than in my neck of the woods.  When I was in the Mallee I saw them every day, but I rarely see them around Melbourne.

The Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater (Acanthagenys rufogularis) is the only species in the genus Acanthagenys. It is large, for a honeyeater, ranging from 22 to 27 centimetres and weighing around 52 grams. 

'Covid-normal' is a very strange time - and I am not back up to full speed yet.  Thank you for the support and comments.  I will resume normal service as soon as possible.

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Wild Bird Wednesday 512 - Singing Honeyeater

More birds from the water trough again this week.

These birds are Singing Honeyeaters (Gavicalis virescens) a small and common honeyeater.  There are also guest appearances by a large wasp and a White Plumed Honeyeater.

We seem to have beaten COVID (for the time being - but the family is pretty tired, as is common with this virus)

I was wondering if anybody would like to do a 'guest appearance' as a contributor to WBW in the next few weeks? Simplest way would be to contact me, and I can set up a way to get text and images shared and published - thought it would be nice to have some content here other than mine.  It may also give a chance for people to say to fellow bloggers 'why dont you have a look at this?'  - Anyway, contact me if you are interested.  SM

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