Wednesday 26 August 2020

Wild Bird Wednesday 422 - Apostlebird

These are Apostlebirds (Struthidea cinerea).  Their common name is probably derived from their behaviour - they are normally seen in groups, although I have never seen 12 in one place.

These birds, which seem to have an affinity to pipes and electrical cables (!), were photographed at a couple of location in the Northern Territory last year.  These birds often become used to people, and these birds were no exception - the pictures were taken on a 'flower bed' outside a cafe and in a camp site.

They are comical, active birds that breed in family groups - a behaviour which I believe is more common in Australia than in any other part of the world.

The birds are about 30cm long and make a variety of calls - which I assume are group contact calls.  I really liked having them around our camper van on this trip, they were fun to watch.









The conditions with Covid 19 seem to be slowly getting better here - thankfully.  I will make a huge effort to resume normal service this week.  Stay well and spread the word for WBW if you can.  Cheers SM.




You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

12 comments:

  1. Hari OM
    that is a neat bird... up here we are being faced with 'spikes' of COVID as there are attempts at returning to 'normal'... I am not going to relax for a long time yet. YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting species and habits. It has an "intelligent" look about it, but of course it is easy to be anthropomorphic.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I know I asked you to link me in but because we had a storm I did not go to caravan so was able to link in myself. I have only seen a flock of these birds once in Australia but they are pretty drab in colour but have a l=wonderful ling tail. Thanks for hosting and have a good week ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Glad to hear Covid is coming under control. Love that fifth photo.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful photos of a very striking bird!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Amazing the distinct variety and personalities of bird types! Another I'm glad to meet through you. Best wishes, Stewart. Stay safe.

    ReplyDelete
  7. A funny name for this bird...
    All the best, Stewart!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Another interesting bird, Stewart. It reminds me of our starlings but with a hawkish beak.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hello steward
    Nice photos but I think the bird looks a bit grim, maybe it didn't want to become famous
    greetings Frank

    ReplyDelete
  10. I hope they don't chew on electrical cables like squirrels do! Every now and then we have a power outage due to a squirrel.

    ReplyDelete
  11. We have seen the Apostle birds quite often when camping in the bush. They are an interesting bird to watch and seem to like being around people.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Interesting, a new bird on me. Sorry I am not keeping up with blogs or comments. Wifi slow and too much to do in the garden and the kitchen..... Keep safe, Diane

    ReplyDelete