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.

As ever, to join in with WBW please click on the link below.  Cheers  SM

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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.

To join in with WBW click on the blue button below.  Hope all is well.  SM

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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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Wild Bird Wednesday 511 - White-plumed Honeyeater

Well, Covid19 has found us, so this will be a very brief post.

More birds from around the water-tank I mentioned last week.  These birds are White-plumed Honeyeaters (Lichenostomus penicillatus).  This is a medium sized honeyeater, found in  open forests and woodlands, often near water and wetlands.  I smiled when I found this note about its distribution: "It is scarce or absent in arid regions unless water artificially supplied (e.g. water troughs for stock)".

Its nice when the birds do what they are supposed to do!

As ever,  to join in with WBW, click the blue button.  Cheers  SM

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Wild Bird Wednesday 510 - White-browed Woodswallow

The White-browed Woodswallow (Artamus superciliosus) is a summer breeding visitor to my part of Australia.

This pair of birds came down to drink from an agricultural tank when I as in the Mallee this January.  It was one of those chance encounters where you think 'some birds may land here'. So, I just parked the car and waited.

The bird with the more visible eye-stripe is the male. This species hunts insects on the wing and can form large flocks.  But not this time!

As ever, to join in with WBW, just click on the button below.  SM

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