A Helping Hand.

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Originally Posted by Gav 110

Thanks bob
From the photos it looked like a cuckooshrike

cuckoo shrike - Bing images
After looking at your link and reassessing the photos I think you are right
The ones at my farm are definitely the black faced cuckoo shrikes
All these bloody native birds look alike
I have Willy wag tails, fan tails and blue breasted fairy wrens that all look similar from far and all seem to come in when the lawnmower starts
[emoji1531][emoji1531]

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No problems mate. I still get confused , I put the field guide to good use. Without it they are all just feathered dinosaurs to me. We haven't had willy wag tails around here for years, mores the pity. When we first moved in here there was a hedge of Hibiscus along the fence line that pretty little finches used to nest in. We knocked them down to build a fence, haven't seen a finch since. A Homer moment, DOHHH!. Blue breasted fairy wrens, what a beautiful bird. We live in a wonderful world. Just have to hang on to that thought at the moment.

I don't knot what it is with these birds , a couple of weeks ago we to went for a drive down by the Brisbane river with some takeaway coffee & this guy decided to join us.
Attachment 164357 Attachment 164358 Attachment 164359 Taken with phone so has rolled on its side . He actually flew into the car & landed on the steering wheel trying to get my biscuit.:( May be he followed us home & is the one on our cloths line. [bighmmm]

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Originally Posted by 1950landy

I don't knot what it is with these birds , a couple of weeks ago we to went for a drive down by the Brisbane river with some takeaway coffee & this guy decided to join us.
Attachment 164357 Attachment 164358 Attachment 164359 Taken with phone so has rolled on its side . He actually flew into the car & landed on the steering wheel trying to get my biscuit.:( May be he followed us home & is the one on our cloths line. [bighmmm]

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Breeding time, mate! We have both the Grey Butchie and the Pied. It's funny, as they both live on a different side of the house yard and don't encroach, (well, not too often) on each other's territory.

Cuckooshrikes have the quaint habit of giving their wings a quick flip-flap on alighting.

We have a family of greys here,they breed every year.
Once the youngsters are fully grown and feeding themselves,the adults chase them away.

Surprisingly they will catch a peanut in mid air and then land on a branch,kill the nut then eat it.

As others have said,they follow us around in the garden and pick at the dogs bones as well.

There have lots of different calls.

Seems we have a pair of Currawongs that have now moved in with a young one,and they are chasing the Butcherbirds around.

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Originally Posted by scarry

We have a family of greys here,they breed every year.
Once the youngsters are fully grown and feeding themselves,the adults chase them away.

Surprisingly they will catch a peanut in mid air and then land on a branch,kill the nut then eat it.

As others have said,they follow us around in the garden and pick at the dogs bones as well.

There have lots of different calls.

Seems we have a pair of Currawongs that have now moved in with a young one,and they are chasing the Butcherbirds around.

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I sat under the macadamia tree last year and listened to a butcherbird singing above. I swear he sang for a good 5-10 minutes, and didn't repeat a tune. It sounded like he had copied other bird song as well. Also at springtime, a butcherbird chased a common mynah down the side of the house while we watched & had a cleansing ale, about 5 seconds later the butcherbird came back at top speed, closely followed by about 5 or six common mynahs. This in turn attracted the attention of the currawongs, who were then set upon by the magpies. Things get very territorial around here at Spring. Meanwhile the Kookaburras laughed to see such fun. [ or, more likely, were defining their territorial boundaries] Better than TV. Can't wait for the old Mopoke to turn up.

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Originally Posted by scarry

As others have said,they follow us around in the garden and pick at the dogs bones as well.

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Might want to give the hound a bit more tucker then!

Another bird we see a lot of around here are the Pacific Bazza,normally sit and hunt up high in the trees,but sometimes down low.

They eat large insects like stick insects.

The noisy miners annoy them though.Bloody miners need culling around here,they chase a lot of birds away.

Return of the Gouldians. Just got this, one of the World's most beautiful birds has returned to Tropical Qld.

The return of the Gouldians - Australian Geographic

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Originally Posted by scarry

Another bird we see a lot of around here are the Pacific Bazza,normally sit and hunt up high in the trees,but sometimes down low.

They eat large insects like stick insects.

The noisy miners annoy them though.Bloody miners need culling around here,they chase a lot of birds away.

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We have a resident Baza. Sorry about the pic quality!
I'm still trying to get a pic of our White-throated Nightjars but, man, are they elusive! Also, they're somewhat nocturnal, so that's a big factor in my commitment, or lack thereof![biggrin]

Attachment 164422

It is possible to teach these little buggers to say anything! The best "polite" one that I have heard is taking off a small motorbike, complete with gear changes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMEccNLXcQc