Yesterday I read one of Lisa’s posts here, http://fifteenacres.com/2014/01/12/spurwinged-plover-or-masked-lapwing/ and it has inspired me to write about the birds I see around our house.
Anyone who has owned fowls knows that they can be quite vicious when they are establishing the pecking order of the flock. After we decided we couldn’t win against the foxes we gave up the idea of keeping chooks but we still see birds establishing their pecking order. I have a birdfeeder which I don’t keep permanently stocked because I don’t want the birds to rely on us for their sustenance. When I do put seed into it however it’s very interesting watching what birds come and go and why.
Around our home I’ve seen these birds:
Crested Pigeons, Magpies, Galahs, Rainbow Lorikeets, Eastern Rosellas, Adelaide Rosellas, Restless Flycatchers, Grey Flycatchers, Eastern Spinebills, Spotted Pardalotes, Striated Pardelotes, 2 Yellow Crested Tits, Blue Wrens, 1 Misteltoe Bird, Weebills, Silvereyes, New Holland Honeyeaters, Red Wattle Birds, Kookaburras, Currawongs, Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos, Tawny Frogmouths and Boobook Owls. For obvious reasons only a few ever come to the Bird Feeder and there is a definite pecking order.
Believe it or not at the Feeder the biggest birds are not the most aggressive, that honour goes to probably the prettiest of all, The Rainbow Lorikeets. Seems to me it’s a bit like humans, beauty can get you more than your fair share. I’ve seen the Rainbow Lorikeets chase off Galahs, Magpies and any other bird mistakenly thinking the rule of “first come first served” applies. I’m not sure which bird would win the battle between a Magpie and a Galah though the Galah would certainly protest the loudest.
In the Lorikeet pecking order, under the Rainbow Lorikeet comes the Crimson Rosella, Adelaide Rosella, and lastly the Eastern Rosella. The Crested Pigeons seem to totally lack confidence and usually just potter about picking up seeds from the ground. I guess they deserve their reputation for being peaceful creatures.
If I were one of these birds I’d like to think I’d be one of the doves. I certainly wouldn’t be a Rainbow Lorikeet, I don’t have beauty to get me what I want and I’m not exactly muscled up so I doubt I’d be a Magpie or Galah. But now, I’ve just remembered another bird I’ve seen around here. It doesn’t come to the Bird Feeder, prefers to be in its own space, not interested in confrontation and definitely not trying to establish itself at the top of any pecking order. In bird books it’s described as having a rather drab colour though I think it’s a nice soft grey. It has a middling build, not svelt like the Flycatchers and not rotund like the Galahs and I feel an affinity with it. It’s the Grey Shrike Thrush but unlike me it has a lovely singing voice.
You can see most of the birds in the photos below. The tiny birds never seem to stay still for a second and are often very high in the trees so I haven’t managed any decent photo of a Weebill or Yellow-crested Tit and the Spotted Pardalote photo is only included to show the colours.
Musings of a Retiring Person 
Thanks for linking to my post. Your photos are beautiful. The Eastern Silvereye, your owl photos, and the many smaller birds you’ve captured draw my attention the most. Small birds are so hard to photograph without a very long lens.
In relation to who wins out of the Magpies and the Galahs, at our place it is the Magpies. They pecked the two Galahs we had nesting in a tree near the house so many times that the Galahs abandoned their nest. Very sad. I love the Galahs. Here, they are the most gentle of the lot. They seem to be shy, gentle creatures who keep to themselves and don’t bother the other birds.
We don’t get the lorikeets, but they are beautiful. People keep telling me it is good we don’t have them as they are the worst at spoiling the fruit on the fruit trees. Do you find this?
I loved your post, and I’m so happy it was inspired by mine!
Lisa
Lisa, thanks for your comment. I’ve been away for the weekend so just getting back to my blog. I would also be disappointed to see Galahs chased away but we haven’t had them nesting here. The Rainbow Lorikeets are definitely the greediest, messiest destroyers of fruit here. I think the Eastern Rosellas are beautiful too, I’m a sucker for bright colours, they also have nicer nature.