Strepera graculina

2 Pied Currawong at Hughes, ACT

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Identification history

	Strepera graculina	4 Jan 2020	natureguy
	Strepera graculina	2 Jan 2020	BIrdsinCanberra

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Hi All, Do you think these currawongs are burns victims or diseased please? I have noticed them hanging around my house the last few days. Their heads seem to have the most damage. Although, if you look at the 4th photo you can see that currawong has some damage to its legs. I noticed one eating ants on the front path, it was just sitting there, but when it stood-up it had trouble walking. They are sticking around the house, hardly calling and looking when they hear other currawongs calling. Any suggestions about what to do please?

17 comments

CathB wrote:

3 Jan 2020

I saw something similar in Cook today (sighting 4246912).

BIrdsinCanberra wrote:

3 Jan 2020

Hi CathB, Thanks for letting me know. I guess we are seeing currawongs coming from the fires. My two are still around the house and I noticed them taking some type of small fruits or flower buds of a tree this morning. Not something I have seen other currawongs do around my house. It maybe they are using Canberra as a place to recover. Thanks for letting me know about your sighting and I hope your currawongs are able to recover soon. Cheers

ArcherCallaway wrote:

4 Jan 2020

I'm not sure if they would have fled the fires but I just took a look at a currawong on the railing around our driveway (which I've seen there a number of times recently but had not taken any notice of till now) and it is exactly as you and Cath have described with the bare patches on the head and discolouration. Almost as though it has been singed.

natureguy wrote:

4 Jan 2020

Interesting. We have a resident pair here which currently is raising 2 youngsters (they have now fledged). Also a pair of Grey Currawongs which seem fine. I haven't noticed any unusual plumages etc on any currawongs I have seen but will keep an eye out. Luke.

BIrdsinCanberra wrote:

5 Jan 2020

Hi Luke and Ryu, Many Tthanks for you comments. The currawongs are still around and I am being diligent in filling the bird bath. I have also started leaving out some dry dog food based on the book by Darryl Jones. I am hoping that may aid in the recovery. Many thanks as always for taking time to leave useful comments. I hope the year has started well for you both. Cheers, Jon

rawshorty wrote:

5 Jan 2020

My resident pair looked worse than this about a month or so ago when they had one young. I had put it down to stress/lack off food. Now that they have no young to look after they are looking better but still not great.

rawshorty wrote:

5 Jan 2020

Have posted a pic of my bird sighting 4247027 from a month ago.

ArcherCallaway wrote:

5 Jan 2020

I know there have been begging young my yard for about 2 weeks so that would match up and perhaps a more plausible explanation :)

BIrdsinCanberra wrote:

5 Jan 2020

Hi Ryu and Rawshorty, Many thanks for that information, especially the picture from Rawshorty. Does anybody have any historical info on this please? It would be interesting to know if this is a regular occurrence or something which happened this year; possibly because of things like the lack of rain, increased heat as well as smoke. Thanks very much for your information.

BIrdsinCanberra wrote:

5 Jan 2020

Sorry, I just thought it worth recording that I have not heard any pleading young around my yard so I am not sure if these birds are parents. As I don't know how far a Pied Currawong may roam looking for food, I am not sure if the young may be somewhere else. I am not discounting stress brought about by feeding young birds just noting I have not heard any young birds but I will keep an eye out. Thanks again for the discussion.

AlisonMilton wrote:

5 Jan 2020

I'm wondering if the currawongs had chicks a month ago as per Shorty's photo. I'm no expert but I've noticed with my local magpies, that when they have young chicks the female seems to have a lack of head feathers. Likewise, the photos I just posted of my nesting Willie Wagtails, one of the pair has very few neck feathers. A natural occurrence during breeding - young chicks pecking at the neck of parents while begging for food??? Just a thought.

BIrdsinCanberra wrote:

5 Jan 2020

Hi Alison, Many thanks for the comment. I see what you mean. That would explain the localised loss of feathers around the head area. Many thanks again for taking time to post a very useful comment. Cheers

natureguy wrote:

5 Jan 2020

Hi all, I have a pair of currawongs and also a pair of magpies that nest on our property each year. Currently both pairs have recently fledged young. I like to keep watch on these families as it is nice to see the youngsters reach maturity and watch the adults successfully raise a brood. I have never noticed the absence of feathers from any part of any of these birds, especially the neck, and neither on any other species. The behaviour seen in these sightings is interesting and it would be great to find out the cause of the missing feathers. Luke.

BIrdsinCanberra wrote:

6 Jan 2020

Hi All, Just did a quick Google search. This issues has been noted before in other parts of Australia as this forum post shows http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/forum/Pied-Currawongs-baldness. This post at a different forum goes along the lines of what Alison suggested but looks at Cuckoos as the culprit since the currawongs have to put their heads in the beak of the cuckoo - http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/birding-aus/2014-01/msg00124.html (Maybe an increase in Koels is impacting the currawongs with more currawong nests playing host to Koels.) My currawongs are still hanging around but no sign of young and one of them does appear to have a leg problem, although this may be unrelated.

AlisonMilton wrote:

6 Jan 2020

Thanks Kym. I've noticed the feather deterioration on the heads of my local magpies (particularly the females) around breeding season for many years,but have had an additional thought. It has also occurred to me that this may be caused by lice or bird mites. This said, maybe bird nests are a breeding site for these mites so the mite infestation for adult birds is worse during the breeding season as they tend to the chicks in the nest. The head is harder for them to rid themselves of these pests. Perhaps also why females seem to be more affected than males (from my observations).

ArcherCallaway wrote:

6 Jan 2020

Currawongs are not known to host Koels. Alison's suggestion seems plausible, I suppose it would be hard to remove mites from your head with a beak :) It could very well be a combination of stress etc making them weaker and more susceptible to disease/parasitism/mites.

natureguy wrote:

6 Jan 2020

The birds could have also been harassed or had a fight with another bird. We have pet chickens and ducks and when we had a broody chicken our male duck would chase the chicken out of the nesting box and sometimes pulled out feathers. The poor chicken then had a bald area on the side of the neck as well as some pecking on the flanks. (We separated the ducks after this so that they stopped harassing the chickens). Maybe we can never be certain of the exact cause.

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