Strepera graculina
Pied Currawong at Hughes, ACT
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| Strepera graculina | natureguy | 11 Oct 2023 | |
| Corcorax melanorhamphos | CarbonAI | 10 Oct 2023 | |
| Strepera graculina | LisaH | 10 Oct 2023 |
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User's notes
So - this is not the story I wanted to write. I've been following this small family of choughs as they've selected a tree, built their hemi-spherical mud nest, then diligently sat on the egg(s) for the past 3-4 weeks. I've watched them carefully change over, with one gliding down from the nest as another glides up. Except this evening. The nesting bird came off the nest, moved around the branch, looking down - waiting, I thought, for the relief nester. But none came, so this one flew down to the ground. Looking up, probably less than a minute after the nest had been vacated, I saw a black bird (it was getting dark), but there was something not quite right - there was white under the tail. The bird bent its head into the nest, then out, then in - and I heard very young nestlings calling. But they weren't being fed. And then - silence. Suddenly, the choughs returned, and chased off the marauding currawong, who was persistent in trying to get back to its dinner. I remembered then, that I'd passed a currawong on the way to this tree, but had thought little of it. I left, deeply saddened, as a chough settled back onto the nest. Who knows what the next days will bring - I can’t see how the nestling will survive. My lessons learned (but never really learned): don't get attached; and nature is not always as we humans would like it to be
1 comment
Location information
- Coordinates 149.091099-35.327661
- Maps Hughes Grassy Woodland Red Hill to Yarralumla Creek
- Places Hughes, ACT
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 10 Oct 2023 07:31 PM Recorded on
- LisaH Recorded by
- Yes Nesting site
Collections
- LisaH Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Strepera graculina Magpie or larger Other Birds Birds
Species information
- Strepera graculina Scientific name
- Pied Currawong Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1123.4m Recorded at altitude
Seasonal activity
-
Nesting site
JFMAMJJASOND
Record quality
Quality score
6 / 7
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- Description
- Additional attributes
- GPS evidence of location