THERE ARE BULLIES IN THE WILD WORLD, TOO 

We hear a lot about cyber and schoolyard bullying at the moment, but there is bullying in the bird world too.
The other day I was watching the antics of a helmeted friar bird in one of our grevillea trees. There were plenty of flowers for this nectar eater to choose from, in fact so may that for the bird it must have been like being in a restaurant with an everlasting smorgasbord. But would it share? No!
Any other birds with the temerity to try to sample flowers in that same grevillea, from tiny dusky honeyeaters to the bigger blue-faced honeyeaters were fiercely chased away. In fact, the helmeted friarbird was chasing so often it is a wonder it got anything to eat at all!
What a waste of energy it seemed. But that is the helmeted friar bird for you!
It’s a rough, tough bird which, though sometimes seen in flocks, is often alone, defending its feeding tree.
The helmeted friar bird is large, males being some 37centimeters from beak to tail and, with its odd shaped head, quite unmistakable and ungainly looking.
However, I am assured it is quieter in the breeding season, almost retiring in fact.
Usually, three to five eggs are laid, and it is the female who incubates them, while the male stays close by, guarding her and bringing her food – their diet also includes insects.
Ironically, when nesting, these tough birds often make their bulky nests in close proximity to other species as if it realises there is often safety in numbers. The nests are well camouflaged and suspended using vines from the outer limbs of trees several metres above the ground.
The nesting season coincides with the monsoon.
I haven’t seen “our” helmeted friar bird for some days so I wonder if all that frenzy was a precursor to its nesting. There was no way of telling whether it was a male or a female, apart from size because the female is slightly smaller.
The garden is quieter without it.

Many people say fish are not intelligent, but like everything in the wild world they know what they need to know to feed, breed and survive. If they don’t, they do not live long. Many fish certainly quickly learn to come when food is offered and some, like a couple of tiny goldfish we had in a garden pond, would swim up and tickle our fingers as if they were asking for food even if none was offered. They would even slip into our hands under the water. We grew quite fond of them.
This week we were given more proof that fish learn to adapt to the stringencies of their surroundings.
A number of goldfish had lived in a friend’s large garden pond for years, but a couple of weeks ago he started noticing kookaburras taking an interest in the pond. The fish were noticeable for their absence.
Thinking the fish must have been taken he decided to take the opportunity to clean out the pond. He had to be careful because of the lilies, but had got nearly down to the mud and dead leaves on the bottom when he saw the first fish.
Then another and another.
They had been hiding not as usual under the lily leaves but deep in the bottom silt.
Delighted his fish were safe, he refilled the pond and covered it with finer meshing.

As if in a reminder that red is a Christmas colour, even in the green tropics, flame trees are spectacular now, standing out like beacons.
These gorgeous trees – rightfully the symbol of the old Cardwell Shire – flower when leafless, making the display even more dramatic. Surprisingly, flame trees seem to have been among the more successful of Cyclone Yasi survivors, and the number of healthy, self sown seedlings coming up is noticeable.
Another beauty which had a very successful flowering season this year is the golden oak, a large grevillea with the most beautiful old gold undersides to its leaves.
Although this lovely tree can grow to 30 metres, it can be pruned and, like the flame tree, makes a spectacular tree for a large garden.
Interestingly, only four grevillea species grow in rainforest, the golden oak (Grevillea baileyana) being one of them.
It is well worth looking out for.

Wildwatch is provided by the Tully branch of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland: enquiries to 4066 5466 or 4066 5650. To contact the emergency 24-hour Wildcare hotline, phone 0439 687 272. Phone DERM on 1300 130 372 to report concerns about cassowaries and mahogany gliders.

PIC: FloweShow,bird1012 015:
AGGRESSIVE: A helmeted friar bird in the Wildwatch garden makes sure no other birds come near the grevillea flowers it is feeding on.

by  ANNE WILKINSON