Macleays Honeyeater (Xanthotis macleayanus) is a charming and friendly little bird endemic to the Wet Tropics and a common visitor to feed tables in Paluma. They are not shy and at places they visit regularly may perch on a hand that offers something to eat.
Text & Photo by Peter Cooke
The Red-Backed Button Quail (Turnix maculosis) is a regular resident in the Paluma Village but is secretive, and most commonly observed exploding from cover and flying rapidly away.
This female was with a juvenile in tow across the road from the Community Hall in March, but scurried off down the back of Cooke’s place. She next appeared walking away by herself. It seems she planted the youngster under a bush and stayed in plain sight walking away to lead interest away from the bub.
Text & Photo by Peter Cooke
Calling all Paluma bird-watchers……last weekend I twice sighted small flocks of Metallic Starlings (Aplonis metallica) amongst the rainforest trees in the village (mostly at the western end of Lennox Crescent).
There was no mistaking these birds as Metallic Starlings. They have a stunning black glossy plumage with a greenish and purple sheen and brilliant red eyes. They are a medium sized bird with a longish tail. No chance of a photo as they move like lightening in what is described as ‘small and fast moving flocks’.
This is the first time I have sighted these Starlings in the village, although as a relatively new resident (6 years at end of July) I wonder if other bird observers have spotted these birds on a more regular basis?
My research indicates that the Starlings arrive from New Guinea to breed in Northeastern Queensland in August and then depart again in March, which means they may be busy feeding on rainforest fruits before flying north for the cooler months?
Post by Michele Bird
We have previously posted several articles on this website regarding the amazing bowers built by the satin bowerbirds in and around the village of Paluma.
This is a story of two bowers and the concerted efforts of my resident satin bowerbird/s to build and maintain their bower in the face of considerable adversity.
A few weeks ago at the start of the breeding season I noticed that the satin bowerbirds were very active in the garden – in their favourite spot where a bower has been built over two successive years. So, it didn’t surprise me to see work had begun on a new bower (no.3) this breeding season. The construction of the bower was well under way and various blue objects started appearing in the garden as the efforts ramped up to build the bower and tempt the female birds in. There was some frenetic activity going on.
Then…….along came the tree trimmers to prune the vegetation from the transmission lines.
At my place they pruned some sizeable branches and left most of them behind littered throughout the garden. The clean up effort by the crew was pretty poor to say the least. As I cussed (numerous times) and began cleaning up the branches left behind, I noticed that a large branch had been lopped and left right on top of the bower. I promptly removed it to discover that the bower had been flattened to a pulp (along with several of my garden plants). In addition, the large branch left on top of the bower meant that the birds could not get access to the area to retrieve their twigs, sticks, blue trinkets and treasures to rebuild or relocate the bower.
I cussed again (more times than previously) and resolved with some disappointment that the bowerbird courting and breeding in my garden would be over for this year.
But that is not the end of this tale.
Coming back to my garden after two weeks away I was pleasantly surprised to see the bowerbird/s had rebuilt and re-erected the bower. It was bigger and better than before. There were new and many more blue trinkets scattered around the bower, along with pieces of bright green lichen. A new addition was the leaves of the exotic aluminium plant with the silvery upper side of the leaves carefully placed at the bower entrance. In recent times there has again been a hive of courting activity and chortling at the bower and around the garden.
It never ceases to amaze me how adaptable and innovative these birds can be. Not only do they collect and re-use the plastic contaminants we humans leave in the environment (well at least the blue pieces), they also re-adjust quite readily to our invasion of their rainforest home and our constant interference in their breeding and life cycle.
If only we humans were so tolerant and adaptable to the other species sharing the planet!
Text & Photos by Michele Bird
The Yellow-Breasted Boatbill (Machaerirhynchus flaviventer) is a small flycatcher restricted to rainforest habitats in North Queensland. They are found from the Paluma Range north to Cape York. They tend to inhabit the middle storey of rainforests where they forage for food, mostly catching insects whilst in flight. They have a broad bill with long distinctive ‘whiskers’. The male bird has brilliant yellow and black plumage while the female is duller in colour.
From my recent conversations with some of our local bird watchers at Paluma it seems the Yellow-Breasted Boatbill is not commonly sighted at Paluma. This might be because this small bird tends to frequent the mid-high canopy in its search for food, or perhaps they are not locally common in the village?
On Sunday (11 July) I was lucky enough to come across some keen bird watchers and friends (Greg and Michael) who were eagerly photographing this male Boatbill (below) at the Village Green. The bird was flitting in and out of the canopy in the large trees at the western end of the Green. Greg has kindly shared the photographs below. If you haven’t yet seen the Yellow-Breasted Boatbill, keep your eye out next time you visit the Village Green. Just look for a flash of brilliant yellow way up high in the canopy!
Text by Michele Bird and Photographs kindly shared by Greg Calvert
Mistletoes are a group of parasitic plants belonging to the Order Santalales. Australia has a high diversity of mistletoes (over 85 species) with the majority in the family Loranthaceae.
When we think of parasites we often envisage small or microscopic animals that can make you sick, or even kill you, but this way of living (where one organism harms another by using it for nourishment or other vital need) is widespread in all branches of life. In vascular plants parasitism has evolved at least 12 times, with the mistletoe form having evolved 5 separate times within the Order Santalales.
Mistletoes are considered to be obligate hemiparasites because they cannot grow independently of their host plant (the relationship is obligatory) and because they still have their own leaves that can provide a significant proportion of their energy needs through photosynthesis (hemi=half). A spectacular mistletoe in Western Australia looks more like a tree (it parasitises roots rather than tree branches) and is said to be the largest parasite in the world.
Paluma hosts several mistletoe species and one, with beautifully shaped and gaudily coloured flowers is currently in bloom along the roadsides of the village. Its scientific name is a bit of a tongue-twister: Amylotheca subumbellata and it, unfortunately, doesn’t have a common name other than the generic “Mistletoe”. A. subumbellata has a restricted distribution (northeast Qld) with the majority of records from the Paluma region. Its clusters of small torpedo-shaped flowers with orange/red bases and yellow-green tips are very distinctive. Its leaves are also very distinctive, being narrow, strap-shaped and grey-green. One related and more widespread species that is also common around the village is the Bush Mistletoe (Amylotheca dictyophleba) has almost identical flowers, but its leaves are glossy green and ovate. It has very similar flowers (around the village they are more uniformly red), but they differ markedly from A. subumbellata in the shape and colour of their leaves, which are oval glossy green.
The name mistletoe is thought to be derived from two Anglo-Saxon words: “mist or mistel” meaning dung; and “tan” meaning twig. This “dung on a twig” name is quite apt. Mistletoe fruit is a favourite food for the mistletoe bird (a common Paluma resident) but the seed in the fruit is surrounded by a very sticky substance that resists digestion. When a mistletoe bird sits on a branch and tries to defecate, the sticky mass containing the seed just hangs off the birds rear end forcing the bird to wipe its bottom on the branch or twig. The seed is now exactly where it needs to be in order to germinate and infest a new host tree. David Attenborough came to Australia years ago to film this process and the result is a delightful sequence, well worth watching here.
The best places to see both of the mistletoe species discussed here are in the trees on the north side of the road cutting from 27-21 Mt Spec Road, and on either side of the road opposite the High Ropes Course.
Text and photos by Jamie Oliver
A couple of weeks ago, we were gifted with the rare treat of boobook owls. Boobooks are Australia’s smallest and most widespread owls, and, as with most owls, are seldom seen. In the Hawk Owl family (genus Ninox), these fledglings appear to be the more commonly distributed subspecies, Ninox boobook ssp boobook, rather than the rainforest subspecies of lurida, which is interesting as it means both subspecies must overlap in range here at Paluma.
We had heard both boobook and lesser sooty owls the previous evening, and saw at least one of the adult parent birds very early, from the bedroom window. The photos were taken from the lounge room window. These fledglings were being guarded by an adult bird, who quickly flew into the forest when spotted, but the fledglings stayed put for most of the morning, giving us a glorious opportunity to watch them watching us!
Owls are apex predators in many environments, and are at risk of consuming or accumulating toxins used to control pest species such as insects and rodents. While in Paluma, commercial spraying of pesticide is not a threat to these birds, the indiscriminate use of rodent poison certainly is. We ask all residents to consider live trapping for control of rodents over use of toxic baits. This provides not only the opportunity to identify the trapped animal, and release in a suitable location if one of our valuable endemic species, but also prevents the inevitable leeching of these toxins into our environment. After all, wouldn’t it be nice to have more owls around so that they can control the rodents instead!
Article & Photos by Sarah Swan
Dorothy and Peter Klumpp have kindly shared some photographs from their back verandah. Just recently the Bower’s Shrikethrush (Colluricincla boweri) has moved in and is nesting, literally on the backdoor step. The chosen nesting place is a hanging basket that once held a pot-plant. Peter says that his ineptitude at gardening has finally paid off. The plant died and the birds took the opportunity to make good use of the macrame plant hanger. Of course, we all know that the Klumpps are great gardeners, but in this case they have graduated from green-thumbs to feathered fingers!
One nesting season I had the Bower’s Shrikethrush build a nest in the plastic peg basket hanging from the (undercover) washing line. Colwyn has had the birds return several seasons to also nest in her peg basket on the back verandah.
The Bower’s Shrikethrush is endemic to upland rainforests in the Wet Tropics region. It has been described as “one of the more common plainer birds in the tropical rainforest”. No one who has heard the call of this bird would describe it as plain. Female and male birds are distinguishable in that the female has an eye ring and eyebrow of pale feathers that is lacking in the male. The Bower’s Shrikethrush feeds on insects and their larvae from the mid-canopy and often on the ground.
We look forward to an update on the nesting at the Klumpps and some photos of the new (feathered) grandchildren??!!
Text by Michele Bird and Photos by Peter & Dorothy Klumpp.
‘Chainsaw’ is a beautiful Sulphur Crested Cockatoo and she is the beloved pet and constant companion of Paluma resident Jim – best known to his friends as ‘Jungle Jim’ for the fact that he lives on a bush block about 35 km west of the village. Jim and Chainsaw have been together for 28 years.
Chainsaw’s story is an interesting one.
Jim found Chainsaw, or more correctly, she found Jim when she flew into his home one day from out of the blue. Jim says that she was already quite tame, fond of attention and she knew a few words. Jim thinks she definitely had a previous owner and perhaps an elderly or sick person because Chainsaw would mimic ‘coughing’ noises. At first, Jim tried to discourage her from staying, hoping that she would return to her former owner.
The rest of this story is history. Chainsaw never left and now Jim and Chainsaw are inseparable. Both have recently enjoyed a holiday to the coast to see Jim’s family. Chainsaw enjoyed the trip immensely, with Jim’s extended family lavishing her with attention. Jim named ‘Chainsaw’ in honour of the renowned and famous bucking bull who was doing the rodeo circuit back at the time she arrived.
This unlikely partnership between bird and bushman is surely a match made in heaven.
Text & Photos by Michele Bird
Jan and I are leaving in two weeks to head back to Northern Territory for a few months and have been expecting that this would mean we would miss the mating rituals of the Victoria’s Rifle Bird (Ptiloris victoriae) …..yet again.
But we got lucky on Friday when we came back from shopping in Ingham and barely had time to sit down before a different call from a male VRB made us check out the feed tray and tree fern post out on the verandah.
And there he was, getting right into it … a very early bird by the entries in bird books which list the VRB breeding season as September to January, obviously with male competition for female partners pretty much done and dusted before our usual return to Paluma in late October.
We got lucky, but Mr Riflebird wasn’t so lucky, despite a very intense performance on top of the tree fern.
He started calling with wings upswept while facing the bushes off the verandah where VRBs, Honeyeaters, Catbirds and Satin Bowerbirds queue for the fruit buffet.
Still photos unfortunately don’t show the movements that go with each pose … with wings up, he kept in constant up and down motion by bending his legs while at the same time opening and closing his beak to get the bright yellow gape into the display.
Things were looking good when a female landed on the tree fern just below him and looked up, at which point he dropped his left wing and played some peek-a-boo by hiding his head behind the right wing.
Then the day’s ration of watermelon caught her attention and she dropped to the food tray. While he kept on with his performance she looked up, looked right but eventually swiped left, preferring watermelon to his advances.
He was so intensely focused and hormonal that he paid no attention to me moving around on the verandah to get better camera angles. Light was fading and I had to crank up the ISO to 3000 to get a workable shutter speed.
This morning I went looking for more information about VRB courting and couldn’t find much…except what would seem to be the seminal document on this subject written by Harry Frith and William Cooper and published in Emu, the journal of Birds Australia, now published by CSIRO.
Great abstract online at:- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1071/MU9960102, but if you want to read the whole article online it’ll cost you 50 bucks American… if you want to download that whole issue of Emu that’ll cost you $230 AUD. Universities usually have deals that get their people open access to academic publications but my university contacts couldn’t get free access via JCU or Monash. The hegemony of the ‘big boys’ in academic publishing is a very vexed issue, even for those working in the academy. For the rest of us, bad luck.
But back to the joyful experience of watching this display of unbridled avian lust. In wings-up display, we get to see mauve feathers at the base of the wings and a mauve streak running back from the eye alongside the blue spangled cap. Wow, I said!
What we didn’t get to hear was what Frith and Cooper describe as “a vigorous alternate wing clap display that all but embraces the female with rapidly alternating wing extensions and synchronous jerking of the stiffly rigid head and neck between them at a progressively rapid tempo until copulation.”
Clearly once she swiped left that wasn’t going to happen!
Here’s hoping we get to see a few more displays before we disappear towards the north west for a few months.
Talking with other villagers today the question was asked about the apparently unseasonal courting behaviour … is this just a precocious individual bird or is this another sign of the “new normal” as we see more unseasonal animal behaviour and plant flowering and fruiting?
Love to hear what unusual biological phenomena others are seeing??
Text & Photos by Peter Cooke, with Jan Cooke
Footnote: For those unfamiliar with the phrase “swiping left” Dictionary.com offers this definition: (On the online dating app Tinder) indicates that one finds someone attractive (or unattractive) by moving one’s finger to the right (or left) across an image of them on a touch screen. “I swiped right, but sadly for me, she swiped left”.
Further Information:-
Courtship Display and Mating of Victoria’s Riflebird (Ptiloris victoriae) with Notes on the Courtship Displays of Congeneric Species
Clifford B. Frith & William T. Cooper
“The courtship display and mating of Victoria’s Riflebird (Ptiloris victoriae) are described from numerous hours of direct observations and 117 minutes of videotape. Courtship display is typically performed on the apex of a vertical dead tree trunk stump and consists of three discrete components: Calling with the associated exposure of a bright mouth, a circular wings and gape display and a vigorous alternate wing clap display that all but embraces the female with rapidly alternating wing extensions and synchronous jerking of the stiffly rigid head and neck between them at a progressively rapid tempo until copulation. Subjective observations indicate that in immature, female- and sub-adult male-plumaged males the advertisement call is inferior in power and the courtship displays lacking in synchronisation and coordination of postures and movements. Victoria’s Riflebird courtship is compared with that of congeneric riflebirds and with other sexually dimorphic polygynous birds of paradise and similarities discussed. Contrary to previous views, the courtship display of Victoria’s Riflebird involves a progressive series of specific postures and movements increasing in tempo and leading to copulation. Some of its courtship behaviour is similar to that of other genera in the Paradisaeinae”.