Whilst it might be winter and a little chilly at Paluma, it hasn’t deterred the local birdlife from getting out and about amongst the village gardens and adjacent rainforest. Paluma is always a great place to do a spot of bird watching. These fine, sunny winter days are ideal for a stroll in the village and the opportunities abound to catch a glimpse of some locally common species. Peter and Jan Cooke have done just that, recently sighting the following birds in their own garden and throughout the village.
Crimson Rosella tucking into the nectar-laden grevillea flower spikes at No. 56 Mt Spec Road. This stunning flower is Grevillea Moonlight, a hybrid of G. banksii and G. whiteana.Another feasting Crimson Rosella, this time enjoying the powder-puff flowers of a red Calliandra. This Eastern Spinebill was up at dawn to enjoy the flowers of Grevillea Firesprite.Recently a pair of Grey Fantails have been cruising up and down Mt Spec Road….perching momentarily and then demonstrating great aerial acrobatics to take insects in flight.
Photos by Peter Cooke. Text by Peter Cooke and Michele Bird.
Macleay’s Honeyeaters are pretty fearless little creatures.
As Jan Cooke stepped onto the deck today to enjoy a morning juice, suddenly she was ‘breakfast bombed’ by one of the cheeky Macleay’s Honeyeaters who pretty much dominate the fruit station. Such is life in downtown Paluma!
Thankfully the scrub turkeys aren’t as bold……..!
Jan Cooke with her very friendly Macleay’s Honeyeater. What’s for breakfast?
A surprise visitor to our verandah in downtown Paluma this morning……a juvenile Nankeen Night Heron. Something different from the usual mob of rifle birds, catbirds and honeyeaters looking to see if we had put any fruit out for them. The ‘NNH’ moved with all the speed of a tired cuscus on the verandah rail when it wasn’t standing stock still. A very naive youngster who didn’t see us as a threat at all and let me approach to within a couple of metres without any sign of alarm. Didn’t mind me taking 100 shots in the low morning light (1/25 @ f8 ISO 1250 on Canon 5DSR). He/she was there at break of day and was still standing looking like it wanted to come inside out of the rain when I sent this post at 0900. Now all I have to do is sort through 100 photos and decide which few to keep!
Most residents at Paluma are avid bird watchers and as the seasons change, so does the variety of bird species that come and go round the village. As winter approaches, many of our favourite species are becoming regular visitors to local gardens and verandahs as they check out what’s on offer at the bird feeder.
Last weekend was a great time for a spot of bird watching, with Jan and Peter Cooke taking up their favourite vantage point on their elevated verandah set adjacent to the rainforest. Some splendid feathered visitors arrived to enjoy the free fruit and easy pickings at the bird feeder.
Below are some of Peter Cooke’s fantastic photos from the verandah. What a way to spend the weekend!
Lewins HoneyeaterA hungry CatbirdFemale Riflebird or a young male Riflebird? Can you tell the difference?A male Riflebird at his iridescent best!
Photos by Peter Cooke & Text by Michele Bird(A ‘Cooked-Bird Collaboration’).
Rainforests are the most biologically diverse of all
terrestrial habitats, and the number of different species in just a small plot
of forest can be huge. For the
interested amateur, identifying the myriad of rainforest plants and animals can
be challenging! We don’t know exactly how many species of plants and animals
live in the rainforests of the Queensland Wet Tropics – for some groups e.g.fungi,
some insect families, there may actually be more undescribed species than ones
that have been formally identified. It is likely that during a short 15 min
walk along Paluma rainforest tracks you could be passing several hundred
different species of plants and animals. Some of these are large and
conspicuous while others could require much closer inspection (and perhaps a
hand lens) to identify.
Paluma is located at the southern end of the Wet Tropics
World Heritage Area. The WTWHA contains at least 663 vertebrate animal species,
and invertebrate fauna is the richest in Australia. Land snails alone are
represented by 222 species. It is estimated that the Wet Tropics probably has around
40,000 species of insect, including 230 butterfly species and 135 dung beetle
species. Plant diversity is equally remarkable with 2,800 species of vascular
plants – 700 of which are only found in the region[1].
All this seems very impressive but it leaves the casual
visitor somewhat overwhelmed – to the point where any interest in identifying
species can be lost in the enormity of the task.
The purpose of this series of posts is to enable even the
most casual and inexperienced visitor to identify the five most common and
distinctive species from each of 10 or so groups of plants and animals. By
breaking the task down in to 5 easy species from each group a weekend visitor
with a keen interest in the task might become familiar with 10 or 20 different
rainforest species, and after a few such visits might claim knowledge of 50 or
more species!
We will start with one of the easiest groups (birds) and then move on to other groups that may require a little more effort and patience. By the end of this series we hope to have compiled an online and downloadable guide to the 50 most common and easily identified species around Paluma village.
Birds are one of the most conspicuous rainforest animals and
many of them are quite easy to identify, so it is appropriate to start our ‘5
easy species’ series with this group. The five birds listed here were chosen because
they are very common around Paluma roads and walking tracks at most times of
the year. They are also easy to identify from photos and descriptions. All of
these birds are less common down on the coast and thus contribute to the
feeling that you have entered a whole new environment when you take the drive
up to Paluma.
1. Lewin’s Honeyeater (Meliphaga lewinii)
Lewin’s honeyeater is commonly seen flitting among low branches of trees and shrubs along road edges or in open picnic areas. While its soft green and grey colouring does not make it stand out, the yellow half-moon cheek patch and its staccato call make it easily to identify.
Lewin’s Honeyeater call. (recording by Andrée Griffin)
It is also a very common visitor to bird feeders around the village. A related species, the yellow-spotted honeyeater, can also sometimes be found in the village. It has a more rounded cheek patch and its call is very different (not staccato).
Lewin’s Honeyeater
2. White-cheeked Honeyeater (Phylidonyris niger)
White-cheeked Honeyeater
This strikingly bold black and white honeyeater is smaller than the Lewin’s and can be found flitting amongst shrubs and trees, feeding on flowers. It has a large white cheek patch and yellow streaks on the wings. It is one of the most common birds to visit bird feeders around the village. Here it displays a surprisingly bold demeanor, chasing much larger birds away from the food on offer.
3. Brush Turkey (Alectura lathani)
Photo by Michele Bird
This large black bird with a mostly bald red head is commonly seen around picnic areas, roadsides and along rainforest tracks where it uses its feet to scratch the leaf litter in search of insects. During the breeding season (August to December), males develop gorgeous yellow neck wattles to attract females. Eggs are buried in large mounds of leaf litter built and tended by the male. The heat of decomposition of litter in the mound provide the warmth needed to incubate the eggs.
4. Crimson Rosella (Platycerus elegans)
This beautiful crimson and blue parrot is commonly seen around Paluma but almost never in the nearby coastal areas. It is found in trees or shrubs, as well as on the ground when grass seed is available. The head and breast are deep red, while its back is red with blue mottling. The tail, wings and throat are blue. While this species of Rosella is found in forests throughout southern Queensland and the southern states, in north Queensland it is restricted mostly to Paluma and the Tablelands. The only other parrot of this size in the area with predominantly red colouration is the King Parrot, which is red and green, instead of crimson and blue.
Crimson Rosella calls (recording by Andrée Griffin)
1. Chowchilla (Orthonix spaldingii)
You are more likely to hear this bird than to see it. In the early mornings and evenings the forest often resounds with the raucous sounds of family groups of Chowchilla calling back and forth.
Chowchilla chorus around Paluma (recording by Andrée Griffin)
It is a small brown bird with mostly inconspicuous colouration – the female has a lovely orange chestnut throat, while in the female it is white. Both sexes have a distinctive white eye ring. During the daytime they are mostly silent but can still be heard, and with a bit of luck, seen scratching around in the leaf litter beside village walking tracks. It stays almost entirely on the ground although it will fly when disturbed.
Photo by Brian O’Leary
There are many other species of birds that occur in Paluma, and lots of them are both common and easy to identify. Visit the Birds section of the website to learn more about what can be seen in the area.
Many of you will have enjoyed reading the informative ‘Nature Notes’ contributed by Paluma’s resident naturalist Roy Mackay over a great many years. Roy’s passion was to educate people about the natural world and to foster interest and respect for our native flora and fauna. In the spirit of continuing Roy’s great work and his legacy of reporting on nature’s treasures in and around Paluma Village, we present the following notes, observations and musings contributed by long-time residents and fellow naturalists Linda Venn and Colwyn Campbell.
Linda Venn writes:-
You already know (from previous postings) about our Northern Leaf-Tailed Gecko which made an appearance at Summerhouse (No. 16) over Christmas. Well, in the same time period, we had a common Green Tree Frog trying to get in the pet flap on the back screen door. We can hear several Green Tree Frogs calling when it rains, which is unusual. When we first came to Paluma, conventional wisdom was that the only Green Tree Frogs here had been inadvertently imported in goods brought up the hill, as it was too cold for them. Well, now we have at least three just at our end of the Crescent. Maybe Paluma is warmer now than it was 30 years ago? It’s certainly drier.
Another unusual visitor is the Pallid Cuckoo. There’s been a pair around for the last few weeks. These are not often seen in Paluma, though Andree Griffin recorded one at the dam in 1971 and Roy Mackay saw one in Paluma more recently. Their flight is very falcon-like, but whether or not they are a bird of prey was not confirmed by the smaller birds – who couldn’t care less about their presence and gave no alarm calls. This is interesting, considering that the Pallids parasitise honeyeater nests.
Talking of the cuckoo group, I heard a Koel calling one night, but not since (Phew! Noisy buggers!). Must have been just passing through, as were the family group of Black Cockatoos. Also got a good look at a Shining Bronze-Cuckoo this morning; usually heard but not seen. They’re quite small and delicately barred on the chest.
Another interesting one is the Red-necked Rail/ Crake that was calling outside our bedroom window one morning, in the regrowth forest at the rear of Fatima Cottage. This lovely little “chook” was first seen in Paluma by my brother, in the backyard of Ivy Cottage in 1982. Seems to stay close to creeks and is more likely to be heard than seen. Its call is a maniacal laugh, quite disconcerting at close range before dawn!
Yesterday, we had a solitary Metallic Starling in our rusty fig (now fruiting, so we’ve had a Figbird or two as well). To see just one starling is unusual, as they usually travel in flocks. Well, this morning a small flock arrived and spent time in the fig and the regrowth between Summerhouse and Mt Spec Cottage. Their fluttering flight is distinctive.
We also have a shy resident Tooth-billed Bowerbird who enjoys both the figs and the fruit of the walking-stick palm. He was giving his repertoire of mimicked bird calls the other evening, quite disconcerting until you realise that all those different birds are highly unlikely to be in the one tree at the same time!
Another bird that usually travels in a group is the Silvereye. We’d only seen a pair, then this morning a small flock arrived in the regrowth on the footpath.
Colwyn Campbell penned the following response:-
A few years ago, (I’d have to trawl through old diaries for the date), Linda Venn called me over to look at a bird feasting on the fruit of a rhodomyrtus in the front garden. It had been there all the previous day and it was the scolding of smaller birds that drew attention to it. It was unfazed by our presence and just kept eating, seeming determined to strip the tree. We were puzzled because it had the distinctive markings of a cuckoo. Roy Mackay came up and identified it as a young Pallid Cuckoo. We were puzzled as its presence was unusual here; also Linda wondered what local bird would have a nest big enough to have hosted the cuckoo.
The Red Necked Rail/Crake makes its way in the evenings along the creek area behind my house. Only twice in all the years I have been here have I seen one venture onto the back lawn. Last year I saw one at the edge of the shrubbery across from Manali. Coincidentally, that afternoon, two birdwatchers had the Rail/Crake on their ‘to see’ list and it emerged from the scrub long enough for them to take some good photos. Seven years ago near Roy Mackay’s house I found one dead on the road verge. It had evidently been hit by a car, but was almost unmarked and still warm. Roy stuffed it and it now is in the museum.
While Michele has described the efforts of our local Satin Bowerbirds in attracting a love interest, in the surrounding forest another Bowerbird, the Golden Bowerbird (Prionodura newtoniana), is also busy constructing bowers that are the largest of the all the Australian bowerbirds, and they are made by the smallest species. Despite its diminutive size, the Golden Bowerbird creates twin towers of twigs that can be up to 3m tall. It decorates them with lichen and pale cream flowers and places a horizontal stick between the base of the towers to serve as a display perch.
Golden Bowerbird at his bower
The bower. The perch is the small stick just visible near the bottom. Note that this picture was taken a week after the previous shot and the lichen ornamentation has been shifted by the male.
The male often perches in a nearby tree looking out for females or other marauding males
It takes a fair bit of work to make these bowers and it turns out that other males (including young males still experimenting at bower-building) are prone to stealing material and ornaments from other bowers to build their own. Immature males sometimes build small bowers close to a more established structure in the hope that they can distract a female over to its more humble edifice while the dominant male is away foraging or stealing from other bowers. If a mature bower-owning bird dies, his bower is usually taken over by another bird in matter of days. One recent study used game theory to determine at what point the pay-off from raiding other birds bowers exceeded the risk of abandoning a bower to other marauding males (distance between bowers was a key factor). The competition and intrigue is worthy of a Game of Thrones plot-line.
An immature male Golden Bowerbird discretely approaching the bower
Immature male at the bower just before being attacked by the resident male
Last week, while photographing one of our local birds, I observed a small dull bird flitting ever closer to the bower through some dense foliage. I thought it might be a female, but I was able to get a shot of it as it took off from a branch just behind the bower and this clearly showed the yellow tinges to the wing that are diagnostic of an immature male. This immature male then went straight to the perch between the two towers of the bower and began inspecting the ornamentation. In a flash the mature male bower owner dived down and the two birds tumbled off into the ground foliage behind the bower in a flurry of feathers and screeches that lasted several seconds before the birds flew off in different directions. The younger bird was not seen again, but I can’t help but feel it is out there somewhere awaiting another chance to steal the throne and the females.
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.
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A small single towered bower made by an immature male less that 15m from the established bower
Don Battersby is our local bird-whisperer -actually it’s more of a shout, but the birds certainly come flocking to his call. When I told him about my observations he regaled me with a complete history of this particular bower, which has occupied at least 4 different positions over the last decade or so, having been abandoned due to damage by tree-falls or in response to over-enthusiastic bird photographers. He was also kind enough to show me a small satellite bower near the site where I had witnessed the altercation. This might well have been built by the immature male that I had seen.
Don knows where virtually all the bowers, and some of the nests are. He is exceptionally generous with his time and is known nationally and internationally amongst “birdos” as the person to visit if you want to get good views and photographs of our rainforest birds. Thanks Don!
In recent weeks the Satin Bower Birds of Paluma have been busy with the breeding season and courtship rituals. Male birds have been chortling and calling in the canopy and busily working on their remarkable bowers to attract a female mate.
This year I am lucky enough to have a bower in my own garden. (And I am going to brag about it!).
My bower was constructed over a period of about two weeks and not long after it took form, the blue trinkets and treasures started to appear. A quick inventory last Sunday noted the following:- 2 x bottle tops, plastic straw, surveyors tape, 4 x pen lids, lolly packets, cellophane, half a peg, electrical cable ties and plastic cord. All the items are of a similar shade of bright blue. None of the items observed in the bower have been collected from nature.
While the hard work and ingenuity of these birds in constructing their bower and decorating it with a variety of blue treasures is to be truly admired, it is very disconcerting to see that every item in this bower is made from plastic.
Is this a remarkable adaptation of the satin bower bird to the modern world, or a sad indictment of the intrusive impact of humans in every facet of the natural world?…….I can’t decide.
Over the last few weeks, increasing numbers of Pied Currawongs, Strepera graculina, have arrived in Paluma. The onomatopoeic name currawong reflects the liquid, ringing tone of their call, heard all day throughout the village.
Pied Currawong
The currawong is a large, (42-50 cm long), handsome, black and white bird, with yellow eyes and a lilting, liquid warbling call. But do not be beguiled by the good looks and melodious carolling. Beneath the beauty lies a rapacious nature. Currawongs plunder the nests and feast on the chicks of other birds. The cruel beak says it all.
Currawongs are similar in appearance to magpies and butcher birds, and were once known as crow shrikes or bell magpies. They are found throughout eastern Australia from North Queensland to Victoria in diverse habitats including woodlands, coastal to alpine forests, rain-forests, scrublands and farmlands. They often form large flocks and are seasonally nomadic, ranging over large distances. In the breeding season, from July to January they are mostly seen alone, in pairs or in small family groups.
They tend to move into Paluma from the west as the weather becomes cooler. Sometimes a flock of fifty and more will move into the area. Today, I disturbed a gang of seven or eight on the roadside plotting their next raid.
Pied currawongs’ diet includes small lizards, insects, mice, caterpillars and berries. They also take large numbers of small and young birds. Larger prey, up to the size of a young possum can be taken and birds will sometimes hunt as a group. Prey may be stored in a tree fork or crack to be eaten later. It has been reported that pied currawongs eat more vertebrate material during the spring breeding season than they do during autumn and winter when berries are available. A pair may kill about 40 broods of small birds (up to 2 kg) to raise one brood of their own.
Raising young is a joint effort. Both sexes gather the material, sticks, grass and other soft vegetation, for the bowl-shaped nest which the female builds high in a tree fork. She incubates the eggs while he feeds her. The male supplies food to the female for the first week after the chicks hatch and she feeds them. Incubation time is 21 days and there are usually three chicks.
The dishes and trays of fruit put out by residents for the honey-eaters, rifle birds and other small birds have become fair game for the currawongs who swoop in, terrorising the other birds and taking all the food. They seem to be afraid of humans however and fly off as soon one appears. Perhaps they have a collective memory of being shot at or stoned by people! It was amusing, and surprising to see therefore, two rainbow lorikeets at my bird-feeder yesterday driving off a currawong. The attack was quite vicious with lots of pecking and screeching until the bigger bird retreated.
It will be no surprise to know that pied currawongs are not on the endangered species list: on the contrary, their numbers are increasing. They have adapted well to living in urban areas and their growing numbers have been implicated in the decline of smaller bird species.
Some information sourced from Google entries from Australian Museum and Birdlife
A young Riflebird displaying on the ‘stump’ at No. 13 Mt Spec Road
Well, it was a sad day on Sunday 31 March 2019 at No. 13 Mt Spec Road, Paluma. I have to report that the world famous stump and the dancing perch for many a Victoria’s Riflebird over nearly two decades – is no more. The tree trunk finally succumbed on Sunday morning to the natural elements, wood rot and ongoing decay, to collapse beyond repair.
The story goes………….
When Andy and Ann Bishop built the cedar cottage at No. 13 Mt Spec Road nearly 20 years ago they wanted to maintain as many of the native rainforest trees as possible on their ‘bush block’. They felled only enough trees to allow them to build their dream house amongst the rainforest.
Don Battersby reports that it was about 2004, well after the house was completed that one of the sizeable trees close to the house presented some problems. As the tree continued to grow, the foliage was intruding onto the roof and the verandah. Andy decided to lop the tree, leaving only the tree trunk standing – some 5 metres tall with a flat-top within arm’s length of the verandah.
It was not too long before the local Riflebirds noticed this purpose-built, elevated dancing platform in the canopy. Thus, it soon became a hive of activity for performances and courtship rituals during the breeding season (July-December). Every year since, countless birds have displayed on this stump and it continued to be visited and utilised – right up until it collapsed last Sunday.
Adult male Riflebirds regularly used the stump for their courtship displays.
The stump at No. 13 has been a draw-card for locals, visitors, bird enthusiasts and photographers from around Australia and the world. Brian O’Leary’s superb photographs and video of the Paluma Riflebird’s courtship rituals were captured on this very stump. (These images are included on the Birds of Paluma DVD). Indeed, some years ago Sir David Attenborough called in at No. 13 to view the Riflebirds.
Many a leisurely Sunday morning at No. 13 has been (pleasantly) interrupted in the early hours by enthusiastic bird photographers dropping in to see if the Riflebirds are displaying on the stump!
Quite remarkably, I made the decision to buy the house at No. 13 largely based on this stump! It was a rather chilly Sunday morning in May 2016 when I first visited Ann and Andy to look at the house. I walked onto the verandah and soon after my arrival the Riflebirds landed on that stump and started displaying. I decided there and then that this was the house for me! At that stage, I had not even been inside to look at the interior of the house. Quite an expensive stump really….!!
It was about 18 months ago that it became clear that the tree trunk was virtually hollow and that it was succumbing to wood rot and decay. With the expert assistance of Don Battersby and Brian O’Leary (who were lamenting its inevitable loss as much as I was) we undertook some repair and remediation works. Don put a strong steel brace around the tree trunk, attaching it to the verandah to provide some much-needed support and stability. This worked well for a year or so. Riflebirds continued to use the platform, even though the dance floor was getting smaller and the trunk had started to wobble quite considerably when the dance moves became too frantic or enthusiastic.
The steel brace that Don placed around the tree trunk for support during its decline.
In more recent times and especially since the relentless rainfall this wet season, my frequent inspections had revealed that further repairs would be fruitless. It was going, going, going and on Sunday the tree trunk collapsed at the base. It was gone.
Beyond repair…….
But this story doesn’t end here…….
The search is now on for a replacement tree trunk. With the help of a certain local timber-cutter we hope to find a 5 metre tall straight and solid tree trunk that we can erect and secure in the same place. Our mission is to have the new ‘dance floor’ prepared, installed and reinstated before the commencement of the Riflebird breeding season in June-July.
Once it’s in place, we plan to host Paluma’s first ever ‘stump-warming ceremony’ – to officially welcome the Riflebirds to their new performance platform in the canopy at No. 13 Mt Spec Road.
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