The Burra Family
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| Bully Baby |
2012:
October I
think, I started feeding some Kookaburra that would land on my back fence (4). Initially
it was only a few times a week, but it didn’t take long for it to develop into
a daily visit. It was nice to come home after work to see them patiently
waiting for whatever scraps I’d saved from the previous night’s dinner. This
continued until late November – when they didn’t return.
During those
few weeks, they started to show that they had individual personalities. 1 learnt that he could get
more food if he caught it in the air. (I named him “Boss Burra”). This was unique
to him – the others never followed suit.
2013: I had forgotten about my Kookaburra’s until
one day in Jan/Feb ’12 they appeared on my back fence again.
Not sure if
they were the same gang, I threw a small piece of meat into the air to see one
fly up and snatch.
They were
back.
So for the
next few days we were back to the routine of last year.
Then;
One day they
arrived with a baby Burra. He could fly, but just. (If you’ve seen baby
wilder-beast born – yes they can walk – but they're all over the place...it’s funny). Well he was the same.
He would go
to land on the fence & fall off. Then from the ground, try to fly up &
only get half way & fall back. Couple of tries & he would nail it.
This was an
interesting period for me. Watching him grow up & the relationships he formed with
the others.
After having
a bit of a feed themselves they would take turn feeding the baby.
Like a kid,
he was clumsy with his food. I think he dropped ½ what was given to him,
which leads to another story;
During the
“clumsy period”, 2 local Wattle Birds started to take a liking to the fall out.
They were picking up pieces of meat they could barely get their beaks around.
It was funny to see them fly away under the load of that meat.
Now, this is
unusual for Wattle Birds, as they are insect/nectar eaters.
Day or so
later they were joined by their fledgling. But not a baby Wattle Bird.
A baby Asian
Koel. Probably 20 – 30 % bigger than its parents.
The “parent”
Wattle Birds thought of it as their own.
They would
jump in & grab some meat to feed the “kid”.
Then things
get interesting. As the baby is so much bigger than them & ravenous, they
have to be careful not to lose their head when feeding. A couple of times they
were too slow, and their heads would disappear into that big gob.
Note: How
did they know to feed it meat?
After a few
weeks of being fed by the others, he had a go for himself. Knowing he had a
beak, but not knowing really how to aim it, he would pounce on a bit of meat on
the grass, and come up with a beak full of grass. He would play with this for a
minute or so, before he decided it wasn’t what he was after. 2nd
attempt – all good. It was this way for a while, fed by family, grab meat on own,
grab stick – play with, grab meat, grab rock – play with.
At this time
I started to temp them with food left on the balcony rail next to me.
It didn’t
take long & they were comfortable taking scraps off the railing next to me
(on a swoop & grab basis).
It was at
this time Boss Burra realised he would get more food if stayed on the rail,
and thus started the hand feeding. While the others weren’t confident enough to
sit and be fed, they were happy to swoop & grab from fingers.
That’s how
“Bitey” got his name. Not once did he ever grab the meat, it was always my
bloody finger.
With patience
& persistence, they all became used to being hand fed from the rail. Bitey, being Bitey, still bit my finger. (The
others used to wait below to grab the meat he missed by biting my finger)
As winter
approached, I had a bit of a breakthrough with Boss Burra. He was now willing
to sit on my fist and be hand fed.
That was to
be the status quo for the rest of the year, until 1 day late in spring they
left and didn’t
return.
return.
2014:
On Australia day, I was having lunch on the veranda, when they appeared from nowhere. I hadn’t seen a Kookaburra on the reserve for months. I would hear them every day, but in the bush behind my place (I guess everyone stays close to the nest while the chicks are vulnerable)
It was great
to see them back, but it was only 3 with 2 new fledglings.
But who was back…..a piece of meat in the air confirmed Boss Burra was back. As well as Bashful Burra & Bitey Burra.
I have seen so many things with these Kookaburra I didn't know, I decided to log some of these observations in a blog.
Welcome to my blog.
So stay tuned, as the plan is to regularly update my blog with some photo's / vid's and hopefully, some pretty interesting observations.
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