My Burra Family - Plus 1

The end of October, Bashful came in with a case of baby belly. My Burra Family was about to grow.

Last year they introduced their latest addition, Button, on New Year’s Day, so I was ever hopeful this year might start with more than a bang.

Unfortunately it didn’t happen. Not that day or the next.

It was early on the 4^th & I could hear a Kookaburra commotion coming from my backyard. Normal for my place. They do like to call-in the day.

What wasn’t normal was the unmistakable call of a begging Kookaburra baby.

Let me introduce you to Boof.

Out on the veranda I go, camera in hand, & he flew off. Ok, it's early, but I'm up for this game.

We play hide & seek. All of this before I've had a coffee. I did get in a couple of snaps before the coffee beckoned.

I now have a family of 7.

Boss & Bashful, oldest son Bitey (3), the twins Brave Baby & Bully (2), Button (1) and now Boof.

Bashful, true to her name. is in the trees watching.

This the family (L-R)

Bitey, the Twin's, Button, Dad & Boof

Meals on wings.

Bitey doing a home delivery

for a very excited Boof.

I think he's a week or 2 older than when Button was introduced. She had only just fledged and was a clumsy little thing. This guy has it more together. Doesn’t fall off the fence when he lands, and only drops about ½ his food.

No second chances here with his sisters.

If he drops a morsel, that's the last he see's of it.

But the antics at feeding time are the same. It’s a perilous job. The boys do the bulk of the feeding & that’s just as well. The girls are somewhat greedy. Sure, they will feed Boof, but only when they can’t eat any more.

The funniest of the lot is Bully. She really doesn’t like to share. Just because she has Family duties, doesn’t mean she has to enjoy them.

With a treat in her mouth, she calls to Boof. Leaning forward, mouth agape, ready for his meal, he is beside himself with excitement. 

"Oh Goody, Oh Goody!" he says bouncing up & down with joy.

"Here's my big sister Bully with Dinner"

Bully pulls back changing her mind at the last second. Now she is wracked by guilt & Family duties and all. You can see her indecision, it’s palpable. She has her back to him. She has the meat still in her beak. She is moving her head left & right as if she is arguing with herself. The good Self wins-out, and she turns to feed Boof.

Her moment of indecision.

His moment of disappointment.

He could almost taste it.

He eagerly awaits his offering, but smart enough to know what was likely to happen. So he gets in early. It turns out, at that this exact same moment ,Bully’s indecision set's in again. But Boof already had one end and he wasn’t letting go. A brief tug of war ensued. Common sense prevailed and Bully released the meat.

I... think... not.

Too late Sis.

"Give it up. Dad's watching"

Now this is just Bully to a T. She did exactly the same thing to Button last year.

Now getting all of this on film presents a small problem. I use a GoPro camera (named Headley) & a hand held remote (he didn't get a name & is a little pissed) that I opperate from my veranda. Great camera, but very limited. The bird needs to be about 2 feet away and within 2 feet left or right. So I set the camera up and toss meat below it hoping for them to fly up in front of the camera & call the baby in.

Failure

Thank you.

That will do nicely.

When he plays the game & lands where he should.

"Brother. Brother. Do you see that"

"What's that Boof?"

"That. That thing wriggling in the grass."

"Yeah, that's just a worm. They're all over the joint. Great tucker."

"WOW......food that pops out of the grass just like magic"

The one thing all kids love to do is play. Well it seems birds are the same. Never gave it much thought until I started observing these guys 5 years ago. Kids will be kids. Their curiosity is unquenchable. I also believe they have a sense of humour, but more on that further down.

"I don't like how he's looking at me " says Headley
"Not one little bit"

"He has mischief on his mind I'm telling you"

"I'm not food!" yelled Headley.
"I'm the bloody camera"

Last week the Tapas Bar fell apart. It was on its last legs. The top was the only important part, so off with it, quick sand & oil, and screwed to the top of an old stool. The Tapas Bar was refurbished & back for business. Seems I'd left a big wooden knob on the grass that caught his attention.....

Sound asleep I hear.................
KOO, KOO, KOO, KAA, KAA, KAA, KOO, KOO, KOO, KAA, KAA, KAA.
"Will you put a cork in it" I yelled

Seems God does have a sense of humour.

I have it. It's all mine. But what have a got?

It's not fur or feather. It doesn't wriggle or squirm.

This needs further inspection.

Nup, nothing from here.

Inspecting it from yet another angle, yielded nothing.

Deciding he would take this off to the trees behind for further contemplation he flew off.
But it's bloody heavy and nearly to the trees, he drops it.

It lands near the couple walking in the background.

Their reaction - Priceless.

God really has a funny sense of humour.

I have increased my hand feeding of the others, so Boof can see the relationship I have with the Family. I love hand feeding these guys, and I think they do to.

Brave Baby getting settled.

Yes. It's every bit as soft as it looks.

Now, when you feel like you want to throttle your birds, follow these steps closely

Step 1.

Place fingers each side of throat.

Step 2.

Secure your grip around the throat

Step 3.

And the most important step.

Make sure they're not enjoying it.

Now back to their sense of humour.

One of the games we play is “worms in holes”. One such time, Bitey buried his beak deep into my clenched fist to get his “worm” but the fist tightened around his beak. He had a hold of the meat, I had a hold of his beak. I wouldn't let go until he let go. This lasted all of 30 seconds. He let go so I let go.

Worms in holes

So I re-offered him his prize. He grabbed it, and, my finger.

"Now, what was that you were saying?"

"Something like, I'll let go if you let go. Have I got that right?"

Payback's a bitch

He held both in his beak, for about the same amount of time, then slowly pulled the meat off my finger. At no point was he trying to hurt me, I’d know. He was aptly named, as he lets you know if he has the shits.

I laid out some meat in front of Headley. Best result would be if Boof landed there, but more likely, one of his brothers or sisters and they might call him in. I told them all "THIS IS FOR BOOF".

Bully was the first one in.

Remember, this is Bully.

Eating all but the last piece, she looked at me & said

"Sorry did you say something"

She said "KOO, KOO, KAR, KOO, KAR, KAR"

translation;

BWAHAHAHAHA

“Hun, I’m going out for a hunt tomorrow, probably be gone all day”

“What and leave me with the kids?”

“Babe, I need to put food on the plate”

“Bullshit, you do it because you like it”

“Well yes, we are Kookaburras after all.”

Returning later that day, he flew up next to Bashful and asked...........

".......Hi Hun, How were the kids?"

Brave Baby has turned out to be a pretty good carer. He. (Yes, I say He. Turns out I think he is a boy. Good luck at school with a name like that. Some might say it's will be character building. Not sure of that, but I do know he'll learn to figh) .

Anyway, he is smart. He knows with everyone watching he'll get brownie points for enthusiasm, so he jumps at the first chance to feed. But he also knows this guy drop 1/2 of what he is given. There is no 5 second rule with Brave Baby.

Family Duties.

Look at how intently Brave Baby
is watching the meat and not Boof
Volunteering has its rewards.

Well that's it for this post. I hope you enjoyed our new addition, and as the photo says......

See you all soon.