My Burra Family: The Tapas Bar Crew - Lorries, Miners & Bowerbirds

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All the birds that visit the Tapas Bar have names and characters. And as the number has grown over the last 5 months, I thought it timely to do a who’s who post.

My Kooka Family is headed up by Boss & Bashful, then Bitey (he’s 2 yrs old), Brave Baby & Bully (last year’s bubs) and this year’s addition, Button.

But this post is about the others.

The Lorikeets:

Daphne coming to join her Beau.

Here is Cedrick & Daphne (Cedrick has the all red chest). These guys are cantankerous and are certainly the boss of the table. Colourful by sight, colourful by nature.

While predominately pollen & nectar eaters, they don’t mind a bit of fruit. They’re not keen on the banana, monstera fruit, peach or the corn on offer.

But they LOVE grapes. Initially I was giving them whole grapes. This stopped for a couple of reasons. They have a habit of taking their food to the camera to eat, and bite the grape causing juice to squirt out of both ends, like a flattened jelly doughnut. They became pretty adept at aiming this at the camera.
The main reason is they are pigs. They were eating me out of house and home. They would land and eat all that was there, before other birds that also like grapes got a look in. So they now the grapes get sliced in 3.

Noticing that the Bowerbirds & Catbirds like to spring
Cedrick thought he'd give it a go.

Sharing the moment

Straight from the hood of a Bentley

Daphne, are you listening to me?

Mick, Mal & Nancy

The Noisy Miners:
Meet Mal, Mick & Nancy. These guys are real opportunists. While supposedly being nectar/fruit/insect eaters, they have a go at everything including meat. They particularly like rice.

These guys hassle. They hassle the others that visit, they hassle themselves. They just like to hassle.

But they are entertaining.

Mick taking a nip out of Mal.
Poor old Mal - everyone has a go at him.

Mick doing a fly by.

Turns out Noisy Miners have a right to passage for manhood.
This is Mal barking at the Bear.

Some say this is good luck.
My camera didn't think so.
Who said birds don't have a sense of humour?

Mal on the way to another flogging.
Red the Wattlebird is twice his size & knows it.

"Mick, I'm telling you, it's right on the tip of my tongue.

My Satin Bowerbird family.

Both Angelina & Shirley.
Brad's girlfriends.

One of the regulars to the Tapas Bar, is a family of Satin Bowerbirds. These guys are real stunners. Brad (the male) has 2 girlfriends I think. Angelina & Shirley. A couple of months ago both the girls turned up with bubs. Well last week, Angelina turned up with Shiloh her daughter. Named because we won’t know her sex for another 6 years. If she’s a boy she changes to Black like her dad.

"Hi I'm Brad. Yeah, I know. I'm a knockout"

I don’t get to see too much of Brad, as he is either prancing in front of his “Bower” trying to pick up girls. And if he’s not courting he’s building. He takes meticulous care in decorating the front yard with items he thinks will catch a girls’ eye. He will collect objects and place them out the front of his bower. Most commonly they will be blue in colour. Plastic straws, bottle tops, marbles. With all that prancing & dancing & building, he has to take quick breaks to eat. These forays are usually close to home, because while he’s away, other boy bowerbirds can come in & trash his joint.

Angelina doing what she does.

Being fruit & berry eaters there’s no surprise they’re attracted to the Tapas Bar. They have a passion for grapes, but are also partial to mashed potato/pumpkin. They also like banana.

My 1st introduction to Angelina's Bub

Well, since the visit with mum last week, Shiloh now comes on her own. She is a timid little thing. Scared of everything. The others, especially the miners Mick & Mal, have been having some fun at her expense.