Evil incarnate: native Noisy MinerWell, almost a week ago I saw one snooping around in Keith Richards' area, so I chased it away. I saw it and chased it away again a couple of times over the following few days, then yesterday I saw it had come back again- and brought a friend. I chased them both away. They show no fear compared to the other local birds. Then, this morning the squeaker was back again. Feifei was with me, and the squeaker started its horrid noisy alarm call. Feifei looked at me for advice and I gave him permission to chase the squeaker (knowing full well he is incapable of catching a bird, mind). The squeaker took off in much more haste than if I'd been shooing it away.
In the mean time I washed some sheets and hung them out to dry. Just then I went to bring the sheets in, only to find that the little bastard has been back and pooed on one of the sheets, so I need to wash it again.
To top it off, the laceneck dove hasn't visited since the squeaker started arriving.
I'm preparing for war. Think I might buy a water pistol or something.
5 comments:
I'd be investing in a spud gun, it delivers a much stronger message than a water pistol.
What's a "laceneck dove"?
Do you mean a dove with fine white spots on a dark band on the back of the neck? This introduced species from Asia is the nearest match I can find to yor description.
I have the native Noisy Miners at my place and they rarely make a sound unless the cat is about.
Yep, the laceneck dove is an introduced species, but it's not aggressive and can barely hold its own in our area. Apart from the vast numbers of noisy miners and crows we see the lone laceneck dove and the odd bunch of lorikeets. Seeing anything else (apart from turkeys) makes it a rare day indeed. Even magpies are a rare sight in our neighbourhood thanks to the activities of the Miners and crows.
There is a breeding pair of some kind of honeyeater with a blue face between St Lucia and Toowong, and they are always having to defend themselves against attacks from the Noisy Miners. Even bush turkeys and harmless, dopey spinifex pigeons come under attack. I even once saw a Miner making swoop attacks on a dead possum.
Noisy Miners in our area make a racket about anything- cats, each other, crows, any other birds. It's not the noise that bothers me though, it's that they attack and drive out other birds. They're the humans of the bird world.
Are you sure it is not a Common Myna. The Common Myna measures 23cm - 26cm. It is sometimes confused with the slightly larger (24cm - 29cm) Noisy Miner, Manorina melanocephala. Although, both have similar names, the Noisy Miner is actually a native honeyeater. Both have yellow bills, legs and bare eye skin, but the Common Myna is brown with a black head. In flight it shows large white wing patches. The Noisy Miner is mostly grey.
Mark U
Nah, it's definitely grey- and noisy! I've seen them sipping nectar, but I figured out the reason they keep coming to our garden is to nick the dopey policeman-flies (soldier flies?) off the wall after they've hatched and crawled out of the dirt.
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