human-bird friendships

Larry the grey butcherbird has been having trouble from the new pied butcherbird group just up the road. When everyone else had been fed and had gone away, I sneaked out into the yard to look for Larry and the other grey butcherbirds. read more »

This bird is a special friend.  From tip of the beak to the end of the tail the bird is no more than 11 cms long.  Don't let this picture fool you, it has been magnified heaps. read more »

One of my friends had some exciting news for me. 'Tell Gitie, what she says works', was the message her friend Ken had asked her to convey to me.  read more »

Who is that calling so loudly, interrupting my reverie?  It's not a sound I hear often and never before so loud.  Yes, I'm definitely being called. 

But outside there's no one to be seen.   Hey, wait a sec, who's that calling me from behind the leaves in the bottlebrush?  Which is really strange because in all the years we've had this plant, no bird has ever visited it before, even though it is meant to be a bird-attractor.  read more »

Open the doors to understanding the remakable love and care that exists among wild birds and their intricate social lives.      read more »

Friarbirds visit our yard in spring for a few weeks.  They have an unusual call which sounds like they are talking to you and saying 'What ya doin?" and they repeat it often as they sip the nectar in the grevillea bushes.  They also like the nectar in the lemon and orange blossoms.  The first year of our friendship with Maggie (magpie) I would often sit outside at the  read more »

Maggie never forgets to impress and delight all his many friends and acquaintances, human or bird. It's his 'thing', the complete network builder. Yesterday, for example, I left for work in the car, and a few hundred yards up the street, the neighbour's dog (not a bad chap, but he chases cars) - you guessed it, chased the car. As it happened, I then remembered something I had to take with me, and stopped the car to check the boot (that's the trunk, for our American friends) to see if I had remembered it. read more »

Reader Lynell sent us this story and pictures:

28 Jan 08:

It’s so nice to find a site that features Magpies. I just wanted to share some photos of my Maggie. We actually had a Mum & Dad live here for the past 3 years. 
 read more »

Last Friday I was taking a water can up to the front gate to change the water in the bowl up there. Maggie was behind me pottering around. Suddenly I saw him running past me to beat me to the water bowl, getting there while I was still about six feet away, and then he stood facing me and drinking water. I had a nice chat with him, but the meaning of this action came home to me forcefully while I was walking back from the gate. He was trying to tell me that there was already water in the bowl and I didn't have to lug the big water can all that way. read more »

Larry and Harrie our favourite Grey-butcherbirds have always been keen to show us their nests.  We got to meet them  through Vicky magpie when we would trek into the bush to see her.  The first year Larry and Harrie's' nest was on a tree that grew at the edge of the gully and we had a pretty good view (see logo above) as  we  walked across to  Vicky's tree. read more »