Currawong Chorus in Canberra?

troll-sniffer said :

gooterz said :

They’re been very aggressive lately
Had one fly at me today. Warning shot because it was coming head on

Hmmm… currawong swooping? New one on me, we’ve got loadd around Campbell and although some fly close by me when getting out of my way or repositioning, I’ve yet to see a currawong exhibit swooping behaviour designed to frighten or warn an intruder, like magpies do.

It’s just the way they fly. They have a habit of swooping under our deck to use it as a short-cut. Can be interesting of all concerned when I’m under there.

Felix the Cat said :

Cockatoos seem to be very active lately too. Not swooping or being aggressive, just noisy.

Ditto corellas.

The Currawongs are getting vocal and restless in upper-Tuggeranong today so we should get rain about Wednesday.

EvanJames, if you want to identify the sound of a currawong, check the link under ‘Calls’ on the right sidebar of this page:

http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Strepera-graculina

Birds in Backyards is a great resource for anyone wanting quick and easy info on birds. There are a few pages of discussion on currawong calls as well, just type Currawong calls into the search box if you are interested.

Apparently they are quite predatory in their eating habits, and being big, strong birds, have even been known to take baby possums. But, Nature is not like Walt Disney films depict it, or many of our less grounded greenies believe it to be. It’s a jungle out there.

There’s no rain forecast until Thursday. Can’t say I recognise a currawong call, although I have some. did see a massive flock of black cockies today though. It would have been a large flock for white cockies, and in black cockies was quite unusual. Lots of food-aggressive magpies though, I think the local ones have been having extra litters.

Nice to see pro-currawong people. 🙂 I was really taken aback by some 20-something women a few years ago – they were lobbing things at a ‘currawong’ because they are apparently evil in some of their habits, such as nest raiding. It was actually a white-winged chough. (Another black and white bird, but cuter.)

My understanding is that they migrate from the mountains when it starts snowing and then back when it warms up. They always call a lot, they are just here during their migration and you notice them.

The only time I’ve witnessed anything even close to aggressive was when I was rescuing a fledgling in the Albury town centre. The frantic calls from the parents echoing off the buildings was a real cacophony. But negligible swooping.

Do love those birds.

Interesting on the weather thing. I made a note of that to pay attention to the weather next time they were at it. I heard them this morning though it didn’t seem to be quite as many as normal but weather currently looks pretty good.

It’s a lovely sound – when I’ve been out of town it gives a real sense of being back home.

As to why they do the large scale choir thing, I’ve often wondered the same thing about the cockies, which now and then give voice in big numbers with lots of associated airshow manoeuvres.

There is something in the weather thing, as when they start calling during rain it means that it is just about to end. Perhaps they can see the clearing skies approaching?

gooterz said :

They’re been very aggressive lately
Had one fly at me today. Warning shot because it was coming head on

Hmmm… currawong swooping? New one on me, we’ve got loadd around Campbell and although some fly close by me when getting out of my way or repositioning, I’ve yet to see a currawong exhibit swooping behaviour designed to frighten or warn an intruder, like magpies do.

Usually means a change in the weather, like rain.