Some birds live here at Highfield Farm and Woodland all year around, but other birds just visit at certain times of the year.
Probably the most abundant guest birds are those that come here to nest and raise their offspring over spring and summer. The majority of these birds spend the cooler months up north where it is warmer and only venture down to our southern climes once spring is in the air. In this blog I will introduce you to some of the common summer visitors.
Dusky Woodswallows
Usually first to arrive are the Dusky Woodswallows. One of my favourites, they are small/medium sized birds, dark (dusky) brown with distinctive white edges to their wings, dark eyes and a grey/blue beak. They usually arrive in flocks of 20 or so but quickly split up into mating pairs.
Dusky Woodswallow in flight
Their mating behaviour is quite intriguing; the male will sit on an exposed tree branch and raise his wings up and down in unison, while the female sits on another branch nearby flicking her tail back and forth. After some time of this courtship dance, the male will suddenly take off, land on top of the female and (presumably) mate.
Another interesting feature of the Woodswallow behaviour is that they feed on-the-wing, soaring through the sky, sometimes quite high, looking for flying insects to eat. They rarely flap their wings, making use of the thermals to glide about, like miniature eagles, on triangular wings.
The most frustrating thing about the Dusky Woodswallow is that they make very flimsy nests, often in quite exposed places – like on a bit of bark hanging off the trunk of a tree only a metre above the ground! As a result, they often seem to lose their lovely, blue-tinted eggs to various feathered predators (Magpies, Kookaburras, Currawongs, Ravens etc) or to tree-climbing goannas. It is a wonder that this species has managed to survive at all! But obviously they do and keep coming back year after year to breed in our box-gum woodland.
Noisy Friarbirds
Noisy Friarbirds (Wiradjuri: Babala) are hard to miss – distinctive for their loud cackling and piercing calls, and for their naked black heads and necks, and for the ‘horn’ on the top of their black beaks. Their backs, wings, and tails are grey, while their chests and bellies are white.
Friarbird
Friarbirds are actually large honeyeaters and can often be seen feeding on eucalyptus blossom or mistletoe flowers. Like the Woodswallows, they arrive in spring to build nests and raise their young over the warmer months. Their nests are works of art made from woven bark, usually sourced from our Stringybark trees. They nest quite high in gum trees along the creek bank. A fine example of a Friarbird nest can be admired in the EcoHut if you happen to stay with us. Otherwise, take a stroll along the creek in summer and listen out for the raucous calls high above your heads.
Rainbow Bee-eaters
Last to arrive of the summer guests are the beautiful Rainbow Bee-eaters (Wiradjuri: Dirrig Dirrig). Like Woodswallows, Bee-eaters hunt on-the-wing, gliding through the air calling to each other with their distinctive trill-trill, while chasing the flying insects they love to eat. But in other ways they are the complete antithesis of the Woodswallow.
The colourful Rainbow Bee-eater
As the name suggests, their plumage is a riot of outrageous colour: shades of iridescent greens and blues, orange chin and wings, with black tips to the wings and tail and a black stripe through their eye leading to a long, curved black beak. If you glimpse them in flight on a sunny day, the colours will dazzle your eyes as the sun glints off them at different angles. No doubt the strangest thing about the Rainbow Bee-eater is that it nests underground, in narrow tunnels dug into a sandy creek bank or road-side verge.
Other summer visitors include the Rufous Whistler, Rufous Songlark, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Sacred Kingfisher, Yellow-faced Honeyeater and the White-winged Triller. The arrival and departure of these birds help us mark the seasons at Highfield Farm and keep us attuned to the rhythms of nature that sustain and enrich our everyday lives.
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