WingedHearts.org

The Legend of Glory........

Gitie — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 05:37:30 +0000

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Vicky's sitting on her nest

Ron — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 02:00:24 +0000

Yesterday Gitie and I went to see how Vicky and Bertie are doing this year on the nesting front. Although Vicky's nest is in line with our breakfast room, it is distant and we have not been able to set up the telescope this year. So imagine our delight when we found Vicky sitting proudly on the nest. The nest is in a tricky spot, so Gitie stayed by the road while I went through the paddock to the nesting tree. This is the tree that Vicky and Maggie purchased from a crow some years ago, giving the crow their old tree and nest in return, as well as rights to get food from their human friends (us) for a year). The crow made Vicky's old nest bigger and stronger, while Vicky lined the crow's nest with lots of soft material. read more »

The Magpie Winter Season

Ron — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:18:34 +0000

Our birds have had a strange winter to deal with: overcast most days instead of sunny, cold days, but some warmer nights as the clouds keep the heat in.

Our magpie family, Vicky (the queen), Bertie (her consort - alpha male but her subordinate!), Vicky's adult daughter Mindy and youthful daughter Kenny, have fared well, but with a fly in the ointment: Mindy's twin brother Monty was told to leave when Bertie moved in, but he has gone across the gully and formed a group with three others. One is a daughter (Louie) of our other magpie family, Billy and Polly, but two more seem to be newcomers. We were feeding Monty when he was alone, but since his foursome has been formed, they think they can muscle in on the breeding pair's feeding ground - which is against magpie rules, of course, but his own mother is not keen on sending him packing, and so Bertie and Mindy have to do all the work of repelling Monty's gang, which is proving tough for Bertie. Luckily Bertie is an amazingly strong bird, but we have had to add our support to his side of the dispute and tell Monty we can't feed his gang any more. read more »

Fiona's Peewees Help a Turtle

Gitie — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:28:09 +0000

Fiona loves Peewees and has a favourite Peewee family living in her yard (see slideshow below). Also called mudlarks, the birds are friendly and get along well with her gorgeous hens (Lucy and Gertrude –Columbian Wyandottes, and Edna - silver-laced Wyandotte), but Fiona was yet to discover how amazing these birds can be. read more »

Fireworks At The Lilypot!

Gitie — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 11:27:36 +0000

OMGosh! What's that exploding in the short lilypot?

(click on the 'next' button to forward through the slides).
Previous Slide 1/14 Next Explosions galore What's creating this ruckus? OMG! It's a bird! Who is it? Creating such a commotion ...again.. Is it Dimpy? or is it Kerry? Can't believe my eyes it's Larry! How has he managed to get here? Time to dry out preen and catch a quiet nap unobserved?

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Claire's Baby Hawks

Gitie — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:06:15 +0000

Reader Claire Muskus sent us these gorgeous pictures of baby red-talied hawks. The chicks look so cute: here is Claire's story:

"We have a pair of red-tailed hawks that nest each year on our 5^th floor ledge. Usually mid-March, the mom starts her annual ‘house cleaning’ then commences to ‘just sit’. This year there were 3 eggs; all survived. Last year the same number were in the nest, but only two survived. Several years ago, one of the ‘youngins’ fell out of a tree that was near the bldg. Because its wings weren’t strong enough to make it fly back up to the nest, it wandered back and forth on the wall with its mother was dutifully watching and calling to it from across the street and often making low sweeps over it. Some agricultural students from Trinity College were called in to try to capture it, which they were able to, somehow. I had the good fortune of actually seeing the hawk ‘up close and personal’. It certainly was a magnificent, yet scary example of power. I couldn’t believe the length of its talons – to gaze into its eyes was unnerving at best; it was if it could look through to your soul and beyond. ‘Determination’ was the name of the game because somehow the bird escaped again, this time crossing the road and found its way into the bushes at the Bushnell; the DEP (Dept. of Environmental Protection) was contacted. They found the bird, put a large towel over its head, brought it into the building, up the elevator (wished I’d been on that ride up – can you ever imagine getting on and seeing this ‘thing’ sitting on someone’s arm covered with a towel???) to the 5^th floor, opened a casement window and put it back on the ledge where it was supposed to be. "

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Synchronised Curries at The Lilypot

Gitie — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:48:27 +0000

Synchronised swimmers in disguise? Almost.... It's Karivon and Karitu the Currawong twins having a drink at the lilypot.

(click on the 'next' button to flip through the slides ).
Previous Slide 1/4 Next

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What is Your Bird Story? Share It On WingedHearts.org

Gitie — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:53:41 +0000

The 30 day blog challenge is over for those of us who live down under in Australia. It's already 1 hour into the 1st July (yes I am so addicted to writing for you that I'm still up at 1.00 am.)

Thank you all so much for your interest and comments. I really appreciate all of you who made the time to read my stories and give me your feedback. I've had a wonderful experience sharing a little of what I have learned from these remarkable creatures with all of you.

We have so much more to learn and this can only be achieved if we share our stories and learn from examples.

I believe we all have an amazing bird story hidden in our memories.

What is Your Bird Story?

It's time to tell all the rest of us. read more »

To Rescue... Or Not To Rescue A Baby Bird?

Gitie — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:09:19 +0000

What should one do when one finds a baby bird and its parents seem nowhere around?

The answer depends on many factors and is not as simple as we would like it to be. Much depends upon the age/stage of the chick, what type of chick it is and the state of the individual bird and whether it is really orphaned or just appears so.

Here are some quick tips: read more »

7 Ways To Give Caged Birds A Better Quallity of Life

Gitie — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:34:10 +0000

You may be a very kind and loving bird owner or you may not have birds at all. But please help spread this message so that we can create a kinder world for these beautiful creatures.

Pet birds are often confined to cages that are far too small for them to enjoy any reasonable quality of life. Canaries and budgies are sometimes kept in cages as small as a teapot. Large birds like cockatoos and african greys are lucky to be kept in cages as big as the one in the picture on the left. There is no room for the bird to even stretch their wings or get any exercise. The metal floor often a wire mesh is too harsh on their claws. The perches are also inappropriate as they are not suited to the size of their claws and the birds cannot flex their muscles. Sitting in a cramped position for a life time of imprisonment, the birds get cranky and bite. Then they are tagged as trouble makers and treated even worse. Large birds live for 60 -70 years in this form of confinement. The wire mesh on the sides of the cage often damage their wings and beaks.

Yet there are some easy ways of improving their quality of life in significant ways. read more »