Grey Butcherbirds with young

Every year at our property the local Grey Butcherbirds go missing in spring and then turn up in early summer with young ones. I have no idea where they go to breed - I suspect not far, but they are completely absent during this time.

I noticed today the birds had arrived back and they spent the afternoon hunting food in our paddocks around the house. The parent birds were kept busy finding food. The young ones also searched and hunted food themselves but also followed the adults closely, often begging for and receiving food. They searched for food from perches on fence posts and low in trees and flew down to take insects and other prey on the ground.

I followed them about for half an hour or so to capture some of the activity.

Please click on photos to enlarge.

One of three young – this one is tailing a parent closely in the hope of food. The parent bird is looking for food in the paddock below.

Not content to sit back, the young bird leaps forward towards the adult.

I can’t understand Butcherbird language but the message is clear – “Feed me”.

The young one’s persistence pays off and it receives a large black wasp.

The adult continues searching.

The young one continues waiting – the other young were busy chasing food for themselves nearby.

An Eastern Rosella flew up from the grass to see what I was up to.

A Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike flew into the same tree as the Butcherbirds to see what was up.

One of the other young ones searching for food.

A brisk south westerly wind ruffled the adult bird’s feathers as it continued to hunt food.

The bird took up a lower perch to search from.

The young bird above waited patiently – this shot captured a bill wipe.

A new hunting location and still one of the young stayed close to its parent in the hope of a feed.

After a failed breeding attempt the resident Grey Fantail in the photo below has just finished another nest and started sitting in the last day or two.

Grey Fantail on the nest for the second breeding attempt.

I don’t like the Fantail’s chances of success as the return of the Butcherbird family today is very unfortunate timing.