Immature Pacific Gulls

Sand islands in the Gippsland Lakes provide important resting and breeding habitat for a large range of waterbirds. While conducting monitoring surveys by boat we came across an immature Pacific Gull (Note 1) holding a small eel while being watched by Silver Gulls, Black-faced and Great Pied Cormorants (Note 2) – see following photo. Standing in the background and out of focus was a second immature Pacific Gull and a Little Black Cormorant.

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The fresh dead eel was most likely caught by one of the Cormorants as Gulls tend to be scavengers (Note 3). The second Pacific Gull suddenly took an interest in the eel and the bird in possession turned to take off – see second photo below.

A short aerial chase ensued which ended when the eel was dropped in deeper water and the Gulls lost interest in the potential feed. I suspect the two Pacific Gulls and all of the others waterbirds present were not particularly hungry given they did not show much interest in the readily available eel meal.

The following photos are cropped sections of the above flight shots showing more detail.

Notes:

(1) Pacific Gulls take about five years to reach full adult plumage. Juvenile birds are fully brown with a fully dark bill - at this stage they are sometimes miss-identified as Brown Skuas. Both birds in the photos show two colours on the bills and whitish forehead feathers so these are second year immatures.

(2) All five resident cormorant species found in mainland Australia and Tasmania can be seen on the Gippsland Lakes; they include Great, Little Black, Little Pied, Great Pied and Black-faced Cormorants.

(3) An earlier Avithera post showing a pair of mature Pacific Gulls scavenging Black Swan eggs can be seen here: https://avithera.blogspot.com/2019/10/pacific-gulls-scavenging-swan-eggs.html

Brown Honeyeater attacking its reflection

Many bird species attack their reflections in windows, mirrors and other shiny reflective surfaces. They do this because they cannot recognise their own reflection and instead they think the bird they see is a rival. This occurs during breeding season when males are defending territory and female mates against rivals.

This was the case at Dry Tank Campground in Gundabooka National Park. The area is dominated by mulga woodland (Acacia aneura). A Brown Honeyeater was very vocal around our camp site and soon after setting up, we noticed the bird taking an interest in one of our vehicle’s side mirrors. Having seen how some birds become obsessed with their reflection to the detriment of their own wellbeing and breeding success, I had a brief photo session and then covered the side mirrors with a couple of plastic bags. 

My aim was to use this opportunity to take some close up photos of a Brown Honeyeater (1) rather than capture the bird attacking its own reflection, so most of my shots were studies of this fairly plain, aptly named honeyeater, which has a wide distribution, surprisingly loud calls (2) for a small bird, and is always super active (3).

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The following photos captured the bird pecking its reflection.

NOTES:

(1) The photos show a male in breeding condition with a black gape - the gape is yellow in non-breeding males.

(2) The Australian Bird Guide notes regarding voice, “Highly vocal with a bewildering array of calls”.

(3) The Australian Bird Guide notes “Aggressive in defence of food sources, active and alert with swift, darting flight”.