Inter-species Friendships in Birds

Submitted by Gitie on 1 June, 2010 - 18:03

Maggie magpie and Minnie Noisy Miner best friends

 We've been observing the wild birds who live freely in the trees around our home for ten years.  Many of them are our friends. We know them by name, shape, looks and habits.  They all know their names and each others' names.  They call the one we ask for, often going into the valley to find them and bring them back.

Many naturalists say that the different species don't interact with each other.  But our experience and observations tell us otherwise.  The birds have amazing friendships with birds from other species, even other animals and certainly with us humans.  They are

intelligent, friendly, keen to understand and accommodate our needs and requests. They are able to overcome the natural barriers to communication.

In this website we've posted many such examples and stories.   

1st of June is the start of winter in Australia (although it has been quite cold where we live for most of May). This year for the month of June I am also participating in a 30 day blog challenge (click here for more info on the challenge) and will be posting at least one blog a day and some times more than one.  So I will be sharing plenty more stories with you.

In the above picture you can see Maggie magpie (the big black and white bird) with Minnie (noisy miner).  These two birds have been friends since they were chicks. To see a slideshow of these two good friends click here.

Tomorrow I'll bring you another story about these two birds. In the meantime if you'd like to know 23 Amazing Facts About Wild Bird Culture with true stories - click on this link and enter your details in the box and you'll start receiving the series.

Until tomorrow,

Cheers

Gitie

Species: 
Magpie
Noisy Miner
Stories about: 
bird behaviour
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Comments

Submitted by Gwen Tanner (not verified) on 1 June, 2010 - 19:13.

Hi Gitie,

This will be a wonderful break from internet marketing and business posts! :) I love animals. Are you a photographer as well? I have a huge lens and wanted to go bird-watching here in NJ, but I never made it around to doing it. The lens is HUGE. I'm going to check your site for some great tips and insipration regularly.

See you in the challenge!!

Gwen

Submitted by Gitie on 1 June, 2010 - 20:13.

Hi Gwen,

Yes we do take heaps of photographs of the birds as well.  Would love to look at your lens.  What are its specs?

Cheers

Gitie

Submitted by Gwen Tanner (not verified) on 1 June, 2010 - 21:15.

Gitie - my "big lens" is the Vivitar 650-1300MM F/8-16. And its very big and heavy so it just hangs off my camera with the T-mount its using. I think I need to take it out one sunny day and just sit all day holding it until interesting birds come along LOL

Any suggestions?

Gwen

Submitted by Jeanette Cates (not verified) on 1 June, 2010 - 19:27.

I'm not as keen an observer of birds as you, but I have a large window next to my desk through which I watch the birds and my squirrels every day. They all have a healthy respect and courtesy for one another. There is a definite understanding that if Madam Cardinal is eating, no one else is going to approach the feeder. On the other hand if Mr. BlueJay is eating, he'll be mean if you even try. On the other hand, I've seen him sit and wait his turn when smaller birds are at the feeder, as if hesitating to scare them away.

Then there are my squirrels. I get a lot of joy out of watching them. Like the birds, they'll wait their turn. And they'll often get off the feeder if they've been pigging out and the birds have been waiting. So it's a constant show.

I'm really looking forward to meeting some of your winged friends in move depth during the Blog Challenge! #blog30

Jeanette

Submitted by Gitie on 1 June, 2010 - 20:12.

Hi Jeanette,

Thanks for dropping by.  Would love to feature your pics and stories in my ezine Wild Bird Talking and website.

Looking forward to a month of fun blogging.

Gitie