Untidy Gang Gangs

Noisy Friarbird - might look a little more handsome with a feathered head

Autumn is usually the time for all the nectar eating birds to leave the gully but this year they have stayed on . The Spotted Gums are flowering again. It's been four years since the last bloom time.

A cacophany of Noisy Friarbirds and other honeyeaters dominate the day while the night shift is full of screaming and arguing fruit bats and gliders.

The Friarbirds are intolerant of the larger Gang Gang Cockatoos. Maybe it's because of the cockatoos feeding habits. They snip off a whole flowering branchlet, eat a few buds and drop the rest. Very different feeding method from honeyeaters which use their delicate tongue to gain nectar and leave everything in place. The whole tree ends up tip pruned by the Cockatoos.