Aussie Finch Forum

The currawongs live in the high country during summer and come down to annoy us during the cold part of the year. The first frost of the year signals the arrival of these black monsters.

There must be an awful lot of them down that way in the high country then. The New England Tableland is 1300m above sea level & their main concentrations of them just turn up in Winter too.

Its not usual to see them in back yards here , usually just out of town hanging around parking bays and truck stops ... didnt see it today .
Maybe the other halfs quickly made slingshot hit the target after all ( ....worse bloody slingshotter ever)

Heres my two bobs worth,

They are migratory and follow food sources, have seen them travel in large family groups westward out of Sydney in early autumn towards the ranges where they feed on the large stick insects which feed on the eucalypts and fatten up. They then come down to the lower levels (fat as fools) and sit out the winter. Sydney has a host of food, read pet food, mynas, sparrows, doves and pigeons and a host of nesting locations (tall trees, parks etc) The interesting thing is that they do tend to come in cycles but when they come they are here in droves. Another interesting fact is that over the last few years there has also been an influx of Channel Billed Cuckoos in my part of Sydney which use the Currawong as a host. Maybe things will settle down in a pre ordained cycle. Must admit they are a bad thing to have around avairies and if they find a food source will continue to return.

I think the stick insects used to be largely responsible for "New England dieback" which was an overwhelming widespread death of large numbers of eucalypts in the New England area. Hopefully the explosion of Currawong numbers in recent years will soon result in some environmental benefit with a resurgence of native vegetation up there again.

Tiaris

Agree with that. Saw them in Oberon area in the early 90's where the trees were copping an absolute pizzeling. In come the 'wongs and after a few seasons things changed around to a natural balace. Took a couple years though as the shed eggs from the sticks lay dormant until the following season and they don't even need a mate to reproduce (so I'm told).

It was back today , only had time to land on the fence and 2 Scissorgrinders ( Um maybe Wattle birds ) chased it well away from the yard YAY .

Deb,
You will find that the wattlebirds have a territory which includes your domain. They see the Currawongs as a threat and will hunt it away from thier nesting area. I can tell when they are around because the noisy miners and wattlebirds rally against them and the ruckus is fairly audible. They do the same for butcherbirds and crows. Fairly good warning system.

When do these buggers head for the hills?

I have about 10 birds hanging around atm.

I now have 2 hanging around ... I look around and see no hills , does that mean they are here to stay.