Birds that Steal your Stuff so they can build a Sex Palace - Nature Rules.

in #nature7 years ago

B Bird Picture.jpg

G'day,

For the last 8 or so years we've worked really hard to build a nice small house out on our Bush Block that we can eventually move to permanently.

There's a long way to go and we don't always get there often enough to make it happen in a hurry.

Some of the paving and gardens have decorative pebbles in them, both as a feature and to absorb the rainwater by acting as a soak drain.

Lately we've noticed some of the pebbles have gone missing and the spare bags have been tampered with.
At first it was a bit of a mystery because we found them scattered all over the place but now it's all worked itself out!

Turns out, there's a Bower Bird setting up camp at the bottom of our cleared area and he's building a big "Bower" and using our pebbles as the main decoration.

I did a bit of research using an old Bird Book from the 1980's.
a .jpg

From what I can understand, this is only the beginning and he's going to be adding to it for years to come. I hope our supply of pebbles keeps up!

The "Bower" is not actually a nest. When the time comes, they have a normal nest just like any other bird!
The "Bower" is purely an elaborate "Display" to get the "Sheila" interested.
Our bloke seems to have 3 girlfriends who hang around on a regular basis. (lucky bugger)

They're quite timid and difficult to approach but I'm hoping to do some good video footage next week when we go down there.
They have a very elaborate mating ritual that all revolves around the "Bower" and I hope they will be in action when we are there so I can capture it all on video?

Until then, here are some pictures from last weekend.

Missing Pebbles.
Bower 1.jpg
Broken bags of pebbles.
Bower 3.jpg

More pebbles missing - looks like a bit of a workshop happening!
Bower 4.jpg

So this is where they're all ending up (except for the ones dropped all over the place!)
Bower 6.jpg

The Bower is taking shape!
Bower 7.jpg

Bower 8.jpg

Bower 9.jpg

Notice the 3 Pebbles inside made to look like Eggs.
Bower 10.jpg

Notice the worn track where he hops around the outside all the time. Bower 13.jpg

All the stuff he collects. I'm going to throw a bag of marbles everywhere to see if I can get him off the pebbles?
Bower 12.jpg

If I get some good video footage, I'll do another post next week.

All the best and have a Great Christmas!!
From Wayne.

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This is so cool. How awesome! I can't believe all the work that little guy is doing, I hope after all that effort he gets a girl !!! I bet you were glad to solve the mystery of the missing pebbles. Can't wait to see more on this. Great post :)

Yeah, heaps of work gone into it and it's only taken a few weeks to do. I, looking forward to getting some good video over Christmas.

Lol. That's hilarious. But very cool too.

Yep, very cool! I'm going to try leaving some marbles and bottle tops around and see what he does with those.

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