Don Knowler

The “pick-pockets” of the bird world were busy with their nefarious trade, stealing treasure from unsuspecting victims. Tall, wavering stalks of red-hot poker flowers had attracted the attention of eastern spinebills and they were emboldened to take on the much bigger and more aggressive yellow-throated honeyeaters to steal the pollen and nectar. Usually the tiny spinebills are difficult to see. They operate under the noses, or should I saw beaks, of the bigger honeyeaters, … [Read more...] about ‘Pick-pockets’ in red-hot form

A maelstrom of whirling birds brought an air of chaos and confusion to the skies over Long Beach, Lower Sandy Bay. As sulphur- crested cockatoos and galahs shrieked and screamed in their spirals of flight, I gazed skywards, searching for a peregrine falcon. The fastest bird on earth, a passing peregrine was sure to have put the cockatoos to flight but I looked in vain for the raptor. Instead, I could only make out the shape of lone yellow-tailed black cockatoo. The … [Read more...] about Confused black cockie creates a stir

Mayor Anna Reynolds promoted Hobart as a bird-watching hotspot last month posing the question - in what other Australian city could you see a magnificent wedge-tailed eagle flying across the sky? Launching a guide to the city’s bird walks, Cr Reynolds had her sights on the foothills of kunanyi/Mt Wellington but a few days later the eagles sprang a surprise a little closer to home, turning up at the Mt Nelson signal station. Meeting a birding friend for coffee and cake at … [Read more...] about Coffee and cake as the eagles arrive

Swift parrots are preparing to “shake it off” as they start their annual migration to the mainland after breeding in Tasmania. I always try to make these columns topical but this old rocker has surprised himself by jumping on the Taylor Swift bandwagon, and turning to one of her songs to find an angle for a swift parrot story. I’m not the only one to link the two, however. Independent Senator David Pocock has said he is hoping the megastar can help pluck the world’s fastest … [Read more...] about Swift parrots call on pop star power

Noisy miners are known to be the bullies and ruffians of the Australian bird world and the miners along the waterfront of Melbourne’s St Kilda are stand-over merchants in a class of their own. The introduced Indian common mynas – with which the noisy miners are often confused – stood no chance in this battle of wits and street smarts one day as both species fought for fast-food discarded by the human-in-a-hurry inhabitants of Melbourne’s beach playground and the edgy … [Read more...] about Noisy bullies rule the hood