Cockatoos....

My interaction and exposure to cockatoos was limited living in New York, Koeppel Volkswagen had one in a cage and she had a foul mouth, being around mostly mechanics all day. Living in Brisbane, I see them quite often in nature, hanging out in trees, on wires and flying. They are quite loud birds but to me they are very pretty big birds. 

Cockatoos are Australasian birds, they are popular birds but their needs are difficult to cater for. The Cockatiel is the cockatoo species that is easiest to care for and is by far the most frequently kept in captivity. White cockatoos are more commonly found in captivity than black cockatoos. Illegal trade in wild-caught birds contributes to the decline of some cockatoo species in the wild.In Australian slang or vernacular speech, a person who is assigned to keep watch while others undertake clandestine or illegal activities, particularly gambling, may be referred to as a "cockatoo". I find this really funny. There are about 44 different birds in the cockatoo family Cacatuidae including recognized subspecies. 

The vocalisations of cockatoos are loud and harsh. They serve a number of functions, including allowing individuals to recognize one another, alerting others of predators, indicating individual moods, maintaining the cohesion of a flock and as warnings when defending nests. The use of calls and number of specific calls varies by species; the Carnaby's Black Cockatoo has as many as 15 different calls, whereas others, such as Major Mitchell's Cockatoo, have fewer. Some, like the Gang-gang Cockatoo, are comparatively quiet but do have softer growling calls when feeding. In addition to vocalisations, Palm Cockatoos communicate over large distances by drumming on a dead branch with a stick. Cockatoo species also make a characteristic hissing sound when threatened.

These amazing birds are on one hand shortly becoming extinct and they are known agricultural pests and therefore eradicated in some places. In the 1970's they became popular pets due to shows like Baretta who had a triton cockatoo and Al Pacino's character in Serpico.

Noisy Miner Birds...

So now I've been here just over 2 years, I cannot believe it. Well I can and I can't. I've come to appreciate some things in nature here, the kookaburra is one of them. I love listening to their laughs, the magpie sings a pretty song but are vicious when they're nesting. The one bird I dislike with a passion is this Noisy Miner, they have tried attacking my cat through a window. They get together like a gang and take over and start cheaping loudly. I found this YouTube video showing the arrogance of these birds attacking the poor kookaburra. The Noisy Miner (also known as the Mickey Bird) is a grey bird with a black head, orange-yellow beak and feet, a distinctive yellow patch behind the eye and a white tip on the tail feathers. They are scary looking birds, I'd rather see a black crow than these vicious things. 

Noisy Miners are gregarious and territorial; they forage, bathe, roost, breed and defend territory communally, forming colonies that can contain several hundred birds. Each bird has an 'activity space' and birds with overlapping activity spaces form associations called 'coteries', the most stable units within the colony. The birds also form temporary flocks called 'coalitions' for specific activities such as mobbing a predator. Group cohesion is facilitated not only by vocalizations, but also through ritualised displays which have been categorised as flight displays, postural displays, and facial displays. The Noisy Miner is a notably aggressive bird, and chasing, pecking, fighting, scolding, and mobbing occur throughout the day, targeted at both intruders and colony members. I did see two of them on the grass a while ago going at it and I was thinking to myself, where's that black cat...hee hee. 

Foraging in the canopy of trees and on trunks and branches and on the ground, the Noisy Miner mainly eats nectar, fruit and insects. Most time is spent gleaning the foliage of eucalyptus, and it can meet most of its nutritional needs from manna and honeydew  gathered from the foliage.Noisy Miners have a range of strategies to increase their breeding success including multiple broods and group mobbing of predators. The Noisy Miner's population increase has been correlated with the reduction of avian diversity in human-affected landscapes. Its territoriality means that translocation is unlikely to be a solution to its overabundance, and culling has been proposed, although the Noisy Miner is currently a protected species across Australia. So this bird is basically a pest and yet it's protected, talk about stupidity. Imagine, they mob other birds, it's like Gangs of Australia instead of Gang of New York.