On His Own

There were several kinds of birds in my garden today, but this little waxeye was the only one to sit still long enough for me to focus on him.

Among the other birds was a male bellbird. I saw him yesterday too. A female has been calling in for a couple of weeks. They are attracted by the excited activity of the waxeyes that favour the same food, but they don’t recognise the fat and sugar water dispenser as a source of food. Today the bellbird tried chasing the waxeyes away. He sat in the tree making his threatening call. It’s similar to that of the blackbird, but it is deeper, louder and reedy. The waxeyes flew to the tops of nearby trees until the bellbird left.

Some time ago a female bellbird used to visit, for five or six years. She knew what was what, and if she found the sugar water dispenser empty she would call to me through the kitchen window, and would sit close by as I refilled it.  I made a shaky movie of her once when a pair of bellbirds turned up on her berry bush. She warned them off by repeatedly chiming her territorial call. It’s a poor movie, but it gives an idea of how she got rid of them. They didn’t come back.