Wednesday 19 March 2014

Helmeted Friarbird

The Helmeted Friarbird (Philemon buceroides) is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family.  When I saw it in Innisfail, Queensland on this tree in the next door neighbours garden, it was always quite aggressive to the smaller Honeyeaters and they had to wait until he was finished before they had a chance for any nectar.  Some day I will show you some of the smaller birds that feed on this tree.  Unfortunately, the man cut the tree down and therefore with it went all these birds food!


It is found in Indonesia and northern Australia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.


The Helmeted Friarbird  is a medium to large Honeyeater characterised by the silver crown, frilled whitish nape, large gently sloping knob on bill and bare, leaden-grey facial skin. Back, rump and tail are grey-brown; underparts are paler, silvery-brown and lightly streaked. Iris is red-brown. 




Males and female adults are similar.



It was joined by the Rainbow Lorikeet and as it was about he same size as it, it did not seem to mind it feeding at the same time.



Size: 32–37 cm


In Queensland, it feeds on the margins of rainforests, monsoon forests, vine thickets, mangroves, eucalyptus woodlands; 



Conspicuous, noisy, often aggressive toward other birds around flowering trees, where it seeks nectar, fruit, insects from flowers, bark crevices or taken in flight.


Calls are varied; include harsh cackles, squawks and clanking ‘chlank’. Some notes are quite musical, but usually intermixed with harsh sounds: ‘warruk, kuk-kaowww, warruk-kuk-kaowww’; ‘kaowww-kuk, kaowww-kuk’; a higher ‘kewik, kewik’, and similar variations. 



Breeding
Aug.–Apr. Deep, bulky cup of bark strips, fine twigs, lining of fine vine tendrils; hangs in outer foliage of tree or shrub, 2–15 m up. 




Clutch 2–5


Juveniles have smaller knobs and the throat and breast are less streaked.


I hope you enjoyed hearing and seeing this bird from Queensland, Australia and I am linking it with WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.

I have a very short video which can be accessed at

http://youtu.be/HP1wG20u3FM



Thank you for visiting.

Any thanks for leaving comments on any of my post.  I am sorry, as I am on holidays, I (most likely) will not have time to comment on your blogs as often as I would like, however I will try and post every day.

24 comments:

  1. Interesting bird Margaret. It doesn't have much going for it in the beauty department though...it looks truly prehistoric!!...[;o)

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  2. Hi Trevor We can't all be beautiful although I just may be in the prehistoric category! Thanks for comment. I'm off now to walk the Tilly the pup!

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  3. Lovly jubly, what a strange looking bird it is. I love it.

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  4. What an extraordinary bird! I have never seen this one before. So many lovely birds in the world. That tree was very interesting too. What a pity the neighbor had it cut down. Great photos and video Margaret. Thanks for sharing them.

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  5. I have never seen this bird before!
    Great serie!

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  6. Now I know that birds are descended from dinosaurs just by looking at this one you have posted here. I hope your holiday has taken you to Australia or was this from an earlier trip?

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  7. Thanks for the information. It is a striking bird.

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  8. Great captures. I have never seen such a bird, it's definitely a different looking one.

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  9. An amazing looking bird Margaret. It looks almost prehistoric and it certainly has an aggressive look about it.

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  10. Wow, that is sure interesting Margaret. I love the education I am getting from your posts. I hope you are enjoying yourself on vacation. Blessings!

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  11. Interesting beak :) Thanks for sharing Great Photos!

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  12. what a peculiar bird. Great set of images to show it off. Love the video snippet too. Thanks for sharing.

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  13. Hi Margaret,
    Beautiful pictures of this particular bird, this do not see in the Netherlands.
    Also very nice is the rainbow lorikeet.
    Greetings Irma

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  14. A gorgeous series of photos! Fantastic!

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  15. The Friarbird is a striking reminder that birds and dinosaurs are kin isn't it? And pecking order is very real. Great post - thank you.

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  16. A very interesting bird and so is the fruit tree.

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  17. That is one very strange looking bird Margaret!

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  18. What a cool looking bird. The face is really interesting.. The Lorikeet is pretty.. Great post and photos.

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  19. Margaret, I live in Far North Queensland and I cannot say I have ever seen a helmeted friar bird. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. We certainly see plenty of pests in the form of Asian myna birds and they seem to scare many other species away.

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  20. Oh it looks like something prehistoric, but what an interesting bird and the beautiful tree with all those berries!!

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  21. This is really a most interesting bird! Have never seen a bird that looked like this before. Love your shots and also all of the information with it! He looks as if someone plucked all of his feathers out!

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  22. What an interesting looking bird. Beautiful close ups with such a pretty background!!

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  23. Interesting looking bird. Quite aggressive looking

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