Planet Rothschildi

[Tame Emu Guy]

S.E. was brought home by some fellow farmhouse renters.’ They explained that they watch the kangaroos! Not with the energy that we watch the emus; but it seems that they have identified a family group. (I think, guys, there is some territoriality with the roos. I can occasionally identify a roo or two because they turn up over several days.)

We had coffee in the garden; Eric Plus turned up; they were delighted. Then, one of them spotted Audacious standing quietly in the gums, and was even more pleased.

On the way home, we saw four healthy happy birds on the Way-to-Town Soak.

E.P. here this morning, and we shall settle back into observations.

S.E. is intrigued to see whether 'Felicity-Plus-arrive; Audacious and Mystery Female leave.'

S.E.

 

[kbgh]

Welcome home mate. Hope you are feeling a lil better.

Glad you had a greeting party to meet you re, Eric Plus and Audacious. Wanna bet they missed the wheat and sultanas

?

Gotta go out tonite but will pm in AM and looking forward to more posts. K.B.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

S.E. would like to thank Sheriff for the video of her birds’ ‘pre-mating’ behaviour.

Planet Rothschildi is not just about S.E. It’s about gaining and considering and benefiting from data. It makes us all better carers for our birds. That video is interesting to me because it is of an identifiable type of behaviour. So, if (given time etc., etc.) you have the least inclination, post footage of behaviour.

S.E. was gobsmacked when Alpha Chick ‘flared’ at an adult bird. What if I’d been able to get a good high-resolution photo of both birds, adult and chick, at that second?!

For example, BYC has as good a range of clips of birds mating as S.E. has found on the Net!!

And on a number of occasions, while searching for material of a more specific nature, I’ve wound up at . . . BYC!


The ‘terrier-pointing’ thing has me beat, readers – at least for a month or more. You just can’t sneak off to get a camera when you see it. If anything else comes into Eric’s vision, he stops doing it.

Readers, S.E. hasn’t forgotten the are-the-chicks-roosting-alone? Project. Gotta manage a couple of first-light observations. I have seen this:

the chicks do actually finally settle down with Eric. However, for ten minutes or so before, one or both may express a little independence by sitting ten or fifteen feet away – here, that’s in the next aisle of gums.

S.E. has seen one and both of the chicks do this; and I betcha a bottle of beer that, when it is just one chick, it is Alpha. S.E. now sees a clear distinction in the temperaments of the two. Omega is becoming a real homebody.

‘Kay, here’s an unsubstantiated datum, guys:

while hitching to the city, S.E. spoke at length to a guy who grew up in the country. They had some emus on his farm that were known quantities: not pets; not tame; not paddock emus; but a bit like the birds here. He said, and I politely asked him to confirm what he said so that I would be confident to pass it on to you, that:

one season a male turned up with 24 chicks, 23 of which survived. He said that this male collected/stole the chicks from some younger males.

Now, this issue is still most uncertain, but we have two unsolicited anecdotes to this effect.

Wouldn’t you love to see a clutch of 24!!??

Audacious is here, but haven’t heard M.F.

S.E.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Felicity has just visited. I saw Felix, but only for a second. His shyness doesn’t seem to be decreasing. In fact, a couple of times recently, Felicity seems to have been on her own -- ??

The ‘kook kook kook’ sound, is, I’ve finally worked out, definitely a ‘low-key boom,’ that is, it’s coming from the vocal sac. Felicity patiently kook-kook-kooks to Felix as she eats, but Felix doesn’t come.

What we are gonna watch for, guys, is whether it’s coincidence that Eric Plus turn up ten minutes after Felicity starts vocalising.

S.E. can hear F.’s calls up to, say, a hundred yards. Anyone like to guess how far away Eric (and other birds) can hear these calls? Meadow Two, for example, is about 250 yards at most – as the crow flies.

Can birds identify other birds by their calls?


S.E.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Miniature dinosaur at the window? Check:

 

[kbgh]

You watch them, they keep an eye on you too.

 

[yinepu]

Felicity has just visited. I saw Felix, but only for a second. His shyness doesn’t seem to be decreasing. In fact, a couple of times recently, Felicity seems to have been on her own -- ??

The ‘kook kook kook’ sound, is, I’ve finally worked out, definitely a ‘low-key boom,’ that is, it’s coming from the vocal sac. Felicity patiently kook-kook-kooks to Felix as she eats, but Felix doesn’t come.

What we are gonna watch for, guys, is whether it’s coincidence that Eric Plus turn up ten minutes after Felicity starts vocalising.

S.E. can hear F.’s calls up to, say, a hundred yards. Anyone like to guess how far away Eric (and other birds) can hear these calls? Meadow Two, for example, is about 250 yards at most – as the crow flies.

Can birds identify other birds by their calls?


S.E.

They sure can... all birds can and I'm sure emus aren't any different.
Our parrot can imitate the emu calls.. and they know it's him imitating them. They ignore his voicing but pay plenty of attention when they hear another of their "flock" calling out even though they all sound alike to me and my husband.
It's also apparent when an adult is calling out to their chicks (or when their chicks are calling the adults).

Miniature dinosaur at the window? Check:

Lol.. i get that too.. as well as deer and cows peeking in. I swear somedays they just like to watch tv through the windows.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Hey, Yinepu!! I enjoy figuring out who is reading.

Thank you for that information. It helps me enormously. Bear in mind that S.E. knows nothing about birds beyond the emus here.

S.E.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

[Inspection in two days. S.E. getting close to finished now. Tired but feeling better.]

Morning, All. Felix has broken the tame barrier!!

It was fun to watch. S.E. was crawling along behind some bushes, with the guerrilla camera in hand, to get a first photo of Felicity and Felix eating together. We got one photo, then Felicity started dawdling towards me. S.E. was watching Felix through the binos – by far the closest ever, guys. I really enjoyed it.

Felix was alarmed but stationary. I have been fortunate to witness this – the jump from ‘tame (01)’ to about ‘tame (03)’ – a number of times; but never so suddenly (Boy Emu, Speckles, Sarah, Mrs. Eric).

Felix was standing tall, with his ruff a little raised, and . . . he started following Felicity, towards me. Only six or eight steps, mind you; but this is a different bird from the one who heretofore has not once stood still when S.E. was in sight.

Description of Felix:

a bit scruffy – most of the wild birds are. Not like your sleek and glossy pets. He’s big, a noticeably ‘beamy’ male. He has a lovely head, readers, with a fine balance (notably at the back) of the ‘sharp’ white of the collar feathers against the ‘sharp’ black of the feathers below it, and a sort of ‘all over’ light blue of the neck skin. Overall, he seems like a fine catch for Felicity.

Let’s consider this:

Felicity is physically a small-ish bird, and she has been knocked off the ladder here by Eric. However, in the greater scheme of things – which is to say, on any pasture within miles – she must still weigh in as a truly formidable bird.

Why do we think this? Well, we have some knowledge of the powerful birds ‘in orbit’ around here (and now think about the crazy dam-visiting project. It’s about getting the vaguest notion of how big ‘in orbit’ might be for any bird(s). The everything bone is connected to the everything-else bone!):

One: we actually saw Foreign Bird give Eric a flogging (snicker snicker). We may assume that F.B. is ‘out there somewhere,’ and there can’t be any doubt about, other emus get off the footpath to let F.B. go by!

Two: Greedy Emu remains formidable, and S.E. remains puzzled by the syklodgikerl whateveritwas that kept Greedy subservient to Felicity last Winter (notwithstanding the tick drama/sharp-object drama).

Three: can anyone guess this one? S.E. reckons The Bird That Injured Felicity! We would give a very great deal, aficionados, to have witnessed that three-second bit of emu life.

Four: Felicity.

So, it remains for Felicity to breed; but, if Felix transpires to be a powerful bird, it will be a fruitful combination.


All five birds – Eric, Alpha, Omega, Felicity, and Felix – were vocalising at one point this morning, as they ‘balleted’ around the fig tree. Wonderful!! The chicks were chicking. Eric was talking to the chicks in talk-to-chicks grunts. Felicity was quietly kook-kooking to Felix, and Felix was grunting back.


The ‘accommodation’ that I spoke off remains quite evident. It seems that Eric is 'treading water' rather than seeking outright conflict. S.E. has surely seen this mode of behaviour before, but is now beginning to recognise it as a particular mode. F. and F.’s movements have the look of a reconnaissance in force rather than a sneaking-in-and-out.

[They’re doing it now. Felicity is at the window.]

Felix and Eric:

I was watching Felix through the binos as Eric Plus came down for their first ‘sweep.’
I gotta say, I am not quite sure what I was looking for, or what I saw; but it was a most interesting observation. Felix stood still for some seconds after Felicity began withdrawing. He really didn’t seem too freaked out by Eric. S.E. was even actively wondering for a moment whether Felix would stand his ground. Let’s watch for this.

Audacious and Mystery Female absent.

Here are the guerilla photos. First is first-ever of F. and F. together in the clearing:




Next is Felix following Felicity:




Finally: S.E. didn't know Felicity was where she is. He has started taking 'blind guerilla shots' while watching through the binos. Felicity must think Supreme Emu is quite mad:

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

S.E.