HAVE you noticed the odd black and white bird around Port Macquarie?
Well you might soon be seeing a few more of them, as pied currawongs are breeding this month.
“Almost everybody on the east coast will have seen a pied currawong, even if they mistook it for a magpie at the time,” Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife chief executive Susanna Bradshaw said.
“Pied Currawongs look a lot like magpies, but they’re much friendlier. Currawongs won’t swoop you like a magpie will during its breeding season.
“You can tell a currawong from a magpie by its spellbinding yellow eyes, whereas a magpie has brown eyes.”
Ms Bradshaw said currawongs came into suburban areas during the colder months to forage for grubs on lawns.
“Now that it’s September, you might hear pied currawongs calling ‘curra-wong, curra-wong’ from their nests up to 25 metres in the trees,” Ms Bradshaw said.
“Don’t be surprised if in the next few weeks you see a brown currawong. It’s not dirty; it’s a juvenile pied currawong, fresh out of the nest.
“As they get older, these birds will grow into their characteristic black and white plumage.”
How to be a buddy to pied currawongs:
* Avoid feeding pets outdoors as cheeky pied currawongs might make a meal of it for themselves or their chicks. They are great hunters and gatherers, and will happily find their own food.
* Mulch your garden to attract bugs and lizards for pied currawongs to feed on.
* Remove leftover food after having a picnic to discourage pied currawongs from becoming too bold, and eating the wrong foods, which might make them sick.
