Wagtail vs Raven

[khiemtran]

The Willy Wagtail is a commonly seen bird in Australia, best known for its habit of wagging its tail at passersby to try to lure them in a particular direction...



When we were last at Taronga Zoo, we watched a video featuring an aboriginal story about the Willy Wagtail. In it, the wagtail was originally a human who was always disrupting ceremonial dances with his own crowd-pleasing moves. Eventually, the elders decided to punish him, which set in train a series of events which ended in the wagtail being burned alive (it wasn't clear if the elders meant for that to be the punishment or if it just ended that way when the wagtail character tried to escape). After the sad end, the wagtail bird appeared, still black from the flames, and still doing its tempting dances, to try to lead people away from the proper path...



But the other behaviour the wagtail is known for is almost fanatical courage when it comes to defending its territory. Here you can one chasing a black-shouldered kite that was looking for somewhere to eat its lunch.



And last week, I saw one in a determined assault on a large raven, down by the lagoon.



Mr Wagtail is not pleased at all. I'm not sure if Mr Raven knows what to think...



But it certainly decides to keep on motoring...

Comments

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

I love the idea of walkers dancing off the path, lead astray by wagtails...

The local buzzards and kestrels are often mobbed above the fields here, but I don't think I've ever seen such a size discrepancy in the birds doing the mobbing!

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

If you're walking through their territory, they'll come up to you, wag their tails, and then start hopping away, presumably to protect their nest.

You know they're tough when then can be a mob of one...

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I love the wagtai'ls eyebrow. You can tell it can be fierce when needs be. :P

That kite had a BIG lunch!

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, you can see in the aerial photos that the white brow catches the light and looks like an angry eye. It may be small, but it's wearing warpaint...

[heliopausa.livejournal.com]

I know it as a bird that brings messages - or says there's a message coming.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, looking at wikipedia, there are lots of stories about that too!