Noisy Miner
Encyclopedia
The Noisy Miner is a bird
common to the eastern and southern states of Australia
. It ranges from northern Queensland
along the eastern coast to South Australia
and Tasmania
. Its typical diet consists of nectar, fruit
and insect
s, and occasionally it feeds on small reptile
s or amphibian
s. Somewhat opportunistic, the Miner will also feed on grains and can be seen foraging in grasslands although its normal habitat
is scrub and woodlands. It has adjusted to urban areas far better than most other birds, given their preference for shorter grasses and thinner underbrush.
in his 1802 work Supplementum Indicis Ornithologici, sive Systematis Ornithologiae, the Noisy Miner is one of four species in the genus Manorina
in the large family of honeyeater
s known as Meliphagidae. Its species name is derived from the Ancient Greek
words melas "black", and kephale "head".
Molecular analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae
(Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.), and the Maluridae
(Australian fairy-wrens) in a large Meliphagoidea
superfamily.
's cap gives rise to its name. Grows to 20–25 cm in size.
areas, it also faces increasing competition from an introduced species, the Indian or Common Myna
. The Common Myna is similar in size, beak colouration and diet; but is otherwise unrelated and easily distinguished by its darker plumage.
The Noisy Miner is very adaptive and inhabits degraded woodlands readily, and is considered that it will become more common with climate change.http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/images/stories/downloads/soab/soab2007s.pdf
s, Currawong
s or Crow
s. It is common for the Noisy Miner bird to swoop domestic cats if they are perceived to be a threat to their nesting areas. They will attack smaller birds inside their territory, particularly in suburban environments that favor them, and thus deplete local biodiversity by affecting what predators and insects prosper.
and insect
s, and occasionally it feeds on small reptile
s or amphibian
s. Somewhat opportunistic, the Miner will also feed on grains and can be seen foraging in grasslands although its normal habitat
is scrub and woodlands.
The preference for shorter grasses in nesting areas seems related to a strong tendency for the young to 'fall' out of the nest a week before they can fly. The young will find a bush or low branch to begin their journey back up into the tree, while some member of the family typically stands guard to warn off any intruders. Shorter grass allows the adult better view of approaching predators.
Eggs are laid in clutches of 2-4 eggs, rarely 5, approximately 3 cm long by 2 cm wide with reddish brown spots concentrated around the wide end. Time between eggs can be around 22 to 26 hours, and incubation starts with the second egg laid. Nests are cup shaped, 4 to 5 inches in diameter.
or Grey Box
forest, and the recolonisation by other species of birds was monitored over several years.
The study showed that at six of the seven noisy miner-free areas created, the diversity and abundance of other insectivorous birds increased markedly. This increase did not occur at the matching control sites where noisy miners were not removed.
The removal of noisy miners from a grey box remnants near Violet Town, Victoria, led to a major and rapid change in the abundance and composition of the bird community. In particular, there was a significant influx of small insectivorous birds, consistent with the hypothesis that noisy miners normally exclude these species from such sites. The overall influx of birds may have been due to a combination of the removal of the aggressive Noisy Miner and the flowering of the eucalypts at the time of removal.From Grey et al. 1997.
Lorikeet & Honeyeater feed sustains them, supplemented well with Finch or Insectivore rearing food (mixed with a little egg and bread crumbs), blossoms with nectar and fresh fruit daily where possible. They will generally try out any offerings. As with most birds, salt, avocado, caffeine and chocolate are toxic even in small quantities. Dairy products are not recommended either.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
common to the eastern and southern states of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It ranges from northern Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
along the eastern coast to South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
and Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. Its typical diet consists of nectar, fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
and insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, and occasionally it feeds on small reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
s or amphibian
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
s. Somewhat opportunistic, the Miner will also feed on grains and can be seen foraging in grasslands although its normal habitat
Habitat (ecology)
A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...
is scrub and woodlands. It has adjusted to urban areas far better than most other birds, given their preference for shorter grasses and thinner underbrush.
Taxonomy
First described by ornithologist John LathamJohn Latham (ornithologist)
John Latham was an English physician, naturalist and author. He was born at Eltham in Kent, and was the eldest son of John Latham, a surgeon there, and his mother was a descendant of the Sothebys, in Yorkshire....
in his 1802 work Supplementum Indicis Ornithologici, sive Systematis Ornithologiae, the Noisy Miner is one of four species in the genus Manorina
Manorina
Manorina is a genus of Australian endemic honeyeaters, containing four species: the Black-eared Miner, M. melanotis, the Yellow-throated Miner, M. flavigula, the Noisy Miner, M. melanocephala, and the Bell Miner, M. melanophrys...
in the large family of honeyeater
Honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea...
s known as Meliphagidae. Its species name is derived from the Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
words melas "black", and kephale "head".
Molecular analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae
Acanthizidae
The Acanthizidae, also known as the Australasian warblers, are a family of passerine birds which include gerygones, thornbills, and scrubwrens. The Acanthizidae consists of small to medium passerine birds, with a total length varying between 8 and 19 cm. They have short rounded wings, slender...
(Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.), and the Maluridae
Maluridae
The Maluridae are a family of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. Commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens of the Northern Hemisphere...
(Australian fairy-wrens) in a large Meliphagoidea
Meliphagoidea
Meliphagoidea is a superfamily of passerine birds. They contain a vast diversity of small to mid-sized songbirds widespread in the Austropacific region. The Australian Continent has the largest richness in genera and species.-Systematics:...
superfamily.
Description
Colouration is principally grey, with a lighter grey on their underbelly and flashes of green on the edges of the wings. The beak and area around and behind the eyes is yellow. When indicating submission, the bird frequently fluffs up the feathers around the eye, opening its beak to flutter its tongue and softly utter a "pipipipipee, pee, pee!" noise. A distinctive black head resembling a minerMiner
A miner is a person whose work or business is to extract ore or minerals from the earth. Mining is one of the most dangerous trades in the world. In some countries miners lack social guarantees and in case of injury may be left to cope without assistance....
's cap gives rise to its name. Grows to 20–25 cm in size.
Vocalisations
Their 'Noisy' name is obvious when encountered, for their alarmed warning shrills are echoed across the colony as all members are alerted to your presence. Far softer are their social, talkative clicks, peeps and squeaks.Distribution and habitat
While it has adapted to urbanUrban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
areas, it also faces increasing competition from an introduced species, the Indian or Common Myna
Common Myna
The Common Myna or Indian Myna also sometimes spelled Mynah, is a member of family Sturnidae native to Asia. An omnivorous open woodland bird with a strong territorial instinct, the Myna has adapted extremely well to urban environments...
. The Common Myna is similar in size, beak colouration and diet; but is otherwise unrelated and easily distinguished by its darker plumage.
The Noisy Miner is very adaptive and inhabits degraded woodlands readily, and is considered that it will become more common with climate change.http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/images/stories/downloads/soab/soab2007s.pdf
Behaviour
An extremely territorial and gregarious bird, the Miner lives in groups or colonies ranging in size from a few birds up to several hundred. It will aggressively defend an area against all invaders, harassing and chasing away larger invaders such as MagpieAustralian Magpie
The Australian Magpie is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. A member of the Artamidae, it is closely related to the butcherbirds...
s, Currawong
Currawong
Currawongs are three species of medium-sized passerine birds belonging to the genus Strepera in the family Artamidae native to Australasia. These are the Grey Currawong , Pied Currawong , and Black Currawong . The common name comes from the call of the familiar Pied Currawong of eastern Australia...
s or Crow
Crow
Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...
s. It is common for the Noisy Miner bird to swoop domestic cats if they are perceived to be a threat to their nesting areas. They will attack smaller birds inside their territory, particularly in suburban environments that favor them, and thus deplete local biodiversity by affecting what predators and insects prosper.
Feeding
Its typical diet consists of nectar, fruitFruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
and insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, and occasionally it feeds on small reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
s or amphibian
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
s. Somewhat opportunistic, the Miner will also feed on grains and can be seen foraging in grasslands although its normal habitat
Habitat (ecology)
A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...
is scrub and woodlands.
Breeding
Many Noisy Miners like nesting over 'short' grass so much that they frequently build over grassless areas - such as roads and parks. The young that are not run over are often brought in to veterinary clinics as birds, where they may be euthanised depending on state law. In South Australia and New South Wales they may be kept with a Rescue Permit & a Class II license respectively. Some fauna rescue volunteers may be reluctant to take them on because of their territorial and aggressive nature, causing integration problems with their other rescued birds.The preference for shorter grasses in nesting areas seems related to a strong tendency for the young to 'fall' out of the nest a week before they can fly. The young will find a bush or low branch to begin their journey back up into the tree, while some member of the family typically stands guard to warn off any intruders. Shorter grass allows the adult better view of approaching predators.
Eggs are laid in clutches of 2-4 eggs, rarely 5, approximately 3 cm long by 2 cm wide with reddish brown spots concentrated around the wide end. Time between eggs can be around 22 to 26 hours, and incubation starts with the second egg laid. Nests are cup shaped, 4 to 5 inches in diameter.
Territoriality
Recent experiments have shown that noisy miners aggressively expel many other species of birds from their territories. Noisy miners were removed from seven patches of Box-IronbarkBox-Ironbark forest
Box-Ironbark forest is a forest or woodland ecosystem that is largely limited to central Victoria in south-eastern Australia. Because its component tree species produce abundant nectar and pollen throughout the year, it is important for the conservation of many species of birds and other...
or Grey Box
Grey box
Grey box or Grey Box may refer to:*Grey box , a rigid plastic container used to collect materials such as cardboard and newspapers.*Grey box identification method, used to model industrial processes*Software Grey Box Testing...
forest, and the recolonisation by other species of birds was monitored over several years.
The study showed that at six of the seven noisy miner-free areas created, the diversity and abundance of other insectivorous birds increased markedly. This increase did not occur at the matching control sites where noisy miners were not removed.
The removal of noisy miners from a grey box remnants near Violet Town, Victoria, led to a major and rapid change in the abundance and composition of the bird community. In particular, there was a significant influx of small insectivorous birds, consistent with the hypothesis that noisy miners normally exclude these species from such sites. The overall influx of birds may have been due to a combination of the removal of the aggressive Noisy Miner and the flowering of the eucalypts at the time of removal.From Grey et al. 1997.
Captivity
They are very active birds, easily distressed by being caged, often violent towards other birds kept with them, and thus difficult to domesticate compared to traditional companion birds.Lorikeet & Honeyeater feed sustains them, supplemented well with Finch or Insectivore rearing food (mixed with a little egg and bread crumbs), blossoms with nectar and fresh fruit daily where possible. They will generally try out any offerings. As with most birds, salt, avocado, caffeine and chocolate are toxic even in small quantities. Dairy products are not recommended either.
Sounds
- Noisy Miner Call (WAVWAVWaveform Audio File Format , is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs...
file)
External links
- Noisy Miner videos, photos & videos on the Internet Bird Collection.
- Noisy Miner at The Australian Museum Online
- Noisy Miners - Aggression in the suburbs from mdavid.com
- Advice on encouraging other bird species back from BirdsInBackyards
- Native trees, urban gardens and Noisy Miners article from SMH
- Recording of baby Miner at Freesound.
- A Dominant Bird Vic DPI RESEARCH PAPER