Noisy Miners

There seem to be mixed reviews on the Noisy Miners who visit my garden everyday.

Noisy Miners are often confused with Indian Mynas, which were introduced to Australia and are now regarded as pests. The Noisy Miner is a honeyeater, is native to Australia and a protected bird species.

From my own observations, I have noticed that these small birds are very social little guys and are happy to share their territory with most other birds. Whenever there is a Channel Billed Cuckoo in the area, however, they go crazy, and for good reason too!

I have taken photos of Channel Billed Cuckoos and they are rather gross looking birds, which take over the nests of magpies, sometimes killing any babies in the nest and removing the magpie eggs. So, when the Miners hunt away the cuckoos, they are doing a great job in protecting the Magpies!

When my cat, Miss Tibbs, is in the garden they often swoop on her and she dashes indoors. Again, the Miners seem to sense the threat of a cat to the bird species and do their bit in protecting their own species, yet they are not at all bothered by my dog, Tess. Pretty wise birds, I think!

When the baby Magpies are about, there always seems to be a few Miners nearby, watching over the babies. If a crow should come too close, and mama maggie isn't about, they hunt the crow away.

Noisy Miners are common birds and regarded as aggressive to other birds; I have not seen this behaviour in them, unless their is good reason for them to act aggressively, so they will continue to be welcome visitors in my garden.