New Holland honeyeaters: active and noisy

Now, it is a common resident in many parts, and a seasonal visitor elsewhere.

Once known as the yellow-winged honeyeater, the New Holland honeyeater is a handsome black and white bird with a yellow splash in its wings.

Active, noisy and bossy, it is conspicuous when it takes up residence, readily using bird baths, and giving alarm calls when currawongs, kookaburras and hawks appear.

Other bird become quiet and alert when the honeyeater gives its sharp warning notes.

It usually occurs in small groups, rather than singly or in pairs, darting from shrub to shrub, chasing and bickering. Smaller birds such as eastern spinebills are often chased.

Grevilleas, bottlebrushes, banksias, hakeas and sages are some of its favourite plants.

It is very much a nectar-feeder, but will readily take insects as well, sometimes flying up above treetop level to snap them.

New Holland honeyeaters often breed early, with nests occasionally seen in July. They will be nesting now.

The nest is cup-shaped, made of bark, grass, and small twigs, and lined with fur and soft material.

It is placed in low cover, mostly less than a metre from the ground, but sometimes up to two metres.

The parent birds make a persistent racket if it is approached by people or potential predators. Two or three eggs form the clutch.

The birds almost always re-build in another spot soon after an unsuccessful nesting attempt. Two broods per season are not uncommon.

A similar-looking bird is the white-cheeked honeyeater, with the two species sometimes mistaken.

It has dark - not white - eyes, and a large white cheek patch. It does not occur in Victoria.

Not many local gardens have New Holland honeyeaters all year-round. It would be an interesting exercise to keep a note of the month in which the birds are seen.

We might find that they are scarcer in the cooler months, or there may be gaps at other times of the year.

This is the first year I have noticed people feeding the rakali, or water rat. I witnessed one animal being fed small pieces of bread, for which it darted out from the shelter of shoreline tussocks.

Mentioning this to another regular lake observer, I was told that someone else has been feeding a rakali with pieces of chicken. No doubt the animal likes them.

Feeding of wildlife can lead to unforeseen problems and is best discouraged, but it is interesting to record these first-time occurrences this winter.

I have tamed a willie wagtail to come for grubs, which it now does quite readily. How can I tell if it is a boy or a girl?

S.L., via email.

Male and female willie wagtails are hard to distinguish.

Probably the best way is to observe the behaviour of a pair, with the male being more defensive and bossier.

The size of both sexes is said to be equal, but if one of your pair is slightly larger, it is most likely to be the male.

Both sexes sing and whistle similarly, and both collect nest material and build the nest, as well as incubate the eggs and feed the chicks.

Sometimes, a second nest is built while previous youngsters are still around and being fed.

In such cases, it is thought that the male feeds the older youngsters while the female incubates the eggs.