in Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria

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     BLUEY'S BLOG!  

'Bluey' is a young Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike that for some unknown reason has adopted us here on Sweers Island.

He flew out of the bush on May 15th 2008, landed on Lyn's head (yes, we know - her mop reminded him of his nest!) then he landed on the rockery beside her and squawked loudly as if for food. Tex got the container of 'Curlew cheese' and the little bird flew straight to his shoulder! He proceeded to feed, wiping his bill neatly between mouthfuls and chattering away in his melodious two-tone voice. We walked over to Lee's house to show her, and he flew to her arm to introduce himself! When he was ready, he flew up into a tree for the evening.

We were able to identify him as a young Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, probably a few months old. The adults have a completely black head, whereas young ones have the black eye-stripe. They are also known as Blue-Jay or Shufflewing.

We are used to the birdlife coming in to the resort, but we have never seen anything like this before. There are plenty of Cuckoo-shrikes on the island, but they don't normally hang around the resort area. We'd seen no nest, and this bird was fully fledged and a capable flier. He (it could be a She!) was not injured, and didn't look malnourished. Really weird, really special, and we wondered if he would still be around in the morning...so we thawed some mince as they are mainly insect eaters (though they also eat plants and fruits) just in case...

Next morning, Mick went for an early fishing session. When he landed back on the beach 'Bluey' was waiting at the filleting table! Mick held out his arm, the bird hopped on, and they both walked back up to the lodge, where Mick fed him some little balls of mince. Tex walked in for coffee then, and the bird flew straight to him, chattering excitedly, obviously recognising him from the night before, then Lyn walked in and he flew straight to her (yep, the head again! That's what she gets for perming her hair!) and when Lee came in he flew to her too - !

That day, he flew in several times, we fed him mince; he ate, he pooped, obviously in good health. We tried to introduce him to the other birds' water dish, but he did not take to it, so we cut down a paper cup to half size, dripped some water onto his beak, then he got the idea and started drinking - a fast learner!

In between times, we would see him flying around, and perched out in the nearby trees, eyeing the ground, the branches, apparently looking for his own food. But every couple of hours, he'd fly back in, squawk loudly (and gape) for food, then perch on the fishing rod over the bar and chatter away happily before flying off again!

When a couple of groups of guests arrived, he seemed a little wary, but comfortable with their presence, and two of them made themselves approachable and little Bluey delighted them by landing on their arm (or head!). We notice that if there is a big group around, he waits til they're gone before flying in. He seems to be able to distinguish who is who, and he responds to our voices.

Mick has been working at one of the benches re-doing handlines, and Bluey has come and sat beside him, chattering away and inspecting his work!

Lee has had him sit on her shoulder chatting away while she's been working inside (inside = open air) and he's followed her to the laundry, hopping along the clothesline.

Lyn had him come and check out her gardening the other evening, and Tex has had him come to inspect his work at the shed and down at the beach!

We are all joking that it is 'Ella' re-incarnated - and our old dog's sense of play was even evident when one of our guests, Michael, who'd been sitting out under the tree reading, told us the bird hopped down, picked up a bottle top and started to 'play' with it - dropping it on the bench, picking it up and tossing it, as if to amuse himself with the sound of it falling...this got even better when Lee saw him fly in to the bar with the bottle top, and place it carefully on top of the photos wall, where he proceeded to play with it! We're trying to get this on video as you won't believe it til you see it!

Meanwhile, we phoned our birdwatching expert, Bob, and Googled the internet for information. We found a few 'recipes' for food, and though he doesn't like apple or plum, if you wrap little bits in mince he will eat them. We also crumbled some boiled egg into his mince (home-minced steak, no fat) and he likes that. When we see big grasshoppers, we usually keep them to give Scruffy, the Bustard, but we tried one out on Bluey as this is his natural food and we wondered if he knew how to catch his own... no worries! He swooped on the hopping insect, snatched it up to his perch on the dinner triangle, and proceeded to bash it to bits! Once he had killed it and broken it to his satisfaction, he folded it up and Gulp - down the hatch! We've since fed him several live and recently deceased moths and grasshoppers, and he knows exactly what to do with them, so he is obviously quite capable of catching his own food. But he is still coming in several times a day, sometimes he gapes for food, sometimes he just sits on his perch, plays with his toys, or chatters to the guests! It really is incredible. He behaves like a bird that has been hand-reared with humans, yet he is totally wild.

He is a bit wary of Scruffy, the Bustard, who also wanders in and out of the Lodge. Scruffy eyes him rather jealously, and though we have seen Bustards eat dead birds, we don't know if he'd be game enough or quick enough, to take on a live one! If a grasshopper hops on the floor, while Scruffy takes his time thinking about it, Bluey swoops down and gets the prize.

So - that's over two weeks now, this little bird has been hanging around. One day we saw him swooping and perching with another immature Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, but he did not leave with it, nor did it hang around. So he knows what he is, he just likes hanging out at the Lodge!

If you hover your cursor over the Thumbnails below you will see some information, and if you click on them, you should get a larger photo. (Let Lyn know if you don't!)

We will add to this page if this little bird continues to hang around and show us more of his personality!

Any comment/feedback is welcomed from anyone who has observed this sort of bird behaviour before.

BLUEY'S ADVENTURES CONTINUE...

Bluey continues to amaze and amuse us with his antics. He has followed Lee over to the laundry and swings on the clothes line while she hangs out the washing...Tex looked up from his task at the workshop one day to see Bluey inspecting his work from a nearby perch...He sits on the bench beside Mick while he is assembling handlines...and he has accompanied Lyn to the weather station for the daily observations!

He can tell us from the guests, and is a little shy if there are too many people around. But if a guest is keen and encourages him, he delights them by landing on their shoulder! (Or head!) He has many calls and sounds which we are learning to recognise, and he in turn definitely responds to his name, to the rustling of a plastic bag which he now associates with a fat big grasshopper (we are catching live insects for him), and he calls us from the tree when he feels like some attention.

Highlights from the past few weeks include his First Shower...the sprinkler was running under the tree and Lee watched in amusement as Bluey hopped in and out, lifting a wing, ruffling his feathers - and thoroughly enjoying the water - except he spent so long in there, he got waterlogged! When he emerged, he couldn't fly away! He hobbled over to the coconut tree beside the bar, and every time he tried to take off, he 'stalled' and flopped to the ground! Since we've had a hawk hanging around, Lee was concerned and picked him up and took him in to the dining area where he sat on her shoulder and fluffed his feathers, shaking off the water drops til he was dry!

This is Kerry Allen with her new pal! Click on the photo for a larger version...

Health Scare!

There was major drama when we noticed that Bluey had a sore leg or foot - at first we thought he was just lifting the leg to rest it, like you often see a bird standing or resting on one leg. But it became evident that he was lame, and the left foot was too sore to stand on. We waited for a day or so to see if it would improve, but it seemed to get worse, as he would not put any weight on it at all, and one morning Glenis and lyn watched as he sat in the tree, beak open, panting in what seemed to be pain, and uttering a cry we had not heard before. Things did not look good. We phoned a friend... Linda is the manager of 4 Paws Vet clinics in Townsville. Had she any idea what might be wrong? Hard to tell. She got onto Graham, a wildlife expert, who said it was difficult to diagnose over the phone, but because Bluey was lifting the leg occasionally, it indicated that it was not broken. But it could be a broken toe, a pelvic injury, none of which were easy to fix. And he warned us that one legged birds did not fare well in the wild...On his advice we gave Bluey an 'examination'...when he came in to feed we picked him up, he hardly resisted. We turned him over on his back, and he simply looked down (or is that up!) at what we were doing, as we carefully moved each foot to see if there was any obvious injury. Nothing. We turned him right side up, held out a piece of food as we relaxed our hold, and he very forgivingly sat still on our hand and continued to eat...

On the left is Bluey, hunched uncomfortably on his perch, because his leg is too sore to stand on. On the right is the hospital bed that Tex made for him, but he was not keen on it at all!

So the Vet recommended some anti-inflammatories and bed rest - in other words, we were to put him in a cage where he would not be using the injured limb to fly and hop around. Hmmm! Well, Tex made up a pretty flash box with chicken wire front on it and a flap in the side. He put some branches and a pot plant in there, and it was a real Hilton. But Bluey is no dummy! He just knew we were up to something. He would not come to us, and when we eventually lured him down, he just took a mouthful of food and bolted! Eventually we got him into the cage but he knew the chicken wire was the way out and he flew at it, clutching at the mesh and we really worried that was worse for his foot than being out on a tree branch - so after a short time we opened the door and lifted him out. Once again, he was very forgiving and he sat on Tex's hand while he fed him a consolation bit of meat!

Luckily, North Queensland's vets came to the fore. It was going to take too long to freight the required medicine from Linda's clinic in Townsville, so we checked our guest arrivals - who could bring the  medicine in - and tried Cloncurry vet - they didn't have the medicine in stock, so we tried Mount Isa - they did! It was very close to closing time, but Gina at West Wing Aviation (who was flying in our guests next day) organised to pick up the medicine and suddenly we were in business. Gina's daughter Lauren is very keen to become a vet, and she certainly is off to a good start, helping Bluey get his medicine. The plane landed next day, we started Bluey on his anti-inflammatory drops and within days he was obviously improving.

Gina and Lauren also sent him a little present - his first real toy! With colourful plastic swiveling bits and a bell to keep him amused - and he just loves it!

We are pleased to report that Bluey is now fully recovered from whatever was wrong with his leg! He confused us for a moment by limping on the OTHER leg, but it seems to have been a temporary thing, and all is good

One of his favourite perches is on an old fishing rod that was lost at sea and found again, encrusted with coral and sponges.

His biggest challenge now, is timing his entry with the presence of the new Sweers Puppies. Charlie & Lilly have just arrived from Townsville, and at 3 1/2 months - they are puppies full of enthusiasm and natural curiosity. Luckily, Bluey seems to keep an eye on what is going on, and he is flying in when the pups are not around, chirping to us, and if necessary, we take his food out to the tree. He follows us up to the house, he flies in to the generator shed to Tex, who takes him down to the kitchen for a feed, he certainly seems to know what is going on around him!

So far, so good!

Sweers Island Resort.    Mail:  PMB 1 Karumba QLD 4891   Phone: 07 4748 5544    Fax: 07 4748 5644    Email:  info@sweers.com.au

Website by Lyn using  This page last updated on 21 Apr 2008.  © 2003