The Birds--Hitchcock's World

My blog entry today will remind you of Hitchcock's " The Birds." There are a handful of birds in Oz that attack (not too aggressively, but still...) people and cars. Probably the most notorious is the magpie, which attacks people on foot or on bike, normally pecking at their heads. It can get bloody! But bike riders insert chopsticks in their helmets to deter the birds from attacking them. Yes, not a pleasant attack, but they do it mainly in the nesting season, when they somehow think people can threaten their nests and hatchlings. On the second place come the red wattlebirds, also attacking people. They do it though because they are curious. One time I was walking towards home. My hair was gathered in a tail, held by a shiny barrette, which most likely appealed to a wattlebird, because it flew low over my head, from behind me, and tried to grab the barrette without landing. It just got a few strings of hair, but as Aussies say, "I was startled as!" At number three is the noisy miner. This small bird with yellow facial markings belongs to the family of honeyeaters, but is so aggressive, it does not hesitate to fight for its territory with bigger birds, such as crows, kookaburras and magpies. There is a family of noisy miners at Chloe's school, who attack cars. No less! They grab with heir little feet onto whatever they can, such as the edge of the window or windshield, or even the side mirror, and then they start pecking at the glass or mirror. I've never been certain if they fight their own reflection or they peck at the shiny car paint or glass. The best thing of all is that when they do it, while I drive the car, Chloe laughs so hard and with such unrestrained entertainment, it's therapy for me. I just love now when the noisy miner attacks, because I get my laugh therapy from Chloe! Finally, sulphur crested white cockatoos come in at number four. These birds are naughty and smart. If you start to feed them, they grab the food from your hand and if you stop feeding them, they come eat your house! I'm not exaggerating at all. Many people replaced the wooden frames around their houses' windows with metal frame, because cockatoos easily destroy wood, not metal. Would you believe their appetite if you just saw them like we did, lined up and light-dining on this fence in Apollo Bay?