Birds delousing birds? (1 Viewer)

[drifter1]

It’s well document that Willy Wagtails harass Kookaburras. There’s plenty of vids on You Tube.
I feed a family of Kookaburras and have seen this a number of times. Yesterday I watched this going on for 3 or 4 minutes. I was surprised how calm the Kookaburra was.
Then blow me down, the Kookaburra raised a wing allowing the Willy to peck him under his wing & on his ribs.
I think he was delousing the Koooka.
This isn’t uncommon in Nature & is called “Cleaning Symbiosis”
Plenty of Bird on Mammals, Birds on Reptiles, but nothing on Bird on Bird.
I can’t find anything on the Net that says this behaviour has been observed before.
Could this harassing behaviour have been delousing all along.
Has anyone on here seen anything like this?

 

[fugl]

What an interesting observation! Thanks for posting it.

 

[Barred Wobbler]

This isn't an exact parallel with the example above, since that example involved two separate species, but while I was taking this sequence of two house crows last January I certainly was of the opinion that it was a parasite cleansing session in progress.

 

[Simon Wates]

2 hours ago I watched a Red-billed Chough removing ticks from it's mate's head at Sagres, Portugal.

 

[Nutcracker]

Called allopreening, where it is one member of a mated pair delousing the other member; very common within mated pairs like this.

Drifter's observation of one species probably delousing a bird of another species which is also a potential predator of its nest / chicks is however etraordianary, if delousing is the correct interpretation.

 

[drifter1]

Thanks Nutcracker. That's why I put it up here. With so many members on here I was hoping for other such examples.
This is a vid of something similar to what I saw yesterday, except at the end the Kooka raises his wing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wraiwcu3ueQ

 

[Simon Wates]

Thanks Nutcracker. That's why I put it up here. With so many members on here I was hoping for other such examples.
This is a vid of something similar to what I saw yesterday, except at the end the Kooka raises his wing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wraiwcu3ueQ

Yes - I did reply hurrily and meant to mention your observation is indeed extraordinary. My comment on my obs came to mind on reading yours and although it may have seemed a little flippant it wasn't meant to be - and not in anyway suggesting yours was commonplace. Amazing behaviour!

 

[drifter1]

Simon, it never crossed my mind. All's good mate

 

[Allen S. Moore]

Yes indeed, drifter1, a very unusual observation. I have been to Australia a few times and seen that Willy Wagtails can be aggressive to other birds, which makes what you saw all the more unusual.

 

[Jopevans]

It’s well document that Willy Wagtails harass Kookaburras. There’s plenty of vids on You Tube.
I feed a family of Kookaburras and have seen this a number of times. Yesterday I watched this going on for 3 or 4 minutes. I was surprised how calm the Kookaburra was.
Then blow me down, the Kookaburra raised a wing allowing the Willy to peck him under his wing & on his ribs.
I think he was delousing the Koooka.
This isn’t uncommon in Nature & is called “Cleaning Symbiosis”
Plenty of Bird on Mammals, Birds on Reptiles, but nothing on Bird on Bird.
I can’t find anything on the Net that says this behaviour has been observed before.
Could this harassing behaviour have been delousing all along.
Has anyone on here seen anything like this?

Hi, I’ve just videoed the exact behaviour you describe. I looked up Willy Wagtails eating parasites from Kookaburras but only got results featuring harassment. In most photos the kookaburras are very calm and don’t appear to be fighting back - I think a lot of ‘harassment’ photos are actually cleaning symbiosis as you say. This thread is very old, but I hope you see the reply.

 

[delia todd]

Hi Jopevans and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators. We'd love to see your video, and if you could add it to our Gallery that would be wonderful (you can do so by embedding it from somewhere like YouTube or FaceBook for instance. It can then be viewed via the species articles in our Opus section; this is the page for the Willie-wagtail: Willie-wagtail - BirdForum Opus . Aren't they delightful birds - quite fell in love with them.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.