Buster the shitty little bird.

⌾ : Ricoh GR IV Monochrome.⚲ : Near home. This photo was taken on a walk near my home and shows a bunch of Noisy Miners (there were actually more involved) harassing a Cockatoo. The Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala) is a small grey bird with a black headpiece and high-res yellow beak. They are endemic to eastern and southeastern Australia, and for a long time I wrongly thought/assumed they were an introduced pest. The truth is that this particular species is native. I strongly dislike these birds. They are aggressive and noisy and gang up on other birds in my garden. Birds that I am fond of, like Eastern Rosellas and Magpies and Willy Wagtails and sparrows1. Noisy miners are little shits. Noisy miners are gregarious and territorial; they forage, bathe, roost, breed and defend territory communally, forming colonies that can contain several hundred birds. Each bird has an ‘activity space’, and birds with overlapping activity spaces form associations called ‘coteries’, which are the…