Noisy miner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Noisy miner |
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| subsp. leachi | |
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Manorina
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M. melanocephala
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| Manorina melanocephala Latham, 1802
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The noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala) is a small grey bird with a black head. It has bright yellow eyes. You can often see this bird in the gardens of eastern Australia. However, it does not live in Western Australia or the Northern Territory.
The noisy miner is a native Australian bird. It is one of the few native birds that does very well in cities and suburbs. In some parts of Australia, there are so many noisy miners that they push out smaller birds, like wrens. These birds like gardens with open spaces and lawns.
Noisy miners usually eat nectar from garden flowers, especially from grevillea plants. They also walk on the grass to find and eat small insects.
Noisy miners are very protective of their space. If other birds enter their area, they become quite aggressive. They team up with other noisy miners nearby to form small groups called 'coteries'. These groups usually have four or five birds. They work together to chase away bigger birds like kookaburras or magpies. Sometimes, these coteries join together to form even larger 'colonies'. These colonies can have up to a hundred birds.
Contents
Raising Young Noisy Miners
Female noisy miners lay between two and four eggs in their nests. Many males from the coterie help bring food to the mother and her chicks. The whole group often helps raise the young birds. They can breed at any time of the year. This means you can often see young noisy miners in the group. Young birds look very similar to adult birds. It can be hard to tell them apart.
What Do Noisy Miners Eat?
Noisy miners are also known as native miners or native mynas. In older bird books, they might have had many different names. People once thought they mainly ate bees. However, they mostly eat nectar from Australian native flowers. They also eat fruit and insects. Sometimes, they even eat small reptiles and amphibians. Even though their name sounds like "myna," they are not related to the brown or black-feathered "Indian" or "Common mynah" bird. The Indian mynah is usually a bit bigger and can be found in the same areas.
Noisy Miner Calls
As their name suggests, noisy miners are very loud birds. They have many different songs, calls, scoldings, and alarms. Most of their calls are harsh, single notes. They have a special alarm call just for when a large bird flies overhead. They use a different alarm call when people or dogs enter their territory. A study found that noisy miners living in loud city areas could make their alarm calls louder. This helped their calls be heard over the noise.
Images for kids
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Young birds make 85 to 100 'chip' calls in a minute.
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Open eucalypt forests without small shrubs are good for noisy miners.
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Noisy miners are social birds and do most things together.
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Standing tall is a mild warning sign.
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Pointing the bill is usually a warning signal.
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Young birds demand food from any nearby adult.
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Young birds that have left the nest huddle together.
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A newly hatched chick and an egg.
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Cultivated grevilleas are a main food source in cities.
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A young bird with brownish feathers eats a mealworm.
See also
In Spanish: Mielero chillón para niños
