Killer Babblers

I received a ‘phone call recently from a resident of Lanitza, south of Grafton, who had witnessed a group of Grey-crowned Babblers gang up on another one and kill it. This was alarming enough but two days later a group (?the same one) attacked and killed three other Babblers. I am not sure of the age of the birds that were killed but they may have been birds from other groups invading the local Babblers’ territory or young birds that were not sired by a new dominant male. Whatever the reason I have never witnessed this myself or even heard of it before. I have often seen Babblers displaying, calling and behaving in a strongly territorial manner but killing other Babblers is rather extreme. Has anyone else witnessed murder in the Babbler clan?

The concern here is that the Grey-crowned Babbler is listed as vulnerable in NSW and flocks on the NSW north coast tend to be quite small so the loss of individuals may be significant. Obviously the odd babbler would be killed by predators but to have individuals of their own species kill them is different.

Regards

Greg
Dr Greg. P. Clancy

Ecologist and Birding-wildlife Guide
| PO Box 63 Coutts Crossing NSW 2460
| 02 6649 3153 | 0429 601 960
www.gregclancyecologistguide.com

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