Mystery solved

We received the photo at left from Norm, who has a grazing property backing onto the Mt. Disappointment State Forest at Flowerdale. The shot was taken through his kitchen window with a mobile phone camera, and Norm wanted to know the identity of the bird that was brazenly wandering around next to his house, pecking at spilt grain from his bird feeder.

Due to its streaked/mottled back, our first knee-jerk thought (hope) was a Spotted Quail-thrush, an uncommon bird that has been sighted in recent times on the edges of the forest as well as other parts of the district.

We decided to set up a remote camera close to the house and, after a few days, a check of the camera revealed, among many shots of Norm’s chooks, cat, dogs, lawnmower, sparrows and a king-parrot, several clear pictures of the mystery bird. See blown-up photo below.

It is in fact a Common Pheasant, a female.  This is an introduced species, possibly someone’s escaped pet, since few manage to survive in the wild.

Perhaps Norm can keep fattening it up for a good Xmas lunch !