Article by Stephen Webb, published in the South Sydney Herald.
Today’s Bird of the Day, the noisy miner, was suggested by writer and ecologist Simon Mustoe, author of Wildlife in the Balance: Why Animals are Humanity’s Best Hope.
He suspects it’s a controversial choice because, despite being native to Australia, noisy miners are much maligned on account of their propensity to “take over” our urban gardens at the expense of other birds.
While some bird lovers want the noisy miner culled, Mustoe thinks the traits that make them an annoyance are the same ones that made them a successful coloniser.
“If there is to be any doubt as to their importance in nature today, look at how capable they are at surviving in our sterile, chaotic, noise-polluted, dirty cities,” he said.
“Before sunrise I listen to their pre-dawn calls ringing out across the suburbs as groups squeal to each other. In the dawn’s cool, thin air, their sounds travel furthest and this defines the boundary of territories within which tight-knit family groups make a living …
