Australia

One of the major charms of birding in Australia is that a lot of the local birds are very tame, sometimes up into the extreme. A recent topic on tameness in Australian birds on the Australian bird mail group inspired me to look up some of the photos that I made during my visits that illustrate this tameness. So here is a small note on my thoughts about tameness in Australian birds, enjoy!

One might consider to distinguish between some different kinds of tameness, based on natural history and behaviour of the birds involved. Here is a division that I made up. Nothing scientific about this, so any comment is more than welcome! But it is nice to see that most of these different types can be found in the photos below.

Type 1: tameness by ecologically unawareness, ecological naive - Birds that are not familiar with predators can be very tame indeed, just due to not realising that we might pose a threat. This kind of tameness can be found by birds on islands and isolated areas. There is a big risk about this kind of tameness, as these species can not easily unlearn this behaviour, since it is kind of genetically fixed. In my opinion most mainland birds of Australia know what predators are, although not all are used to the newest arrivals, but birds of the small islands like Lady Elliot (see this Black Terns for example) and most native birds of New Zealand could be tame by this type of tameness.
Type 2: tameness by oportunistic behaviour - A lot of birds are quick learners. When I am in Australia, the social behaviour of a lot of species always make me think that they are very smart. Since most Australian birds are used to a very hostile environment, a bit of smartness helps them to exploit recently unknown food supplies. This is what I see a lot in Australian birds and I think this might be the main reason for tameness in Australian birds. The Pied Currawong below is a good example of this kind of tameness. In this type one might see big regional differences since this behaviour can be learned and unlearned in one or a few generations.
Type 3: tameness by training - A whole lot of animals can be trained, including birds. With some animals they go as far as to break their personality before taming them, like with horses and elephants. But there is no need to go this far with Australian birds. Regular exposure to a person or situation and a good food source will do the job. Best example that I have is the relationship between Charley and Wimpey. I am aware that this type slightly overlaps with type 2, but not always. Non-opportunistic birds can be trained into tameness.
Type 4: tameness by not being bothered - We are starting to sink into the weird types now, but I have examples of birds that just don't bother us being around. Maybe they had nothing to fear and still don't fear us, yet they might be very aware of danger of any kind, so they are not ecologically naive. So in this group nothing much changed in their behaviour. I think species like the Gang-gang Cockatoo are of this type of tameness.
Type 5: behavioural tameness - This is one I like very much, and I see it in a lot of Australian birds more than in any other area in the world. This type of tameness comes from some kind of behaviour they just have and always had. One example might be they just seem to forage close to humans. But the best example I have is tameness by being curious. I am aware that 'curious' is a tricky term as it comes to naming behaviour of animals, but anyway, I already stated that this has nothing to do with science. We all know the effect squeaking has on small songbirds, but I have been witness of a, sometimes extreme, form of curiosity that goes much further than that. During birding I have literally been 'checked out' by small songbirds like pardalotes, fantails etc. I was not (always) squeaking and I had nothing to offer, but they seemed to wonder what strange kind of animal they came across. Greatest experience I had was with the Southern Scrub-Robin.

Tawny Frogmouth - Edit Falls campground (04-10-2001)

This Tawny Frogmouth was sitting (breeding?) low (about 4 meters from the ground) in a tree that stood in the intersection of two busy footpaths. One from the car park to the campground and the headquarters and the other from the campground to Edit Falls. So there was always a whole bunch of people around, but it didn't seem to mind at all. I think most people didn't notice it, but from time to time it must get discovered by some birdwatcher and get more attention than it wants. I think this is a case of Type 5 tameness, by behaviour. One might argue this as a type 4, but if it didn't bother why this cryptic plumage?

Magpie-lark - city park in Adelaide (15-01-2005)

This Magpie-lark, photographed from up close with a 80-200mm lens, in a crowded city park in Adelaide, illustrate the tameness of a whole bunch of birds that learned to forage around people. It is possible to approach them, but they always stay aware of you. These birds make good use of semi- and non-natural environment and might have a better life than before the arrival of modern man. This is clearly a type 2 tameness.

Silver Gulls - city park in Adelaide (15-01-2005)

Here is another photo in the same park. These always present Silver Gulls don't bother me as I tiger my way towards them to get close enough to make a wide angle photograph. This photo is taken with a 28-80mm lens from less than 1 meter. I like it when the birds shows with a bit of background of the environment but you need to get close to make these pictures. This is also a type 2.

Australian Ibis - Howard Spring Nature Reserve (near Darwin), (02-10-2001)

And sometimes they get too close... This Ibis was photographed during my first visit to Australia, and apparently I was not jet used to the tameness of these birds. This is a not cropped replica of the original slide. While trying to photograph it (400mm) it just kept coming closer and closer. And this was the only sharp one among the blur ones due to movement of the subject! For an unclear reason I have never been able to throw the original slide away. To me this is a type 5, although it forages on an maintained lawn.

Southern Scrub-Robin - Gluepot Reserve (17-01-2005)

These birds are very curious. The first one I found was walking towards me from behind a clump of porcupine grass in a Mallee habitat. My movement (getting my binocs onto it) made it dissappear behind the clump again but I was thrilled when I found out that within seconds it reappeared - to look at me! While I was frozen the bird came closer and closer in that silly way of walking (left first, right first, you know what I mean if you saw this bird) and kept looking, like checking me out. Every movement of me made it withdraw a few yards but it always came back again.
The bird in the picture was also very nosy. We found this while driving in Gluepot, next to the car. And again the same behaviour: withdrawing out of sight but not being able to suppress its curiosity. When I started to make squeaking sounds it started to get exited to find out all about that weird sound. It came closer and closer, first on the ground, later up in a tree, until it was about 2 meters from my open windowpane, and there it started to sing its guts out to impress the squeaker. You can see it singing on this picture (can you hear it?).
These were among my most favourite experiences while birding in Australia. Clear case of type 5!

Gang-gang Cockatoo - The Grampians (08-01-2005)

Gang-gangs can be noisy, with their rather depressed croaking sounds, but they also can be very quiet. The first I found (apart from fly-by's) were discovered by the gnawing sound they make while eating buds. And while being quiet they can easily sit just beside the road within meters from people. This one sat with it's partner at one of the campgrounds of the Grampians. To me this is a type 4 tameness.

Pied Currawong - The Grampians (08-01-2005)

In my humble oppinion Currawongs are good examples of opportunists. And not much can picture that as well as the Pied Currawongs that inhabit the picnic area of the MacKenzie Falls in the Grampians. Here they start turning into an nuisance to non-birding visitors. I though it was kind of charming and I love birds up close. So this is a good example and clear case of type 2 tameness.

Laughing Kookaburra - The Grampians (08-01-2005)

This charming Laughing Kookaburra was quietly sitting only a few meters from the path to Mac Kenzie Falls in the Grampians, not bothered at all by the bunch of tourists passing by on their way to the falls. It allowed close approach and on this photo it is busy with a stretching exercise.
This one is tricky to put into a tameness type. Its behavior is like the Gang-gang: unbothered by people. And I think it does not get a lot of leftovers in this place, but it just might have a small advantage of foraging in areas with a lot of people around. But since I can't think of a clear advantage I put it in type 4. I am pretty sure that there are type 2 Kookies, but not this one.

Blue-winged Kookaburra - Edit Falls campground (04-10-2001)

One of my favorite situations during our first visit was this very confiding Blue-winged Kookaburra at the campground of Edit falls. It just wouldn't think of leaving because of this extra attention and it allowed for very close approach (see pics below). It is also very nice being able to make a photo of both the bird and the photographer! Must be a type 4.
There was something else strange about this bird. If you enlarge the right photo above by clicking it, you might just be able to see that it has a spider as parasite on its belly. Quite a big spider indeed. Are there other people who whitnessed such a phenomenon?

Blue-winged Kookaburra - Edit Falls campground (04-10-2001)

These are two of the results of the photo shoot as photographed above.

Black Noddy - Lady Elliot Island (02-02-2005)

By now we are really getting into the most extreme types of tameness. Were the photos above all from a reasonable distance (2 meter and more), we are getting really close now (within 1 meter).
In the most extreme situations of tameness you might be able to pose together with the birds in question. Like here on Lady Elliot Island, whit Black Noddy breeding all over the place including in between the cabins of the lodge. A nice detail of this picture is that one of the Black Noddies is checking whether my identification is correct. Since it didn't protest, I suppose it was.
This must be a case of type 1 tameness: unaware that I might just prove to be a threat.

Black Noddy - Lady Elliot Island (02-02-2005)

Here is another Black Noddy with a bit of background due to the fact that this photo is made with a wide angle lens, about 60 cm from the bird. I like photos with a bit of environment around the topic more than close up portraits like the one below.

Brown Noddy - Lady Elliot Island (02-02-2005)

This photo of this Brown Noddy must be the closest I ever approached a bird with my camera. It is taken with a 90mm macro lens from about 30 cm of the head of the bird! With a bit of fantasy it is possible to see me and the beach in the reflection of its eye.
Also a type 1 tameness.

Malleefowl - (near) Little Desert NP (11-01-2005)

This is a photo with a story. The Malleefowl is called Charley (with ex-wife Di) and the other fowl is Whimpey (Ray Reichelt). These two have a relation going back over 25 years, when Whimpey started his research on Mallefowl. And Whimpey knows all the ups and downs in Charleys life. Charley is now one of the oldest of the group. These birds normally are not this tame but with a lot of time, persuasion and a handful of seed they got quite used to the presence of Whimpey. So to me this is a type 3: tameness by training.

Rainbow Lorekeet - Sydney (22-10-2001)

You won't get birds much closer than this kind of physical contact. This is my wife with a (wild!) Rainbow Lorekeet on the balcony of the Sydney based birder Steve Anyon-Smith. They come in flocks to get a bit of the honey that is offered them.
Another type 2 tameness, and right they are using their charm to persuade humans to feed them. Actually this specific case is also type 3: Steve succesfully trained the birds to give hand for a bit extra honey.

Southern Cassowary - Cassowary House (16-10-2005)

There is only one level of tameness that is even more extreme than birds sitting on you by free will and I experienced just that in the garden of Cassowary House near Cairns. Cassowary house is renown for this male with chick Southern Cassowaries foraging the garden (and kitchen if necessary). But they are also known by the fact that this is the only species of bird that has ever been able to kill a human!
After an afternoon and a complete morning of waiting I was very happy that they finally appeared in the garden, minutes before we were to leave. This photo is made with a common 50 mm lens. And seconds after I made this picture I realized that the chick was a bit too close and dad didn't like my presence; this time it was me withdrawing and taking my distance!
Maybe a new type of tameness: tame by domination?

Red-necked Wallaby - Kangaroo Island (13-01-2005)

And not only birds are tame in some parts of Australia. The Kangaroo island kangaroos can also be used to people. But mammals tend to turn into a nuisance for a strange reason! This Red-necked Wallaby was present on the campground in Flinders Chase NP. And it was very aware that our car boot could provide a richer food source than an acacia woodland. We had to drag it out as it started to eat our bread! Definitely type 2.

Takahe - Tiritiri Matangi, New Zealand (25-11-2005)

Tame birds can of course not only be found in Australia. Even my home country Holland has an occasional extremity of tameness, with Pine Grosbeak as one of the number 1 ever tame birds.
I was photographed in this strange pose on Tiritiri Matangi Island near Auckland, New Zealand, while photographing a Takahe. The oldest Takahes of the island are extremely tame. It is said that the first Takahe to be released on Tiri is now willing to walk all over you and sit on your shoulders. This is not advised to encourage since their sharp claws may harm you.
Type 1 tameness I suppose.

Florida Scrub Jay - Oscar Scheren State Park, Florida, US (17-05-2003)

Last but not least a physical contact with one of the tamest birds in my birding history: Florida Scrub Jay. This one came to check us out long before we discovered it. And it just came flying towards us as if of to say let's get the food out before my family arrives...
Since these birds are studied a lot, this is a type combination of 3 (training) and 2 (opportunism).