We might have had some dreadful weather this summer – endless lighting storms and bush fires  – but in our garden the black cockies – both red tails and white tails – have graced us with their presence and calls once or twice every day.

In the morning they arrive in big flocks from the west where their night roosts are, landing in the taller trees and chattering to each other as they feed. Their young have higher-pitched calls, and I love to hear them because it means that, despite the continued plundering of their meagre land plots of trees where they can live, they have successfully made babies anyway!

The white-tailed cockies and the red-tailed cockies compete fiercely for the remaining feeding trees. However they have worked out timetables which allow each sub species to arrive, feed as much as they wish, and fly off before the other arrives to do the same. Generally the red tails arrive first, but not always.

In the evenings they arrive from the east, where they have spent the day resting and feeding in the trees in and around Kings Park.

My heart leaps with joy every time I hear their calls, always hearing them before I see them.

Enjoy these videos of these majestic birds, one from summer (white tails) and one from last spring (red tails)!