Has anybody ever known of a kookaburra digging out a white ant nest and feeding on the ants? This nest is a long way up the trunk of a eucalypt tree and I noticed a large hole had appeared in the front of it. I was trying to work out what could have dug the hole out and thought it had to be a bird or a lizard because little else could reach it.

Next thing we noticed that a kookaburra was coming and going to the hole. The hole is large enough that the bird can fit right inside the nest. I am assuming it is eating the ants from in there. It’s not nesting anyway. That much I am sure of.

I have never heard or seen this activity before and I just wondered if it was rare or quite usual for a kookaburra to do this. I also thought that this might happen if times are lean but conditions for kookas are spot on I would have thought. They sit around our compost heap and dine on anything that moves in there, aside from all the other food they find in the yard/gardens.

Once again I will try to get back for any repiles asap.

Quite a lot of birds eat termites and nest digging isn’t uncommon either, even if it is only a practice run.

Kookaburra tend to take over hollows or even create them but they don’t have the dermination and beak capacity of the two mallee ringnecks I saw diligently enlarging the hole in a concrete power pole

Could it be that the ants raided the kookas nest ?

Happy Potter said:

Could it be that the ants raided the kookas nest ?

Nah HP. Dreamin.
As IB says, kookaburras will make a nest in a termite nest. I am sure they would eat the termites as they go too.
How can you be sure the burra isn’t nesting there Pom?
Maybe he will next year if not this year.

I have seen the holes in the termite nests before and often wondered who has made them.

Michael Morcombe writes “Nest is a tree hollow or a tunnel drilled in an arboreal termite nest or earth bank”

Kookas make their nests in those ant nests all the time—do it a lot here—

roughbarked said:

Quite a lot of birds eat termites and nest digging isn’t uncommon either, even if it is only a practice run.

Kookaburra tend to take over hollows or even create them but they don’t have the dermination and beak capacity of the two mallee ringnecks I saw diligently enlarging the hole in a concrete power pole

A concrete pole is a bit ambitious. lol.

Happy Potter said:

Could it be that the ants raided the kookas nest ?

Ant nest has been there for years and years HP.

Longy said:

Happy Potter said:

Could it be that the ants raided the kookas nest ?

Nah HP. Dreamin.
As IB says, kookaburras will make a nest in a termite nest. I am sure they would eat the termites as they go too.
How can you be sure the burra isn’t nesting there Pom?
Maybe he will next year if not this year.

I’m not sure now. You’ve all made me rethink.

pain master said:

I have seen the holes in the termite nests before and often wondered who has made them.

Michael Morcombe writes “Nest is a tree hollow or a tunnel drilled in an arboreal termite nest or earth bank”

Well there you go. We both learnt something.

Grasshopper said:

Kookas make their nests in those ant nests all the time—do it a lot here—

I’ve seen the echidnas digging in the ant nests on the ground but the one up a tree with a hole in it had me stumped.

pomolo said:

pain master said:

I have seen the holes in the termite nests before and often wondered who has made them.

Michael Morcombe writes “Nest is a tree hollow or a tunnel drilled in an arboreal termite nest or earth bank”

Well there you go. We both learnt something.

Let’s not forget that Kookaburras are just very big kingfishers, which naturally nest in tunnels dug into riverbanks.

pomolo said:

Happy Potter said:

Could it be that the ants raided the kookas nest ?

Ant nest has been there for years and years HP.

why d’ya leave a termite nest in a tree for so long? D’ya like the little buggas?

pomolo said:

Grasshopper said:

Kookas make their nests in those ant nests all the time—do it a lot here—

I’ve seen the echidnas digging in the ant nests on the ground but the one up a tree with a hole in it had me stumped.

not sure how good the echidnas are at climbing trees…

roughbarked said:

pomolo said:

pain master said:

I have seen the holes in the termite nests before and often wondered who has made them.

Michael Morcombe writes “Nest is a tree hollow or a tunnel drilled in an arboreal termite nest or earth bank”

Well there you go. We both learnt something.

Let’s not forget that Kookaburras are just very big kingfishers, which naturally nest in tunnels dug into riverbanks.

a very good point Roughy and one that is often o’erlooked by us Aussies because we see Kookas as Kookas. An o’erseas tourist stopped me one day and said “That bird, that’s a very large Kingfisher, isn’t it?” And I said “Strewth Lady, that’s a bleedin’ Kookaburra eh darlin’”

And she said “The man on the plane said you people from Towntown aren’t so bright.” and I said “Crikey, I from Adelaide eh but?”

pain master said:

pomolo said:

Happy Potter said:

Could it be that the ants raided the kookas nest ?

Ant nest has been there for years and years HP.

why d’ya leave a termite nest in a tree for so long? D’ya like the little buggas?

Lots of reasons really. 1. It’s not on my property. 2. I prefer to know they are in a tree next door rather than in my house. 3. A pest exterminator once told me not to try to shift a termite nest unless you can be sure you will get the queen along with it. That enough excuses?

pain master said:

pomolo said:

Grasshopper said:

Kookas make their nests in those ant nests all the time—do it a lot here—

I’ve seen the echidnas digging in the ant nests on the ground but the one up a tree with a hole in it had me stumped.

not sure how good the echidnas are at climbing trees…

No good at all I bet. They’re too round and prickly.

pomolo said:

pain master said:

pomolo said:

Ant nest has been there for years and years HP.

why d’ya leave a termite nest in a tree for so long? D’ya like the little buggas?

Lots of reasons really. 1. It’s not on my property. 2. I prefer to know they are in a tree next door rather than in my house. 3. A pest exterminator once told me not to try to shift a termite nest unless you can be sure you will get the queen along with it. That enough excuses?

no it isn’t enough excuses.. The termites can still eat your house even from that distance ;)

I leave my termites alone too. I trust that my ants will keep them out of the house which is why I don’t even try to kill the ants.

pain master said:

roughbarked said:

pomolo said:

Well there you go. We both learnt something.

Let’s not forget that Kookaburras are just very big kingfishers, which naturally nest in tunnels dug into riverbanks.

a very good point Roughy and one that is often o’erlooked by us Aussies because we see Kookas as Kookas. An o’erseas tourist stopped me one day and said “That bird, that’s a very large Kingfisher, isn’t it?” And I said “Strewth Lady, that’s a bleedin’ Kookaburra eh darlin’”

And she said “The man on the plane said you people from Towntown aren’t so bright.” and I said “Crikey, I from Adelaide eh but?”

So you’re only a tourist too.

pomolo said:

pain master said:

pomolo said:

Ant nest has been there for years and years HP.

why d’ya leave a termite nest in a tree for so long? D’ya like the little buggas?

Lots of reasons really. 1. It’s not on my property. 2. I prefer to know they are in a tree next door rather than in my house. 3. A pest exterminator once told me not to try to shift a termite nest unless you can be sure you will get the queen along with it. That enough excuses?

Sounds reasonable to me. Now back to work…. nothing more to see here.

pomolo said:

pain master said:

roughbarked said:

Let’s not forget that Kookaburras are just very big kingfishers, which naturally nest in tunnels dug into riverbanks.

a very good point Roughy and one that is often o’erlooked by us Aussies because we see Kookas as Kookas. An o’erseas tourist stopped me one day and said “That bird, that’s a very large Kingfisher, isn’t it?” And I said “Strewth Lady, that’s a bleedin’ Kookaburra eh darlin’”

And she said “The man on the plane said you people from Towntown aren’t so bright.” and I said “Crikey, I from Adelaide eh but?”

So you’re only a tourist too.

Why do you think I like Qld so much? Who’d wanna be born here? Actually I notice on the news the other day that the general population shift from Victoria to Queensland is now in reverse with more Queenslanders moving recently to Victoria then Victorians heading north. Said to GF, about time the Mexicans went back to where they came from…. Apparently Brisneyland’s high cost of living, high house prices, and lack of space and opportunity has finally shown the light of day and everyone has had enough of Capt’n Bligh and are heading back to the land of prosperity; Melbourne.

There were 3 kookas in the dead acacia this morning, and you wouldn’t believe the number of birds attacking them! Native “miners”, pee wits, willie wagtails, silver choughs (never seen them so violent in my life)…they were sizeable kookas so guess they’re not the laughing ones, couldn’t see any blue on their wings…what did they do to become so unpopular? Do I have that many nesting birds hidden in the scanty scrub atm?

Dinetta said:

There were 3 kookas in the dead acacia this morning, and you wouldn’t believe the number of birds attacking them! Native “miners”, pee wits, willie wagtails, silver choughs (never seen them so violent in my life)…they were sizeable kookas so guess they’re not the laughing ones, couldn’t see any blue on their wings…what did they do to become so unpopular? Do I have that many nesting birds hidden in the scanty scrub atm?

I watched the kooka in the ant nest today. I could only see his/her taiL poking out of the entrance hole but it was busy digging out some more ant nest stuff. Funny to watch because he gets rid of the crumbly dust by using his feet to move it backwards. Somewhat like a chicken scratches the ground. Every minute or so there would be a cloud of dust and dirt falling from half way up the tree trunk. Diligent little devil.

Miners harass our burras here too Dinetta. I’m not sure if it’s because they try to get the miners babies or that the kookaburras invade the miners food source.

pomolo said:

Dinetta said:

There were 3 kookas in the dead acacia this morning, and you wouldn’t believe the number of birds attacking them! Native “miners”, pee wits, willie wagtails, silver choughs (never seen them so violent in my life)…they were sizeable kookas so guess they’re not the laughing ones, couldn’t see any blue on their wings…what did they do to become so unpopular? Do I have that many nesting birds hidden in the scanty scrub atm?

I watched the kooka in the ant nest today. I could only see his/her taiL poking out of the entrance hole but it was busy digging out some more ant nest stuff. Funny to watch because he gets rid of the crumbly dust by using his feet to move it backwards. Somewhat like a chicken scratches the ground. Every minute or so there would be a cloud of dust and dirt falling from half way up the tree trunk. Diligent little devil.

Miners harass our burras here too Dinetta. I’m not sure if it’s because they try to get the miners babies or that the kookaburras invade the miners food source.

Seems you will have younguns soon then Pom.

Longy said:

pomolo said:

Dinetta said:

There were 3 kookas in the dead acacia this morning, and you wouldn’t believe the number of birds attacking them! Native “miners”, pee wits, willie wagtails, silver choughs (never seen them so violent in my life)…they were sizeable kookas so guess they’re not the laughing ones, couldn’t see any blue on their wings…what did they do to become so unpopular? Do I have that many nesting birds hidden in the scanty scrub atm?

I watched the kooka in the ant nest today. I could only see his/her taiL poking out of the entrance hole but it was busy digging out some more ant nest stuff. Funny to watch because he gets rid of the crumbly dust by using his feet to move it backwards. Somewhat like a chicken scratches the ground. Every minute or so there would be a cloud of dust and dirt falling from half way up the tree trunk. Diligent little devil.

Miners harass our burras here too Dinetta. I’m not sure if it’s because they try to get the miners babies or that the kookaburras invade the miners food source.

Seems you will have younguns soon then Pom.

Well….Mr & Mrs Kookaburra will. I’ll be a grandmummy again.

Longy said:

pomolo said:

Dinetta said:

There were 3 kookas in the dead acacia this morning, and you wouldn’t believe the number of birds attacking them! Native “miners”, pee wits, willie wagtails, silver choughs (never seen them so violent in my life)…they were sizeable kookas so guess they’re not the laughing ones, couldn’t see any blue on their wings…what did they do to become so unpopular? Do I have that many nesting birds hidden in the scanty scrub atm?

I watched the kooka in the ant nest today. I could only see his/her taiL poking out of the entrance hole but it was busy digging out some more ant nest stuff. Funny to watch because he gets rid of the crumbly dust by using his feet to move it backwards. Somewhat like a chicken scratches the ground. Every minute or so there would be a cloud of dust and dirt falling from half way up the tree trunk. Diligent little devil.

Miners harass our burras here too Dinetta. I’m not sure if it’s because they try to get the miners babies or that the kookaburras invade the miners food source.

Seems you will have younguns soon then Pom.

We great lots of Kookas. The people three doors down have a nesting box for them, which is great, but they also feed them. They have a tray on a pulley that goes right up to the box, so they don’t even have to hunt.

bubba louie said:

Longy said:

pomolo said:

I watched the kooka in the ant nest today. I could only see his/her taiL poking out of the entrance hole but it was busy digging out some more ant nest stuff. Funny to watch because he gets rid of the crumbly dust by using his feet to move it backwards. Somewhat like a chicken scratches the ground. Every minute or so there would be a cloud of dust and dirt falling from half way up the tree trunk. Diligent little devil.

Miners harass our burras here too Dinetta. I’m not sure if it’s because they try to get the miners babies or that the kookaburras invade the miners food source.

Seems you will have younguns soon then Pom.

We great lots of Kookas. The people three doors down have a nesting box for them, which is great, but they also feed them. They have a tray on a pulley that goes right up to the box, so they don’t even have to hunt.

No such luxury round here.

pomolo said:

bubba louie said:

Longy said:

Seems you will have younguns soon then Pom.

We great lots of Kookas. The people three doors down have a nesting box for them, which is great, but they also feed them. They have a tray on a pulley that goes right up to the box, so they don’t even have to hunt.

No such luxury round here.

is that such a good idea ? the room service ?

The Estate said:

pomolo said:

bubba louie said:

We great lots of Kookas. The people three doors down have a nesting box for them, which is great, but they also feed them. They have a tray on a pulley that goes right up to the box, so they don’t even have to hunt.

No such luxury round here.

is that such a good idea ? the room service ?

no. they might become dependent.