There's a New Bird in Town

We throw out vegetative kitchen scraps on the garden outside the little house to become compost.
Not much of it makes it that far.
The area has become a gathering place for kangaroos, wallabies and birds, mainly currawongs, magpies and satin birds who enjoy an easy meal.
Lately a large group of black birds has descended on the bounty, scaring away the others in a show of force.
They are larger than a crow, have a white flash on their wings and bright red eyes
A quick Google established that they are the white-winged chough (Corcorax melanorhamphos) which is one of only two surviving members of the Australian mud-nest builders family.












It is only distantly related to the European choughs that it closely resembles in shape, and for which it was named. 
They are easily mistaken for "crows"
Those red eyes become swollen and brighter in colour when the bird is excited.
White-winged choughs are not particularly strong or agile fliers and spend the great majority of their time on the ground, foraging methodically through leaf litter for worms, insects, grain, and snails in a loose group.

A rich find is the cause of general excitement and all come running in to share in it.
This is the behaviour we are witnessing.
They live in flocks of from about 4 up to about 20 birds, usually all the offspring of a single pair.
So they are new around here and we expect to see more of them.