It was calling, then preening, calling, preening. The sun was hitting it just right. It flew to the ground very near by before again returning to a tree very close to me. I understood why it flew to the ground, to the roots of a fallen tree; it had a juicy beetle in its beak when it landed in the new tree. It did not swallow the beetle whole but appeared to use its beak to crush it a little. It also continued calling while trying to eat the insect. At one time it released the beetle to call out before grabbing the insect in mid-air. It really wanted to call out but did not want to lose its food. It did eventually swallow the crushed insect. This bird was then joined by another friarbird. They moved between a few trees but always calling in unison. There was another pair, not far away, also in my visual range.
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