Hi Birders,
Tom Wilson (1/9/2005) was suggesting that Red Wattlebirds might be nesting
earlier than usual so that the Koels might be too late to parasitise their
nests. However Red Wattlebirds commence nesting with the lengthening of the
daylight period, so that it is normal practise for them to have already
reared their first young before the Koels arrive. Mind you the use of Red
Wattlebirds, and now Little Wattlebirds as hosts by Koel Cuckoos is a
recent phenomena, previously they were not used by Koels. This new situation
has come about because Red and Little Wattlebirds are now resident urban
birds in coastal towns. Prior to european settlement, they were probably
irregular visitors to the coastal areas depending on what trees were
flowering. Extensive planting of native shrubs in urban areas, particularly
grevilleas and bottlebrushes has changed all that!
Note also that the larger honeyeaters like Wattlebirds, Blue-faced
Honeyeaters, Striped Honeyeaters, Noisy Miners and Regent Honeyeaters, at
least in the Newcastle-Wollongong Region, nest 3 times a season, so that
generally one nesting event is completed before the Cuckoos arrive. As with
Noisy Miners, I suspect in coastal areas the Wattlebirds nest all year
around.
Alan Morris
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