Robyn,
Well its probably no consolation to know that the harvesters of
Chinese herbal medicines in Borneo have traditionally tracked the
Pheasant Coucal to its nest & when the chicks were young they would
break the leg of each chick.
The Coucal hen would then gather herbs & feed them to the chicks
whose legs would quickly heal. A second round of leg breaking would
follow with hen foraging for herbs & feeding them to the chicks.
Now that the chick's legs were again healed, the harvester would come
& collect them for putting them into wine & such like uses. The
tribal theory was that the chicks were now full of health giving
herbs evidenced by their rapid healing.
Maybe its like the abused kids that grow up into abusers
Chris Charles
Licole Pty Ltd
0412 911 184
On 17/08/2006, at 7:06 PM, Robyn wrote:
A couple of weeks ago, I queried whether Brown Honeyeaters were
nesting after puddling around for about two weeks. Thanks for the
knowledgeable replies.
As it turned out, the Brown Honeyeaters WERE nesting, and from that
time, the bird seemed never to be off the nest. Today, I
checked, and day fifteen found the nest occupied again. However,
late morning, I heard distress calls from the honeyeaters, and went
to check. A Pheasant Coucal was at the nest. It quite slowly
and deliberately investigated the nest. Eventually, it ate the
contents. I think they were very young nestlings. The coucal
stayed about ten minutes, and after eating the nestlings with
barely a noticeable gulp, it proceeded to systematically destroy
the nest. It tore the structure into shreds, completely removing
it from the twigs it was attached to.
The honeyeaters returned when the Pheasant Coucal departed, still
very distressed. They seemed not to understand what had become of
their young and were searching around, but several hours later,
they were sitting atop the same tree, seemingly recovered and
singing loudly. Life is hard. After a month, there is nothing
to show for their work, dedication and investment.
It has been a lovely experience watching the nest building and the
patient sitting, but was horrible watching the end.
Robyn
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