G'day all
A pair of Koels have been visiting my garden frequently over the past
few weeks and have provided opportunities for some interesting
observations.
They are most attracted to a strawberry patch outside my office
window and make raids on it daily. The female bird has some rather
interesting foraging behaviour. She works her way along the edge of
the patch and pops the end of her wing under the leaves and uses it
to lift them to view if there are any ripe strawberries beneath them,
much the same way as we would use our hands. She'll work the entire
length of the patch in this fashion. I've tried to get a movie of it,
as it is a truly amazing thing to witness, but they are far too timid
for me to get close enough. I've tried feeding them some strawberries
to gain their confidence, but then they become ill-inclined to forage
for the berries under the plants. I cannot recall ever seeing or
hearing about the use of a wing in this fashion before.
The male bird likes to sunbake. He lies on the ground in the sun and
stretches one and sometimes both wings out and has a good old loaf.
The female bird seems to show no interest in this sort of behaviour
at all.
Beneath their favourite perches there are a number of castings which
include many blackberry seeds, some cherry seeds and an abundance of
seeds which I do not recognise. I was unaware that Koels expel castings.
Happy birding
Ricki Coughlan
Belrose, Sydney
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