birding-aus

Rockwarbler mimicry

To: Carol Probets <>
Subject: Rockwarbler mimicry
From: Ricki Coughlan <>
Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:51:35 +1000
Hi Carol

Your report of the "call and response" behaviour is most interesting, as I was struck by the fact that the Rockwarbler did not commence mimicking the treecreeper until the treecreeper began calling. At the time I thought that it was just as likely that this was coincidental as significant but after your report, I'm most intruiged.

See you on the weekend.


Ricki Coughlan

http://www.redtail.net.au




On 15/08/2007, at 1:07 PM, Carol Probets wrote:

Ricki and all,

I've heard a Rockwarbler engage in mimicry a couple of times. It was a bird that was visiting my garden (in Katoomba) during Feb- March 2004. As well as softly mimicking a Brown Thornbill, this bird would occasionally make a strange high-pitched whistle that puzzled me for a while - until I heard it answering a nearby King- Parrot, and realised it was copying it! It was a fairly feeble imitation but definitely made in response to the sound it was hearing. The pitch and rhythm were the same but the quality of sound was much weaker.

It was hilarious to see this bird poking around the garden, quietly imitating the King-Parrot like someone singing along with the radio!

I find it interesting that both this bird and the bird Ricki heard were mimicking a sound they were actually hearing at the time. I can't remember whether this was also the case when it mimicked the Brown Thornbill, but it's quite possible.

Cheers,

Carol


At 1:58 PM +1000 13/8/07, Ricki Coughlan wrote:
G'day all

I have looked Rockwarbler mimicry up on the Birding-Aus archives and there is only one mention of it several years ago. Having found only a small repetoire for Rockwarblers in the HANZAB, I felt that it may be good to put another record of this event "out there". Perhaps others will also feel inspired to keep an ear out for this behaviour.

Despite being an avid Rockwarbler observer for some decades, I had not witnessed this so emphatically until last Friday. I was in Sydney's Royal National Park in the company of a Canadian friend who had come to Australia specifically to see this one bird(!) after dipping on it in 2004. To her great joy (and a huge reduction in my stress levels), we observed a pair of these very confiding birds at very close quarters for some time, as they foraged amid moss on a large boulder. On more than one occasion, one bird (presumably the male) fed some small invertebrates to the other (also not recorded in HANZAB).

On two occasions the bird which was providing the food to the other stopped foraging and began to beautifully mimic a White- throated Treecreeper's "warbling/trill" call - no, not like the occasionally heard Rockwarbler "warble" - the Rockwarbler was perfectly reproducing the discrete and loud warble which White- throated Treecreepers make especially around this time of year. The treecreeper was making the same call from a tree on the other side of the trail and the calls and their volume of both birds were clearly identical.

A number of Acanthizids possess mimicry skills to one degree or another, but this event demonstrated to me that it is the Rockwarbler which produces the best quality (if not quantity) of mimicry skills.

Ricki Coughlan






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