Today's Little Brown Birds workshop, put on by Birds Australia and
conducted at Castlereagh Reserve and Mitchell Park near Windsor NSW,
was the second of a series of three which we're running this year (so
far).
During the workshop we encountered at least 4 Shining Bronze Cuckoos
working through the mid-storey of Castlereagh Reserve. It appeared to
me that at least 3 of the birds (by behaviour) were males and were
treating the small patch they were working as if it was a lek. On more
than one occasion I witnessed perching birds spreading their wings and
angling their entire upper bodies so as to reflect the sunlight in a
glorious display of blazing bronzes and deep, glossy greens. The calls
of the birds was like a festival off odd sounding cackles and
whistles, punctuated by their more commonly heard call comprised of
slightly ascending notes. I was reminded very much of the displays of
birds of paradise.
It was a rather furious session, as I had more than a dozen course
attendees with me and had to ensure that everyone witnessed this
extraordinary display and yet still manage to sort out the gist of
what I was witnessing. At first I thought that the birds spreading
their wings was female begging behaviour but the bird which I
witnessed landing beside the displaying bird showed no inclination to
mount it, so I feel that this was possibly a female examining a male
bird's fitness through plumage and display. The show lasted for a good
ten minutes, before the noisy troop moved deeper into the forest.
Would love to hear if others have witnessed this behaviour before or
other's takes on this.
Other great sightings today were plenty of Striated Thornbills, Yellow
Thornbills and Buff-rumped Thornbills, Brown Gerygones and White-
throated Gerygones. It appears that Weebills are incubating at present
as they are very quiet (I only heard a few calls and briefly observed
on bird). Probably the same for Speckled Warbler.
We did get fantastic views of Brown-headed Honeyeaters, Varied
Sitellas, Scarlet Honeyeater, Dollarbirds, Sacred Kingfishers and a
host of the usual suspects for that locality. Probably the best bird
(apart from the awesome cuckoos) was a stunning Red-capped Robin,
which foraged practically at our feet on the roadside opposite the
Castlereagh Reserve car park.
All in all, another great workshop. Thanks BASNA.
PS: I'm not receiving B-A emails through the list so I'd be grateful
if you copied me into your responses.
Happy birding
Ricki Coughlan
Avian consultancy, tours, presentations &interp. signs
53 Park Avenue
Avalon NSW 2107
p. 02 9918 6590
m. 0400 436 910
w. http://www.redtail.net.au
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