Hi Chris
Great to get some confirmation on this, as so much was happening so
quickly - trying to make head or tail of what was going on whilst
making so a dozen or so people got to witness the event - left me with
a bit of conjecture. However it sounds like the "slightly mobile lek"
theory might hold at least a little water. Even though a "mobile lek"
is something of a contradiction of terms :o) The odd variety of calls
was as memorable as the beauty of these gorgeous cuckoos and the
blazing bottle green candescence of their outstretched wings in the
morning sun.
Like you, I wont be forgetting that event in a hurry.
Ricki
On 21/09/2009, at 11:45 AM, Chris Baxter wrote:
Hi Ricki
Your post took me back about 25 years when I saw this behaviour by
race
plagosus in eucalypts at Flinders Chase NP HQ area on the W end of
Kangaroo
Island, SA. From memory I saw two birds displaying as I filled park
vehicle
with fuel-they were in immature Manna Gums planted alongside the
workshops.
Wings out and displaying behaviour highlighting bronze sheen has
always
stayed in my memory. Cheers
Chris Baxter
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Ricki Coughlan
Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2009 4:58 PM
To: birdingaus aus
Subject: [Birding-Aus] Amazing Shining Bronze Cuckoos display
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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