Hi Jude,
I believe we live in the same area. The Owlet Nightjar that was so
reliable at my place recently would, without fail, give a call around 5am
before it entered it's favourite hollow for the day. When I first became
aware of it I checked out any hollows in the general direction and managed
to spot it during the day. I don't know if it's still using the hollow as
I'm away at the moment, but it was very reliable for a good month - so much
so, it was like the proverbial Austrian clock cuckoo and I awaited it's 5am
call and also knew it would be sitting at the front of the hollow around
9am each morning and around 3pm each afternoon.
Marie
On 18 April 2015 at 14:44, Peter Shute <> wrote:
> "Metallic whip sound" doesn't sound quite right, but I suppose some of the
> calls could be described that way. Have you listened to any recordings to
> compare? Can you make a recording?
>
> Often they start calling at the entrance of their hole just before dark,
> so you might be able to find it while it's still light. The hole can be
> very small. I'm not sure if they use the same roost every day.
>
> This is Steven Debus's reply, from Shirley's reply:
> Best detected by call at night, then approach the call with a spotlight.
> Not much eyeshine. They can be seen by driving slowly around on bush
> tracks, sometimes fly up from the ground. They call from their hollows
> during the day, and may be seen at the entrance or they might flush out
> when
> approached (though vulnerable to attack when flushed, so I wouldn't
> deliberately flush them). At dusk they emerge and fly around, though not
> much more than a silhouette in that light level. In daytime or dusk their
> flight is undulating like a rosella or shrike-thrush.
>
> Peter Shute
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On 17 Apr 2015, at 7:23 pm, Judith L-A <>
> wrote:
> >
> > Thank you. Was there an Attached reply from Steve Debus? I'm having
> trouble
> > opening it here.
> >
> > I'm at 500m in SEQ. The area is ex-dairy (previously red-cedar
> > timber-getting), being now semi-rural /regrowth.
> >
> > Earlier I sent the following to Tim: I've never heard this call/sound on
> > the place before, but can't think of what else it could be... It's a
> > metallic whip! sound. My puzzle is how few hollows are close to the
> > sound-source. Over the road & down the road there's some old hollows
> left,
> > but if the species' territory size is as small as the bird's size might
> > suggest... well, I'm not surprised to have not heard it before.
> >
> > Meanwhile, I'm trying out these suggestions, but am having difficulty in
> > the pitch-black locating the bird, which seems to fly/flee quite freely.
> >
> > Judith
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >> On 15 April 2015 at 16:38, Tim Dolby <> wrote:
> >>
> >> Yes, agree with Angus, spotlighting would be a good way to see them! :-)
> >>
> >> When spotlighting Owlet-nightjar I'd recommend holding the torch at eye
> >> level and look straight down the beam of light. (This is actually a good
> >> way to spotlight most birds and mammals.) In the case of Owlet-nightjar
> >> specifically I've found that, for some reason (perhaps the shape of
> their
> >> eyes?), if you don't do this, it can be a little hard to see their eye
> >> shine, perhaps why Angus recommends using a headlamp.
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >>
> >> Tim
> >> ________________________________________
> >> From: mcnabangus
> >> Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2015 3:07 PM
> >> To: Tim Dolby; ;
>
> >> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Owlet-Nightjar
> >>
> >> Hi judith,
> >> I would suggest spotlighting them is much easier, using a headtorch is
> >> fine. They have very obvious eyeshine and can be tracked down fairly
> easily
> >> when calling.
> >>
> >>
> >> Cheers
> >> Angus McNab
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -------- Original message --------
> >> From: Tim Dolby <>
> >> Date:
> >> To: Judith L-A <>,
> >>
> >> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Owlet-Nightjar
> >>
> >>
> >> Hi Judith,
> >>
> >> At night, when you hear it, you could try a little bit of call-playback.
> >> Not too much - you don't want to upset the bird in anyway - just enough
> to
> >> see if it comes in. Otherwise, often the best way to see Australian
> >> Owlet-nightjar is to find their daytime roosting tree and hollow.
> Scratch
> >> the base of any tree that has small hollows. If present, the bird may
> >> flush, thinking the noise is an intruder such as a Goanna. Interesting
> to
> >> know where you are you, urban or country?
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >>
> >> Tim
> >> ________________________________________
> >> From: Birding-Aus on behalf of
> >> Judith L-A
> >> Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2015 12:51 PM
> >> To:
> >> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Owlet-Nightjar
> >>
> >> Possibly there's an Owlet-Nightjar on my place. Are there any tips out
> >> hereon how to sight them???
> >> Judith
> >>
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--
Marie Tarrant
Kobble Creek, Qld
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