Philip and all,
I remember reading somewhere that the name "Headache-bird" is because
of its tendency to call incessantly, thus resulting in a headache for
anyone in the vicinity! However I've never found the call to be too
objectionable, even though they do call repetitively while breeding.
To add to the list of phrases given for the call, another I've heard
is "I'm singing", which I guess is self-evident.
Cheers
Carol
At 10:17 PM +1100 4/1/05, Philip A. Veerman wrote:
Hi John,
The "Miss Piggy" (no doubt the muppets character) refers to the same
thing as "Paul Keating" in McComas Taylor's field guide or "sleep
baby" in other books. It is a reference to what their call is
supposed to sound like. I well remember that in early primary school
days, the Spotted Pardalote was the first native bird whose call I
learned and wondered at what it was and that was long before I knew
it was made by a bird. I also remember mid high school days when I
first found the bird making the call.
Funny that a tiny bird with basically no burrowing adaptations
builds a nest burrow in sand or soil. Although they are fairly tame,
and will sometimes sit on a person's head, I have never know one to
dig a hole inside a living person's head, so I can't really explain
the "Headache-bird" name (for that or any other reason).
Philip
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