canberrabirds

Cry of the Koel

To: <>
Subject: Cry of the Koel
From: "Geoffrey Dabb" <>
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2005 10:02:56 +1100
Interesting that the name should come from faraway India, being the Hindi name for the species, and originally from Sanskrit, so perhaps very old. However, the most usual call of our male bird is sometimes also given as 'koel' (the power of suggestion?), although most authorities cited by HANZAB prefer 'coo-ee' (what a real Australian!) or 'wurroo'. I note that the authorities on aboriginal languages consulted by HANZAB give names for the bird significantly removed from 'koel', viz. A-duric, Duwaw, Guwak, Minh-pult, Warlkuli, and Zow.

Without venturing too deeply into comparative phonemics, one is led to suspect that no serious attempt was being made there to reproduce the call, and 'Minh-pult', for example, might well have meant something like 'No point trying to sleep. Let's hunt possums'.




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