Thanks very much for the information Michael, especially the Canberra
Bird News (CBN) reference. My first thought was to consult HANZAB but
a) I don't own HANZAB and unfortunately not likely to in the near
future, b) the COG copy is difficult to access and is incomplete, and
c) the Nat Library and any private copies I know about are a bit of a
pain to access, for me and for the owners. Just the same I'll find
a copy and read the relevant parts.
About this observation...
Graeme Clifton wrote that he has observed similar copulation of
roughly the same duration, and added a point that I failed to mention
but did notice, that the male's tail wagged from side to side at intervals.
BTW I can't say that I saw how or when cloacal contact occurred.
re my original question about duration - our three reported instances
summarise to:
- "two or so minutes",
- "two or three minutes", and
- "one minute 50 seconds" (I've slightly increased my reported time
to allow for the fact that I was looking away at the moment they started).
I'll investigate Aust Field Ornithology re getting part of the
sequence in print, thanks for the pointer.
re the late date, no idea! I'll keep an eye out in case they stay in the area.
Cheers
Julian
PS it was great to easily find Michael's referenced 20 year old CBN
article on the website. Excellent resource. (& thanks to Alastair
for doing the digitisation).
At 05:01 PM 26/11/2008, Michael & Janette Lenz wrote:
Julian,
what an amazing set of photos! Thanks for sharing those with us.
Recommend that you check HANZAB and compare what is said there (not
too much!) with your extended observations. HANZAB also makes
reference to a note by Brendan Lepschi on copulation in this species
[Canberra Bird Notes 13 (2), 45 (1988)]. I would like to see a
selection of your photos with a description of what you saw
published. The journal "Australian Field Ornithology" regularly
publishes colour photos.
The other thing of note is the late date of your observations. By
now I would have expected the pair to have a clutch/young. Perhaps a
re-nesting effort?
Michael Lenz
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