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Hi Denis,
A couple of suggestions:
This is of course the time of year for
dependent young PC, so that part is not odd. Young birds have different calls to
adults, a squawk, as I'm sure you know. But it appears to me you are describing
the typical adult calls. I think families usually are antisocial towards other
PC, so a gathering like that seems odd. Without knowing what all their calls
mean, it is hard to refer to it as a crèche. Were they calling to each other out
of "friendliness" or rivalry to try to keep others away? Maybe your food
offerings are just too good to pass up on. For high summer, it is quite
cold........
Philip
Dear COG members
On Thursday morning in Robertson, it was damp and overcast.
Normally a good thing for the birds I feed on my feed table - Bowerbirds and
Lewin's Honeyeaters especially.
Suddenly, instead of hearing the low
growls and metallic whirring noises of the Bowerbirds, I heard a cacophony of
loud whistles, and the distinctive carolling calls of numerous Pied Currawong
(Strepera
graculina). So loud and so many calls
I rushed to the back door to check it out. There were
at least a dozen birds on the feeder table, on the roof gutter, in the trees
around, and flying overhead. My brother counted 35 birds as the flock flew
off.
But there was something odd about this gathering. Most of the birds
were juveniles. They black feathers were tinged with brown, especially on the
neck and shoulders, and their gapes (corner of the beak) were still
yellowish.
Normally I am used to seeing flocks of Currawongs in late autumn
and winter. This was a cool morning, in the first week of January. High
Summer.
What is going on?
To me it seems way
too early in the season for such a large gathering of Currawongs.
Comments welcomed as to whether such a gathering is unusually
early?
Do Pied Currawongs form "creches".
*****
On a totally different subject, what is the best collective
noun for such a gathering?
I have suggested a "Squawk" of Baby Currawongs.
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