Like all of us I've heard the E Whipbird 'antiphonal duetting' (where
the male starts the call and the female finishes it) within pairs many
times, but had never actually seen it until this morning on the lower
section of Warks Road in NNP. A moment's thought would have told me that
as the duet is initiated by the male, she has to drop whatever she's
doing to respond, but I'd never thought of it in those terms. However
today I saw it happening. She was foraging a couple of metres off the
ground by the road, he was a few metres up the hill. Whenever he called
she had to stop chasing breakfast and respond the moment he finished. At
one stage she was hanging upside down on a ribbon of bark, busily
gleaning, when he started up; she seemed to take no notice, but the
instant he finished she stopped, raised her head and put in her two
notes' worth. They were accompanied by two youngsters, apparently
independent but staying close by; both were virtually all black with
just a couple of white flecks on the throat.
(And on an entirely different and non-avian topic, a young dead wombat
by the road near Kama NR a day or so back; they're not at all common
close to Canberra, but seem to be getting more so.)
cheers
Ian
--
Ian Fraser,
Environment Tours; Vertego Environmental Consultancy
PO Box 4148, Weston Creek, ACT 2611
ph: 61 2 6287 4813
Blog: http://ianfrasertalkingnaturally.blogspot.com.au
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