Thanks to the magnificent response to my request (18 subscribers took the time and effort to tell me about their Koel experiences this season) I now have some valuable information for my proposed paper.
The number of fledglings this year now stands at around 60 (it’s hard to be precise as there may be some double counting, or conversely counting 2 individuals as one), which is 2 X that of the two previous seasons. This is a significant increase given
that I have asked for this information in previous years and with Virginia Abernathy who was doing a Ph D on them also making regular requests for fledgling observations last year - we exchanged notes regularly and they tallied well.
Other aspects that stand out was the early arrival of females as well as their conspicuousness through their increased kek kek kek calling and presence in noisy parties of up to 6 birds of both sexes. What also seems to be significant is the relative
lack of Ko-el calling (especially at night), with males giving the alternative wirra wirra (or whoa whoa as I prefer) much more frequently – is is generally thought to signify presence of con-specifics. One thought is that they find females much easier to
find now, rather than have to advertise themselves for nights on end.
I’m not sure this is the reason for the areas once frequented by many Koels each summer seeming to be much quieter this season, certainly activity seems to have been very high in the Mt Rogers area.
Once again many thanks, there’s clearly so much still to learn about this relatively recent Koel invasion.
As of yesterday there was still at least 1 male around, seen in Christine D’s fig in her Flynn garden, so keep an eye out if you have this fruit in your garden – they certainly don’t call as much at this end of the season.
Once again many thanks to all who provided information.
Jack Holland
Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2017 1:30 PM
Subject: Koel fledglings and late adult Koel records
Hello members/subscribers
I’m in the process of drafting a short paper for CBN about Koel fledglings this year. As for the past few years I’ve been keeping a count of the observations posted on the COG chat line or sent directly to me. My tally is now 44 (including upwards of
6 in my local patch), compared with around 30 for the past couple of years.
So if you’ve observed a koel fledgling and haven’t reported it on either of these two channels I’d be very grateful for some brief information, including the date, locality and if possible the host species feeding it (usually a Red Wattlebird).
I’m also interested if anyone is still recording either adult or fledgling Koels, while the last of these reported on the COG chat line is from about 12 March, the most recent one from the eBird Australia web site is from Garran on 19 March.
Finally I’d be interested if you think it has been a good, average or poor year for Koels in your local patch. In mine it was probably the most active yet, though the last adult/fledgling left early around 22 February. Others such as Barbara Allan in
Page and Terry Munro in Watson, where koels have been active previously including multiple fledglings, seem to have had a poor year compared with previous.
Many thanks in anticipation
Jack Holland
