An investigation of mixed koel calls in the back yard soon led me down the hill to the Chinese-Pistachio-lined Hodgkinson Street. Explorers have been chosen for street names in the Red Hill-Griffith-Narrabundah precinct,
which has led to fame for some minor figures in that regard. I infer that the Hodgkinson in question was William Oswald, an early member of the Burke expedition and of one of the later relief parties that discovered the Diamantina and finished at Bowen, Q.
I found 4 koels in a ‘frozen tableau’ confrontation in a C Pistachio, 2 males, 2 females. All were in mature plumage , with the females of the dark type. The males can be distinguished by the red suffusion on the bill of one, the other seeming to show signs
of head moult. The females can be distinguished by the chin plumage – the one shown in 2 photos on left is possibly younger. These are the same Chinese Pistachios that will turn a brilliant red in Autumn, if not ransacked beforehand by cockatoos. At the
time another male koel was calling near Caley and a male and female down the hill towards Wells Gardens, so at least 7 koels in the vicinity.
