This morning (18 Jan) I heard an unfamiliar noise and scanned the area it came from (it was visible from my place but took place in Empire Circuit Deakin). I saw a Red Wattlebird flying into a tree and seemingly foraging. But then a long
brown bird landed in a nearby tree. Clearly a Koel, but a female or a juvenile? The call was not the common Keek call of a female and may have been a begging call. As if to answer my question, the RWB landed beside the Koel. I did not actually witness
the transfer of food and no audible sound was heard (I was about 250m from the event), but I assumed that it was a feeding of a dependent bird.
Then the Koel shifted to an adjacent tree and suddenly three RWBs came out of left field (well, actually, right field) and chased the Koel away.
So, I don’t know whether it was a feeding event or not. If not, what was the first RWB doing cosying up to the Koel with no apparent agonistic responses? It is possible, I suppose, that the bird was dependent; the first RWB was a foster
parent; and the others just didn’t like a Koel around even if being fed by a congener.
As to ID, the bird was quite a long way away and against the morning sun. I could not discern plumage detail except to note that the sunshine passing through the bird’s tail was very golden possibly indicating the lighter colouring of
the juvenile relative to the adult female.
My guess is that it was a feeding event. Koels have been fairly active around here this season, but the only breeding interaction I have seen was on one day some weeks ago when a male and female performed noisy chases.
David Rosalky
