Koels rarely drop into our place, maybe it’s something I said. However, at 18:30 yesterday my peaceful reverie on the front porch was shattered by a remarkably loud burst
of wirra wirra calls but I couldn’t catch sight of the caller. Another salvo quickly ensued and this time I got an aural fix on the bird – in an adjoining backyard. As I stood up to get my binoculars from just inside the door I noticed a female koel
perched on a fence 25 metres away. Immediately a male alighted and presented her with a piece of apricot which she accepted.
I have virtually no experience observing koels so I scrutinised the female for several seconds wondering if I might be witnessing one of the reported incidents of a male
feeding a dependent youngster. However, subsequent poring over relevant illustrations seemed to confirm I had seen an adult female. The male immediately dropped out of sight to return a moment later with a red berry but this time the female ignored him and
flew away. He then moved to a tree 15 metres away and recommenced calling more loudly than before, or so it seemed, perhaps out of frustration. Maybe Casanova Koel had left his courtship approach too late in the season. I don’t know.
He called for about seven seconds until three Pied Currawongs landed in the tree and, if anything, called more loudly than the Black Chanticleer. The latter promptly left
with the currawongs in close pursuit. The clangour faded in the distance and peace returned to the garden. The Red Wattle birds, incidentally, seemed conspicuous by their absence.
John Layton
Holt.
