Interesting observation, Philip.
I think the equivalent event that I reported was about 4 weeks ago, so it could potentially be the same chick.
From: Philip Veerman <>
Sent: Saturday, 27 February 2021 5:58 PM
To: 'Dr David Rosalky' <>; 'COG Chatline' <>
Subject: RE: [Canberrabirds] Dependent young Koel
Hi David,
About whether this is a different young one from the same pair of foster parents. I am guessing it is the lapse of time since you last saw it there(?) So that is
why you suggest it is a different one. But it is an interesting question. Incubation period is 2 weeks and nestling period is about 3 weeks. But as you say The bird looked almost fully grown with a long tail, so it is certainly older than 3 weeks old. So
the total time is likely to be about 2 months. So that also depends a lot on what you mean by “some weeks ago now”. If it is less than 2 months, on probability I would suggest not overly likely to be a different young one from the same pair of foster parents
but it could only be known by having banded recognisable birds.
About whether the adoptive parents took the young to the same tree. I wonder does that happen. I get the impression that the DY Koels move about in their own limited,
clumsy and rather random manner and then the foster parents track them down by their squawking. Could be both of course. There can be some guidance or favouring of better opportunities by parents simply by being more successful at better sites.
One trivial but general point, the tail is barred, not striped. (Even if wiggly.) Bars go across the feather or body axis, stripes go along the feather or body
axis. Think about birds with stripe / striated etc cf barred / banded in their names.
Philip
From: Canberrabirds
On Behalf Of Dr David Rosalky
Sent: Saturday, 27 February, 2021 4:35 PM
To: COG bird list
Subject: [Canberrabirds] Dependent young Koel
Another squawking Koel near my place in Deakin. It has been calling within a 50 m circle since at least 8am this morning. During my several visits to the site, I observed two feeding events by RWBs both of which located the bird for me.
I finally got excellent sightings. The bird looked almost fully grown with a long striped (wiggly stripes) tail. Its crown displayed a narrow black strip between largish white /cream patches on either side.
It is interesting that the bird is in almost the exact position that I reported some weeks ago now. It raises the question of whether the same RWB nest was parasitised again and the adoptive parents took the young to the same tree.
One reason I had so much trouble locating the bird is that I could not ascertain which tree it was in because its call kept moving. It seems to have strongly ventriloquial vocalisation.
David Rosalky
