G’day Rob, Deb & Rod.
Last winter I had the privilege to sit regularly by a tree with starlings in it, and I was amazed at their quiet mimicry. They mimicked at least half a dozen native species, including Crimson Rosella,
Spotted Pardalote, Striated Pardalote, Silvereye, Galah… and others too (I made a list, which I now can’t find)
Best regards,
Brian
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Rodney & Deborah Ralph
Sent: Monday, 2 August 2021 11:40 AM
To: 'Robert Parnell' <>
Cc:
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Is anyone else hearing Pacific Koels yet?
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the ACT Government. Do not click links or
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Hi Rob,
Thanks for your interesting email, amazing that a Starling can mimic a Yellow-tailed Black but then nature sure is amazing and the surprises of what birds can do and where they can appear seems to
be never ending. Have to wonder how long or often a bird needs to hear another call to be able to mimic it. As would not have thought a Starling would hang around with Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos or be able to keep up with them, but then those pesky Starlings
are everywhere.
Cheers,
Deb & Rod
regarding mimicry. I have been hearing the call of Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos from my backyard for a year or so. The call was convincing enough for me to go looking in pine trees up to a kilometre away without success. I'm fairly convinced
now that the call is coming from a starling. New neighbours bought some chooks and since then we have had starlings. YTBCs periodically fly over our house.
also the Olive-backed Oriole which has been overwintering is a mimic. I heard one this morning (not mimicking) and saw one in Walker Cr. Narrabundah on 26 July.
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Geoffrey Dabb
Sent: Saturday, 31 July 2021 11:35 AM
To: 'Rodney & Deborah Ralph' <>;
Cc:
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Is anyone else hearing Pacific Koels yet?
Well, in the words of our Olympics commentators,
I CAN’T WAIT to see the first Koel and I’M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD to hearing the first call …
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Rodney & Deborah Ralph
Sent: Friday, 30 July 2021 7:05 PM
To:
Cc:
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Is anyone else hearing Pacific Koels yet?
Thanks Jack, Shorty and Philip,
Appreciate the explanations. There were a few Pied Currawongs around today and their call can be heard from quite a distance and this one was in the distance.
Haven’t heard our local Blackbirds sound like a Koel and one of ours went off this arvo. We also have Bowerbirds and they just keep “ringing” us up and their other usual noises
but it is something to keep in mind.
Thanks for your help. Good to know I am not the only one hearing them and thinking they sound like a Koel, thanks Shorty.
Cheers,
Deb and Rod
Thanks Deb and Rod, the Koel shouldn’t be here yet, and if so it would probably not be calling, though you never know following the remarkable last season.
As part of a paper being prepared for CBN tracking their rise in the ACT, I did a trawl through all COG’s Annual Bird Reports from the late 1990s, and the earliest record of a
Koel is from the 2nd GBS week of September (which starts on 11/9). This was way back in 2007-2008, and there are only 3 other years where they were first recorded in September, including 2020-2021. There is one confirmed winter record of a silent
female photographed in mid June a few of years back.
There are a number of species with which the male
ko-el call can be confused including the Pied Currawong, the one I personally can get fooled by is the Common Blackbird which has been occasionally calling around my local area over the past fortnight.
Jack Holland
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of shorty via Canberrabirds
Sent: Friday, 30 July 2021 5:35 PM
To: Rodney & Deborah Ralph <>
Cc:
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Is anyone else hearing Pacific Koels yet?
I also heard what sounded like a short call of a Koel at my place the other day. On investigation it was a Pied Currawong.
On Fri, Jul 30, 2021 at 5:29 PM Rodney & Deborah Ralph <> wrote:
thought I heard a single call from Pacific Koel today at Jerrabomberra Wetlands did not add it to the eBird list as was not 100% sure but also thought I heard one at Isabella Pond
the other day.
Is anyone else hearing them yet? Surely it is too early?
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