"Golden Bosun Bird"

[John Layton via Canberrabirds <>]

The Golden Bosun Bird of Weetangera

Received an excited phone call from a non-birding friend yesterday morning to say there was a “Golden Bosun” in his fig tree. I expressed extreme doubt, nonetheless, he couldn't imagine that it was anything else. He had seen Golden Bosuns in a documentary about Christmas Island one time. (😁)

"You must see come over quick and look, it positively glows like gold when the sun's on it."

"Fool's gold," I thought but said nothing and drove to Weetangera where I was just in time to get a good view of a remarkably golden coloured young koel before a clangour of Pied Currawongs sent it to a large plum tree in a neighbouring yard. Except for currawongs, no other birds were seen near it.

I'm still very much on a learning curve when it comes to koels and haven't noticed a young one before, certainly not one sporting such remarkably golden plumage. Put it this way, on a scale of one to ten indicating the degree of golden colour, this chick would score a good number 9. Would it be an unusual specimen?

John Layton

Holt.

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