At 09:33 PM 5/15/04 +1000, Syd Curtis wrote:
>Charles Bragg wrote, Thu, 13 May 2004:
>
>> What I'd like to hear about is a bird *making* a musical instrument, as those
>> New Caledonian Crows make tools for getting food. When the lyrebirds start
>> peeling the bark off sticks and drying them for a while to make louder
>> sounds,
>> that's when I'll get excited.
>
>Well now that you mention it Chuck, Dr Milewski wrote to me:
>
>>
>> As chance would have it, I myself stumbled on another apparent case, this
>time involving the palm cockatoo of northern Queensland. This bird drums on
>hollow branches using a specially fashioned and stored piece of wood,
>grasped in one foot. The difference from lyrebirds is that it apparently
>does not sing while beating its drum. So the palm cockatoo plays a musical
>> instrument, but not in accompaniment as in the case of lyrebirds.
Considering the singing voices of the parrot family, perhaps
it's just as well they only bang the stick. But yes, color me excited. Just
another reason to return to Oz!
-- Chuck
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Chuck Bragg, Pacific Palisades, CA
Membership Chair
Newsletter Editor
Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society:
www.smbas.org
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