Trevor Quested asks whether the various sub races have different calls.
This messageis a VERY partial answer.
The hill behind my house in suburban Canberra has a resident population of
these birds throughout the summer, maybe winter too tho' I am less sure of
this. I know they are there in summer becuase they call all the time and
when the windows are open, it is a dominant and familiar sound. I rarely
look for them in the strict sense, and in the winter I don't hear so many
sounds cos its cold and the windows stay closed!!
Everyone has their own rendition of calls, I suppose, but these sound for
all the world like 'chickoo-chickoo'. (The little devils are highly
ventriloquial too -- when I first took up birding these same birds drove me
mad for hours before I could link sight and sound.)
On recent trip to Cairns I saw and very clearly identified, a little way
inland, a different sub-species of this delightful bird. I could not say
exactly what the call was, but I know it was quite different simply because
the first 'contact' was aural and my reaction, and that of my (Melbourne
based) companion was "Hey, what's that calling?". I know for certain that
had the call been the same as here I would have said 'striated pardalote'
without a second thought.
Indeed, this variation was so different in appearance that we actually
dragged out field guides to be sure of whgat we were looking at ....
So, yes, trevor, the calls vary a lot, altho I can't describe the latter
with any great accuracy.
Stephen mugford
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