Hello Jenny,
Last Summer we had the constant companionship of a Wonga Pigeon at our
kindergarten at Taringa in Brisbane. In previous years one and
sometimes two
Wongas have forraged in our playground after playtime and been heard
close by
quite regularly. We have a large shady playground with plenty of mulch
on the
ground and we adjoin a gully with a fairly large area of thick vine
forest,
largely degraded weedy stuff.
The bird did not appear at all shy and pattered around among the
children for
part of the time most days. When not in the playground it was almost
always
calling (interminably?) and became so familiar to the children that we
wrote a
special verse in one of our songs to feature the call.
We often witnessed the mating 'dance' and 'song' you described, which it
performed often, almost among the children's feet. The frustration must
have
got the better of it eventually though, because, after several months of
impeccable (sorry!) behaviour, in December it started to fly up and sit
on the
children's heads, and on mine if I was sitting down. Incidently, the
children
behaved with great restraint and even a little bravery. It's claws did
scratch
a little. I was told that it even took part in a garden wedding held
next door
to the kindy and sat itself on the head of one of the guests.
Sadly we have not seen or heard 'our' Wonga since we broke up last
December.
Regards,
Ros Laundon.
P.S. How do you know yours was a male?
Jenny Bradford wrote:
> For the past couple of seasons, there has been a single male Wonga Pigeon in
> residence, around the outskirts of the town of Pomona (northern Sunshine
> Coast Hinterland). ................ Has anyone else had a similar experience?
>
> Jenny Bradford, Pomona, Qld
>
>
> Jenny B's Flower & Crystal Essences
> http://www.spiderweb.com.au/~jennyb/
>
> "Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds"
> (Einstein)
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