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This morning as I logged on to receive my
Birding-Aus mail, from my study I could hear an awful lot of noise from the
resident Noisy Miner colony (about 10 birds). Only 15 metres from our house in
some young eucalypt amongst some older eucalypt woodland, a pair of
Channel-billed Cuckoos were almost disdainfully ignoring the persistent miners'
harrassment. Maybe these very conspicuous and hated birds amongst the avian
world are so used to the treatment other birds dish out, they just ignore it. I
have seen other birds here at home chased away by the pesky miners, and they
haven't put up any resistance whatsoever, from Pacific Bazas right through to
Noisy Friarbirds. Unfortunately, the colony of miners tend to discourage any
long term plans of residence of other birds, particularly other honeyeaters and
small passerines.
Anyway, back to the cuckoos. This is only my second
record here at Rosemount, between Nambour and Maroochydore on the Sunshine
Coast, my other record being of 1 bird in late 1999 (sorry, I didn't record the
date). One of the cuckoos was very skillfully dismantling a green grasshopper of
some description whilst being harangued by miner torpedoes. They hung around for
half an hour, affording brilliant views of their massive bill and bright red
facial skin.
Have any other subscribers noted down arrival dates
for these magnificent birds?
Andrew Taylor
Rosemount
Sunshine Coast, Qld
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