Hello Harriet,
Your description of this call sounds to me like a Yellow-bellied Glider
Petaurus australis which are considered threateend in NSW I believe. The
'starter motor' and 'gurgling' sounds you decsribe intstantly brought to mind
the magical sounds these marsupials make.
Yellow-bellied Gliders are highly social, gliding possums which have a complex
system of scent marking and call behaviour that determines group relationships,
the size of territories and access to the 'best' habitat amongts other things.
Your note of hearing an answering call confirms my belief that it is a colony of
these animals you have heard.
There are some good books around on these animals and no doubt a web search
would bring up more for you.
You can read many interesting facts about the beast at:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/petaurus/p._australis$narrative.html
The following local web site is also worth checking
http://www.marsupialsociety.org.au/yellow_bellied_glider.htm
There is a good series of pictures, including a gliding shot of the closely
related Mahogany Glider from Queensland, at:
http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/tbiol/zoology/auxillry/mammals/moggy.htm
If you have a good spotlight you may be lucky enough to see one. Let us know
how you go.
cheers, Martin O'Brien
NRE East Melbourne.
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
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