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Hello Robert, Frank and Val,
I had a very friendly G S-t at Upper Barron, north
Queensland. When I was working outside it would often fly up from the creek
about 60 m away and usually sit in the mango or macadamia tree. There it would
sing and I would mimic it. If I got it right or at least close enough the bird
would move on to a different call. Over the period of a year and a half I tested
this a few times by deliberately making an error. The bird would then repeat the
call until I got it or gave up. After some months the bird displayed
that it learnt which calls were impossible for me by not using them at the start
of his little game. I am one of those people who can be very focused ( read
oblivious to what is happening around me) and the call which this bird used to
attract my attention was a simple four note song very much like that of a Pied
Butcherbird. It would sometimes filter through to my conscience that this call
was being repeated several times. If I remained silent the bird would persist
for some time and even come and sit on the bush-house if I was in there. On more
difficult calls the bird would rarely repeat them more than twice. After a non
response from me the bird would either give up or go back to a simple song but
not always the starting one.
Despite my little experiments in 'civil
disobedience' I felt that the bird had more control over our encounters than I
did.
Regards,
Alan Gillanders
Alan's Wildlife Tours
On the beautiful Atherton
Tablelands
145* 33' 25"E 17* 16' 40"S
(07)
4095 3784
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