The birds (artists?) appear, making the ?broken electric drill? call
and wandering around the small practice bower in the low scrub. A little
struggling for the order of practice rights takes place and then this is
followed by a call which sounds like a bag of glass beads getting a good,
persistant shake. The bird fluffs up his feathers and stands to one side of the
entrance to the bower. Making out that the female is standing inside the bower,
he waves various white objects like bones, shells and pebbles (yes, and brown
wallaby poo) across the entrance. Next he reveals his brilliant purple nuchal
crest and turns his head so that the imaginary female in the bower could see it.
His moves start to take on a definite hopping and skipping motion as the ?glass
bead bag? call becomes more rapid and persistant. Next he circumambulates the
bower in his skipping motion, doing the West Side Story ?Jets versus
Gutter Cats? dance (wings straight and pointed at the ground, feathers
fluffed up, stance upright and neck extended like a threatening Sea Gull/Silver
Gull). He jumps on any low branches in his path and dances on them before
continuing around the bower. All the while he has his beautiful purple crest
raised.
When that dance is done, it?s back to a bit of a bone and shell
show-off session and then the ?Swan Lake?. Yep he stands as
upright as a penguin and with slightly bent ? but rigid ? wings, held out from
the body and pointing down to the ground, just like a ballerina, he does perfect
?grape vine? steps across his display area and back. It?s exactly like a
ballerina in Swan Lake! If it wasn?t so fascinating you?d be roaring with
laughter! You know the dance, it?s the one where the ballerinas all line up and
toe dance from one side of the stage to the other. You simply must see this to
believe it. Technically, of course, birds always walk on ?point? too!
Next, it?s back to the bower for more paraphernalia display and even a
little renovation work on the bower itself ? a twig here and a twig there:
?mmmmm that will never do, this twig must simply go right there. Ahhhh. Now, a
little saliva and?..perfect?. Frequently the bird seems to regurgitate something
? saliva, perhaps ? and appears to cover the twigs he is using and sometimes the
display parahpernalia (I guess I wont be taking my old white sock back off
him after all! ? see last issue).
The next dance is ?The Good Ol? Boy?. Yep, a
classic Square Dance ?doe?see-doe?. The body is held parallel with the ground,
feathers fluffed up, ?shaking glass bead bag? call full on, crest revealed and
the wings held out to the side but bent back so they cross behind his ?waist?,
or rump in actuality. This looks just like a cowboy dance with his elbows out to
the sides and hands behind the waist with palms facing up. He then skips along
in a winding ?in-and-out? pattern as if joining elbows with a passing partner.
He also throws in excited hopping motions and very interesting hobbling gaits as
well. Must have spent too long in the saddle that day!
Of course the whole time this is taking place, the area is resounding
to a whole lot of mimicry and other calls which sound just like the ?Raptor Pit?
in ?Jurrasic Park? ? the oddest assembly of trills, squawks, pops, squeeks,
groans, etc., that you could imagine.
This thoroughly remarkable species has several more dances too and I
will document them for you as I am able to provide accurate and very scientific
(as above!) descriptions. I think that I should forward these to the good folk
at Birds Australia so that they make it into the final volume of the HANZAB or
possibly submit it to Emu. Which do you reckon?...."
I must go. The Red-backed Fairy-wrens are feuding with the Variagated
Fairy-wrens in my scrub garden ..... never seen that before!
May all you birders have a great Chrissy and Happy New Year
Ricki Coughlan
Broome WA
