Dear Aus-Birders
Having lived in Sydney over a decade, it was a great joke among my birding colleagues that I had never managed to see a Channel-billed Cuckoo. However, this Christmas that all changed with this cooperative, energetic and boisterous youngster who had taken up residence in Sydney Botanical Gardens with his long-suffering Currawong parents. As a hungry baby he was most eager to be fed and being almost double the size of his parents, it was quite spectacle. The minute one of the Currawong parents showed up with a bit of a fig or other fruit, the gigantic, ungainly baby would emit a loud cacophany of honking and hooting and then would bolt in its parent's direction, practically land ontop of it. The baby (and I use this word loosely) would then open its mouth and as the Currawong parent approach, he would lurch at it until the front half of the Currawong seemed to be half way down the Baby's throat. Sort of like an avian version of JAWS II. However, the Currawong parents seemed none worse for the ware. Anyway it was all great fun to watch, listen to and photograph.
To see the “Baby” Channel-bill go to
http://www.birdquest.net/Highlights.html
And follow the links.
Also, we have added galleries for Pretoria Botanical Gardens and Marievale Bird Sanctuary in the Johannesburg area of South Africa. The link for this is just under the Currawong link on the same webpage noted above.
Kevin and Wojciech
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