When I arrived home from work yesterday at 5:00 p.m., the juvenile Koel was
near the back deck again, well in the open. After a brief chat with it, I
went inside to get vegie scraps for the compost. As I came back, the male
Magpie-lark was attacking JuvK again. To go to the compost bin, I walked
directly under the JuvK, about 500 mm clearance, and both JuvK and I were
attacked. I copped a good wing beat to the back of the head, and it was
lousy aim if it was unintentional. This is the same Magpie-lark who feeds
around my feet, and took mud where my hose dripped between my feet when he
was nest-building.
As I went back to the deck, the attacks continued on JuvK, who let out one
or two loud "waaark"s. In came male Koel and sat within 1 metre.
Magpie-lark flew off. For the next 45 minutes or more, the male Koel kept
up a soft call of "ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki" interspersed every 10 to 20
seconds with a soft "woo" or "wow". For a little while, he regurgitated
small fruit, de-seeded it, then swallowed it. The JuvK had moved half a
metre to a less open spot, and the male then came across and fed it one of
the de-seeded regurgitated fruit, which was accepted. The male moved away
1 metre, then tried to come closer again. The juvenile was most unsure,
with head low, crest raised, and wings slightly dropped.
The male gave JuvK some space, then came back later. All the time, the
soft calling continued. At times, the male seemed more like a bird wanting
to attract a female, but this WAS the JuvK, and there was no raucous excited
calling of usual male/female interaction!. The male moved down to a piece
of pawpaw in a pot plant at ground level and fed for 7 - 8 minutes, then
flew to a small tree 5 metres away, but returned to the tree where JuvK was
shortly. He stayed in that tree until at least 5:50 p.m., just going up
and down a couple of metres, but always close to JuvK, and always this soft
calling. By then, the juvenile was settled and no longer upset by the
male's presence.
They were still both sitting in the same tree, and the male still softly
calling when I had to continue with my chores.
Quite intriguing. It's a shame I have to work and miss the day's
activities!
Robyn
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