Hi all.
I have been very familiar with "Greenies" for over 50 years, and do
about 70% of my birding with my ears. But, a couple of days ago I chased
down an unfamiliar call (in the front garden), and found a foraging
greenie! That call was something between an introspective silvereye and
a relaxed rufous whistler, impossible to put into print.
The kikikikiki call is an alarm, where the other calls that you quote
are contact or display calls: there are many more besides... and then
there are local dialects.
The Yellow-plumed Honeyeater has some calls that are almost identical to
those of the White-plumed Honeyeater.
Allan Lees
Peter Shute wrote:
Happy New Year, everyone. I've finally identified the "little green birds" that
have invaded my street (Altona, Vic) in the last few weeks - White-plumed Honeyeaters.
It took a while before I was able to see that they had a white neck plume at all, let
alone a black line above it. The books make these look obvious, but I find they often
almost disappear unless the bird's head is straight.
Anyway, I was thinking White-plumed Honeyeater was the only possibility, except that the calls I'm hearing don't match what the books describe at all. I'm hearing tsip (pause) tsip all day as they feed, and kikikikiki at dusk. Simpson & Day says chick-owee and chick-abiddy. Slater says chee-uck-oo-wee and chick-wist chick-wist. The latter also says ti ti ti is an alarm call, but my kikikikiki doesn't sound like an alarm call.
I know these descriptions can easily be interpreted in different ways, but what
I'm hearing is very different. Has anyone else heard these different calls?
Peter Shute
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